Lady Griz to play Portland State in semi-finals

The Portland State Vikings thought beating the Lady Griz was so nice, they’re going to try to do it twice.

The semi-final matchups were set Thursday night at the Big Sky Conference tournament in Dahlberg Arena, and the University of Montana women’s basketball team will be paired up against Portland State, which knocked off the Lady Griz in Portland last weekend.

Clare Faucher recorded her second consecutive triple-double Thursday as the fourth-seeded Vikings poured it on in the second half to win 82-69, ending the fifth-seeded Northern Colorado’s season.

Sidney, Mont., native Danielle Hagen led all scorers with 37 points, tying her for UNC’s all-time single-game record.

Hagen, a senior who also surpassed 1,000 career points in the game, said afterward the record was nice, but that she couldn’t yet enjoy it in the shadow of the loss.

“Probably not quite yet,” she said. “It still is pretty exciting, but I’d rather we won the game.”

The Bears hung with the Vikings until late in the first half, when Portland State went on an 8-0 tear to finish the half up 11 points.

From that point on, it was all Portland State. And all Claire Faucher.

Faucher finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Against the Lady Griz last Saturday, the Big Sky first-teamer recorded 21 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. 

Three other Vikings scored in double figures: Delaney Conway with 19, Katia Hadj-Hamou, and Kelli Valentine with 16.

Faucher said, like last week, she wasn’t aware of her statistical feat until late in the game.

“I didn’t know until like the last 5 minutes,” she said. “One of my teammates said, ‘Go get one more,’ and I was like, ‘OK.’”

The Vikings shot 57 percent from the floor, and 64 percent from 3-point range. In the second half PSU was virtually unstoppable from long range, knocking down 6-of-7.

The defeat was a less-than-satisfying end to an otherwise magical season for the Bears. Coach Jaime White missed six games while undergoing treatments for uterine cancer, and the team – mostly composed of new players – rebounded from a 5-24 season in which it won just two games. UNC finished this season 14-16 and 11-5 in the Big Sky, including an early-season win against Portland State.

“We surprised a lot of people, nobody even knew who our team was,” White said.

It’s been just six days since the Vikings handed the Lady Griz their third conference loss of the season, a 72-62 defeat. Montana had already clinched the regular-season title and the right to host the tournament, but Portland State coach Sherri Murrell scoffed at the notion that the Lady Griz considered it a throwaway game.

“Did it mean anything as far as the standings? No,” she said. “But it meant something.”

In that game, the Lady Griz employed a zone defense, which UNC’s White said Thursday wouldn’t be able to stop the Vikings.

“I don’t think they (Montana) will be able to play much zone,” White said.

The Vikings were certainly excited at the prospect of taking on the Lady Griz, with whom they split a pair of regular-season games.

“This is a fun place to play,” Faucher said. “I think the more people screaming against you the better, and the crowd gets a little bit angry when you do good things. Bring it on; it’s going to be awesome. Bring it on.”

Murrell, however, cautioned her star to be careful of what she wished for.

“Don’t say ‘bring it on’ too much,” she said.