Women's Basketball Falls Short In Hard Fought 73-59 Battle Against Boise State
Nov. 26, 2005
BOZEMAN, Mont. - The University of Northern Colorado women's basketball team fell short against the Boise State Broncos in a hard-fought 73-59 loss on Saturday in the championship game of the Wingate Classic. It was Northern Colorado's fifth game in eight days.
"Our kids have played their hearts out these past five games," said head coach Ron Vlasin. "We made a couple of execution errors, and Boise State took advantage and played well.
The Bears (3-2) had trouble with BSU's defense, as the Broncos scored 30 points off 23 Northern Colorado turnovers. Junior Danielle Hagen recorded her third career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Jabrenta Hubbard led the Bears in scoring with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting and dished out six assists.
Northern Colorado jumped out to a 14-10 lead nearly seven minutes into the game, but Boise State went on a 17-0 run to take a 27-14 lead with 7:14 left in the first half. The Bears came back before the end of the half to cut the Broncos lead to 31-22 at halftime. Both teams couldn't seem to get into a scoring groove in the half, as Northern Colorado shot 33 percent while BSU went 30 percent from the field.
Boise State (4-0) went on a 5-0 run to begin the half, but Northern Colorado soon clawed back as Hubbard drained a 3-pointer to pull to within seven (38-31) with 15:08 remaining in the game. The Broncos then went on a 13-4 run to extend their lead to 51-35, but the Bears did not give up as they went on their own 10-1 run to cut BSU's lead to 52-45 with 10:12 left to play. But Northern Colorado's tank ran empty as Boise State outscored the Bears 21-14 the rest of the game.
Hagen's 17 points and 20 rebounds in Northern Colorado's two games at the Wingate Classic earned her a spot on the all-tournament team. Hubbard totaled 28 points and eight assists in the tournament, which earned her all-tournament honors.
The Bears will roll back into action at 7 p.m. on Friday against the Nevada Wolfpack in Reno, Nev., in the first round of the Nugget Classic. The game will be broadcast live on 1310-AM KFKA and can be accessed free of charge at UNCBears.com.
