Dang - missed this: Wellesley's Kathy Hagerstrom has retired after 18 years.

Basketball and Kathy Hagerstrom have always been one and the same.

The game has defined her, been the focal point of her life since she was a little girl growing up in Wisconsin, through the years when she became the all-time leading scorer at the University of Nebraska, through eight years as an assistant coach and ultimately the last 18 years as the head coach at Wellesley College.

Hagerstrom is not yet 50, yet she's retiring. She's making a choice to walk away from the game that's been so central to her life, and choosing the life of another instead.

Jennifer Kroll, who is in her 11th year as a head basketball coach, will take over. She boasts an overall record of 167-95 (.637) at three Division-III institutions.