Though the final statistics and the final score hint that the Portland State Vikings and the Montana Lady Griz played an evenly matched game, it was anything but.
The fourth-place Vikings caged-in the third-place Lady Griz with a suffocating zone defense and surged to double-digit first-and-second half leads before settling on a 70-65 win over Montana at Missoula's Dahlberg Arena Thursday.
The win evened the teams' Big Sky Conference records at 9-4 each with three games remaining, including a rematch next week in Portland.
The Vikings left little doubt they were the agressor, slapping a suffocating zone against Montana, and forcing 16 turnovers, many on deflected passes on the edge of Montana's zone offense passing lanes.
At the other end of the floor, the Vikings shot 42 percent from the field and 52 percent from beyond the hree-point arc to take commanding leads midway through both halves. Though the Lady Griz pulled within 38-30 at halftime, and narrowed the gap to four early in the second half, the Vikings eased to a commanding 21 point lead that they maintained until the final six minutes of the game.
PHOTOS: (Top) Senior guard Stephanie Stender battles for control fo the ball against Portland State guard Shauneice Samms in first half action. Stender scored six points on two treys for Montana. (Bottom) Alexandra Hurley has her shot blocked by Viking defender Allie Brock while Stephanie Egwuatu defends. Hurley scored six points for Montana.
Four Vikings players scored in double digits, led by 20 from Eryn Jones. Lexi Bishop scored 15, Courtney Van Brocklin had 13 and Kelli Valentine netted 11.
Montana was led by sophomore center Katie Baker, who scored 13, and sophomore guard Kenzie DeBoer, who scored 12.
Montana appeared confused and stymied by the Vikings defense at times, struggling to get the ball into the paint through much of the first half, and struggling with shots in the paint when they finally penetrated the Vikings' zone in the second half.
The loss snapped a six-game Montana win streak and severely damaged any Lady Griz hopes of hosting the Big Sky Post-season tournament.
The Vikings now head to Bozeman where they'll challenge the Montana State Bobcats -- who arevtied for first with Northern colorado -- Saturday. Montana hosts the fifth place Eastern Washington Eagles.
Recent Comments