Portland Trail Blazers fan dies after collapsing in stands

A Portland Trail Blazers fan died Thursday after collapsing in the stands at the Moda Center, reports The Oregonian.

The incident happened in section 111. A witness who sat nearby said the woman's body appeared to go "totally limp." Emergency medical technicians quickly went into the stands and administered CPR after they laid her down over several seats.

The woman, Sandra Zickefoose, fell during the fourth quarter of Thursday's Blazers-Mavericks game. According to NBA.com, Zickefoose, 67, and her husband Michael Cowan had been season ticket holders since 2011. 

"I was hoping that she would pull through," Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge told NBA.com. "That’s never something that we want to see or have to experience. I didn’t know how to recover from it. I’m glad I wasn’t in the game because I was kind of shook after the fact, just to see that type of scene going on on the court, I just never had seen that before."

Added Portland coach Terry Stotts, "I’ve never seen, never had that happen at any game I’ve been to and certainly everybody in the arena, I felt, was affected by it. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family."

-- Alex Suskind