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PORTLAND, Ore. – It took the Portland State Vikings 20 minutes to find their shot on Friday night in the semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament, but once they did, it was game over for sixth-seeded Eastern Washington.

The top-seeded Vikings shot 68 percent during the second half, propelling them to a 73-62 victory and into the tournament championship game for the third straight year. Portland State (20-10) moves on to face No. 4 Montana, who defeated No. 2 Northern Colorado, 55-46, in the other semifinal.

The game was tied at intermission and the score remained close over the opening minutes of the second period. Not until Courtney VanBrocklin hit a jumper with 14:17 remaining did the Vikings start to find their rhythm offensively. VanBrocklin's basket made it 42-39 and just over three minutes later, the Vikings found themselves up 50-40 after VanBrocklin made a pair of free throws.

Eastern Washington wasn't done, though. After Portland State went up 52-43 on a VanBrocklin basket with 9:37 left, the Eagles rallied to get within 55-52, all in less than two minutes. Brianne Ryan scored five points and Chene Cooper had four during the Eagles' run.

The Vikings started to earn some breathing room after Kelli Valentine made a shot in the paint, got fouled, and sank the ensuing free throw. With 5:56 left, Big Sky MVP Eryn Jones hit a three from the right wing, putting the Vikings up 63-54. From there, the Eagles never got closer then seven points.

Vikings Head Coach Sherri Murrell said in her postgame press conference that her team's defense was a big reason for the victory.

"I'm very proud of our defensive effort tonight," said Murrell, who has led the Vikings to the Big Sky tourney in each of her four seasons.

"We couldn't have shot any worse in that first half. So the halftime speech was really just telling them to relax and that this is where our night off is going to pay off for us. We didn't play last night and we have to go out and get them fatigured in the second half. Then a couple of shots went in and the basket just got bigger and bigger."

Things started well for the Vikings as Shauneice Samms made a jumper in the paint and Lexi Bishop drained a 3-pointer from the left corner to make it 5-0 just under two minutes in. A Valentine running scoop shot from the left side of the key at the 16:50 mark made it 9-4 before the Eagles clawed back into the contest.

Eastern Washington's Julie Piper hit a turnaround jumper with 12:42 until halftime to tie it up, 10-10, and almost three minutes later, Cooper knocked down an eight-foot jump shot to give the Eagles their first lead, 15-14.

A basket from Karley Lampmam from the left corner and two free throws by Jones put the Vikings back in front, 18-15, but Eastern Washington eventually regained the lead, 24-23, with 4:08 until the break on another Piper turnaround jumper. Both teams struggled to find the basket from there and the score was tied, 26-26, at halftime.

Portland State shot a dismal 26.7 percent (8 of 30) during the first half, but made 17 of their 25 shots during the second period to finish at 45.5 percent.

VanBrocklin scored 14 of her 17 points over the second half and also added nine rebounds as the Vikings outrebounded Eastern Washington, 41-32.

Valentine recorded her sixth double-double of the year with 14 points and 10 boards, while Jones finished with 16 points. Bishop added 11 for the Vikings.

Cooper paced the Eagles with 18 points, Ryan had 17, and Piper tallied 16 points and eight rebounds.

Portland State now takes on Montana, a team they have defeated five straight times. These two will meet up for the third time in three weeks and tomorrow's contest will also be a rematch of the 2009 Big Sky Championship in which Montana earned a 69-62 victory.

NOTES: The winner of tomorrow's game earns the Big Sky's automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. Last year, the fifth-seeded Vikings became the lowest seeded team to ever win the championship. They defeated No. 6 Montana State, 62-58, in the title game ... the Vikings won their 11th straight game at home this year as they improved to 14-1 at the Stott Center ... PSU has won seven straight at home over Eastern Washington ... VanBrocklin made all four of her field goal attempts in the second half, while Valentine was 4 of 5 ... PSU reached the 20-win barrier for the third time in four seasons under Murrell ... a season-high 1,177 fans were in attendance ... Eastern Washington finished the year at 13-18 ... tomorrow's game starts at 2:07 p.m. It will be broadcast on Altitude TV.