Hagen Ties School Record With 37 Points In Bears Loss :: Northern Colorado ends season with loss to PSU in quarterfinals

March 13, 2008

MISSOULA, Mont. - In the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference Women's Basketball Tournament, the University of Northern Colorado, seeded fifth, fell to fourth-seeded Portland State, 82-69. The Bears end their season 14-16 overall. The Vikings move to 22-8 on the year.

Senior center Danielle Hagen scored in double figures for the 40^th time in her career and the 21^st time this season, scoring a career-high and tying the school record with 37 points. At the 6:42 mark of the second half, Hagen scored her 1,000^th career point with the first of two free throws and had a new career-high with the second free throw. Her 37 points also ties for the second-most points ever in a Big Sky Tournament game.

Junior forward Jamie Schroeder and freshman guard Courtney Stoermer each added 11 points. Hagen led the team with seven rebounds and notched a career high with five steals.

"I felt like we had to play our best game tonight to beat Portland State," said Head Coach Jaime White. "They've been hot lately and we didn't hit on all cylinders. I'm proud of our kids for not giving up. We kept coming back, and coming back. Portland State's outside scoring was tough. (Katia Hadj-Hamou) hit some shots we didn't think she would hit. Other than that, our year was unbelievable. It wasn't anything we wanted (to lose Thursday), but it was a great year. I don't want this game to take away from what our kids did this year.

Portland State sophomore guard Claire Faucher had her second straight triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, while Delaney Conway led the team with 19 points. Katie Hadj-Hamou came off the bench to score 17, hitting 5-of-6 three-pointers and Big Sky Freshman of the Year Kelli Valentine scored 16.

Northern Colorado shot just .385 from the field and .154 (2-13) from beyond the arc. They also struggled from the free throw line, connecting on just .771 (27-35). Portland State shot .577 from the field and .643 from the arc (9-14) and .813 from the charity stripe (13-16).

Hagen paced the Bears in the first half with 50 percent of the team's points at 13. After notching season highs in back-to-back games in assists in the final two games of the regular season, the Bears tallied just one in the first half. Hagen and Schroeder also led at the break with three rebounds each. Valentine led the Vikings with 12 in the first half, while Faucher had a game-high seven rebounds.

Hagen scored seven of the Bears first nine points in the game as only three players scored in the first half. The Bears closed within three, 29-26 and forced a PSU shot clock violation with 2:46, but the Vikings responded, closing out the first 20 minutes on an 8-0 run.

Portland State will meet top-seeded Montana in the semifinals, while the other semifinal pits Montana State against second-seeded Idaho State.