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PORTLAND, Ore. – Big Sky Tournament MVP Stephanie Stender scored 11 points and Montana held Portland State scoreless for over six-and-a-half minutes down the stretch as the Lady Griz won the 2011 Big Sky Championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament with a 62-58 victory over the host Vikings.

The fourth-seeded Lady Griz had enough energy to hold off the top-seeded Vikings, despite playing for the third time in three nights, and reached the NCAA tourney for the 19th time under Head Coach Robin Selvig.

Portland State saw its 11-game home winning streak come to an end, even though they held a 52-46 lead with 8:04 to play. The Vikings missed their next nine shots and committed three turnovers from that point, and didn't score until a Kelly Marchant three-foot runner with 1:32 left brought the Vikings within 58-54.

But it was too little, too late, as the Vikings were forced to foul and Montana made 6 of 8 at the free-throw line over the final 45 seconds.

The Lady Griz snapped a five-game losing streak to Portland State and also won at the Stott Center for the first time since 2007.

For the second night in a row, the Vikings came out cold, missing their first five shots from the floor. Luckily their shooting woes didn't last long, though. Courtney Cremer finally got the Vikings on the board with a six-foot jumper at the 15:07 mark and PSU trailed 7-2. Portland State mounted a run from there and when Eryn Jones scored with 10:21 until half, the Vikings were down just two, 14-12.

The Lady Griz pushed their lead back to 24-18 with 7:41 remaining, but Jones nailed a three and Valentine scored in the paint to make it 24-21. Jones later tied it up, 27-27, at the 1:53 mark with her third long distance shot, but Montana would go into the locker rooms with a 31-30 advantage.

Stender added six boards and four steals, and she was joined on the all-tournament squad by teammates Sarah Ena and Kenzie De Boer. Ena finished with 10 points, all of which came in the second half, and four rebounds, and De Boer had 11 points and two steals.

Jones led the Vikings with 19 points, while Valentine recorded her second double-double in as many nights with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Both players were named to the all-tournament team.

Portland State's season isn't over, though, as they earned the Big Sky's automatic bid into the WNIT. The Vikings also played in the WNIT in 2009 and now have reached the postseason three consecutive years. The 64-team bracket will be released late Monday night. Portland State has put in a bid to host the first two rounds.

NOTES: PSU played in the tournament title game for the third straight year. Last season's championship game was also decided by a 62-58 score, with the Vikings defeating Montana State. In 2009, Montana claimed a 69-62 victory over PSU ... the Vikings shot just 18.5 percent (5 of 27) from 3-point range ... Valentine also had 14 points and 10 rebounds in the semis last night against Eastern Washington ... Jones and Valentine scored 21 of the Vikings' 30 first-half points ... Jones moved up to third on the PSU single season chart for 3-pointers made (73).