Jan. 19, 2008

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GREELEY, Colo. - A strong first-half performance by the University of Northern Colorado women's basketball team and free throws down the stretch helped lead the Bears to a 61-56 victory over first-place Portland State. The Bears win their third straight game in Big Sky Conference play to move to 3-1 in league play and 9-8 overall while the Vikings fall to 14-4 overall and 4-1 in conference action.

Senior center Danielle Hagen scored a season-high 20 points and added a game-high 16 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots. She also hit 8-of-10 from the free throw line including 5-of-6 in the final 44 seconds. Junior guard Jamie Schroeder added 17 points, nine rebounds and four steals, while freshman guard Courtney Stoermer chipped in 11 points and a game-high five assists.

"Knocking off the number one team in the conference is huge," said Head Coach Jaime White. "I think we set a standard in the Big Sky that you can't just come in and walk over us in Butler-Hancock. Courtney Stoermer did a great job guarding Claire Faucher. She knew the game plan and stuck with it."

Portland State was led by Faucher and Kelly Marchant with 14 points each, while Delaney Conway had a team-high eight rebounds. Both Marchant and Faucher also led the team with two assists and Faucher had a team-best three steals.

"We did a great job defending the high pick," continued White. "We also did a great job of rebounding in the first half."

The Vikings scored the first four points of the game, but the Bears went on an 18-point run, giving NC the 18-4 lead with 12:27 left in the half. PSU scored on a layup by Kelsey Kahle, but the Bears scored the next five to extend the lead to 17, 23-6 with 10:35 left. Portland State closed within 10, 26-16 at 6:33 after a jumper by Conway but the Bears scored the final six of the half for the 32-16 advantage at the break.

Northern Colorado again took a 17-point lead, 42-25 with 14:56 left in the game off a layup by Stoermer but Portland State chipped away at the lead coming within a pair, 56-54 with just 38 seconds left in the game and again at 58-56 with 31 ticks left, but the Bears made their free throws to win 61-56.

The win marked the third for the Bears in Big Sky play, surpassing their win total of two from last year in league action.

Northern Colorado shot 40 percent from the field for the game, including .429 from beyond the arc (6-14) and .731 from the charity stripe (19-26), while Portland State shot just .277 from the field, .304 from the three-point line (7-23) and .929 from the free throw line (13-14). The Bears had 19 turnovers, compared to just 11 for the Vikings, but outrebounded PSU 44-34.

The Bears hit the road again, playing at Montana State on Thursday, Jan. 24 at 7:05 p.m. and at Montana on Saturday afternoon.