PUEBLO, Colo. – University of Colorado Colorado Springs senior forward
Tori Fisher finished her career with 24 points and 11 rebounds as the Mountain Lions (24-9) led by 15 points at halftime but fell 86-81 to Angelo State (26-5) in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Division II Tournament. UCCS finished its season in the national tournament for the third straight season a week after it won the first RMAC Tournament championship in program history.
The Mountain Lions scored the last 11 points of the first quarter for a 30-21 lead and expanded it to 52-37 at halftime. UCCS shot 61 percent from the field as Fisher led both teams with 13 points. The Mountain Lions more than doubled the Rambelles rebounding effort in the first half with a 21-10 advantage.
Angelo State opened the third quarter on a 22-5 run for a 59-57 lead, but UCCS scored the next seven points for a 64-59 lead at the end of the quarter. The Mountain Lions didn't give up the lead until the Rambelles scored eight straight for a 76-70 advantage with 4 minutes, 36 seconds to play. UCCS pulled within one point at 76-75 with 3:05 remaining, but couldn't retake the lead in the second-deepest playoff run in program history.
Fisher finished her career with her second straight double-double and moved into No. 10 in UCCS scoring records with 983 points. She recorded 661 rebounds and tied for third in program history. Fisher was the Division II Player of the Week in the final week of the regular season and averaged 12.8 points and 8.2 rebounds in the RMAC and NCAA tournaments.
Jen Vigil scored 20 points in her final career game in her fourth 20-point game of the season. She went six-of-nine from the three-point line tonight with five assists and matched her season-high with seven rebounds.
Brittany Hernandez scored six points with four rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots in her final game. She finished as the UCCS all-time rebounding leader with 751 and second in scoring with 1,604 points.
Jennah Knafelc and
Kristen Vigil led the bench scoring with eight points each.
UCCS finished the season with the second-most wins in program history and tied for second in the RMAC standings.
