PORTLAND, Ore. - Three Vikings scored double-digit figures, led by
Courtney VanBrocklin's 18 points, to lead Portland State over Northern Arizona, 76-55, in front of 723 fans at the Stott Center. The win ensures PSU a spot in the Big Sky Tournament, March 10-12.
The win is the eighth-consecutive home victory for PSU and extends the Vikings' winning-streak over NAU to four. Portland State has also defeated the Lumberjacks in eight of the last nine games.
The Vikings opened the contest on a 14-2 scoring run in the first five minutes, including 12 straight points. The early scoring was attributed to Portland State's offensive rebounding, accounting for six early and scoring 10 points off second chances.
"The team did a great job in the zone holding the team to 55 points," said Head Coach
Sherri Murrell after the game, "We were able to get a lot of turnovers off of the zone."
The Lumberjacks sloppy first half led to 17 turnovers and 20 points for the Viks and a 35-21 halftime lead. Junior
Eryn Jones led PSU scorers with eight points and was able to dish two assists in the first half.
Lexi Bishop was a close-second with seven points, four from the charity stripe. She would finish with 10 in the game.
The Vikings played with a comfortable double-digit lead the entire second half, including a 20-point lead with 8:38 left in the game.
Though the team had room to work with on the scoreboard, Murrell told the team "to play the game, not the score. When you're up by 20 points, sometimes the players lose their intensity." The team finished strong and built its biggest lead, 23, with nine seconds left in the contest.
Six of VanBrocklin's 18 came from behind the three-point line. She also finished with four steals and four rebounds. Jones finished with 16 points, 8-for-10 at the free-throw line, and had six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
All of the Vikings double-digit scorers were guards in the contest. Murrell laughed after the game and said "It's interesting watching us play. One night the post-players will be in double-digits and the next it will be the guards. So it's nice to have that. When the outside game is gone, we have the inside game to go to."
Murrell closed by saying "It's nice to feel this way. We have four games left, two at home, and those four games will be just as important as the one we won today."
The Vikings improve to 15-10 overall this season, 8-4 in Big Sky play, and currently sit fourth in the conference standings. PSU trails first-place Northern Colorado (10-3) by 1.5 games.
GAME NOTES: Portland State has beat Northern Arizona by 20-plus points at the Stott Center in four-straight games ... the Vikings clinched a spot in the Big Sky Tournament for the sixth-consecutive season ... Head Coach
Sherri Murrell has led the team to the tournament in each season she's been the head coach ... the 2011 Big Sky tourney will be played at the site of the regular season champion ... PSU has won seven of eight and eight of its last ten ... the Vikings were 28 of 33 at the free-throw line, including 19 of 22 in the second half ... for the week, the Vikings were 48 of 57 at the line over two games ... Portland State will play at Montana Feb. 24 and at Montana State Feb. 26; Both tip-offs are scheduled for 6 p.m., PT. ... NAU fell to 9-17, 4-9 Big Sky.
