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PORTLAND, Ore. – After several weeks of subpar play, the Portland State Vikings needed a confidence boosting win and they got it Thursday night in the form of a 76-63 victory over visiting Weber State.
The Vikings led the entire game, shot better than 50 percent for much of the contest and played a full 40 minutes for the first time in weeks. It all added up to their first win since January 12.
"We needed a feel-good win," said Portland State Head Coach
Sherri Murrell. "Weber State has battled some teams lately, and not to take anything away from them, but this was a confidence booster for us."
The Vikings rode hot shooting and a huge rebounding advantage to a 14-point halftime lead. After making seven of their first eight shots, Portland State was up 17-10 less than five minutes in. They ended the period shooting 51.7 percent and outrebounding the Wildcats, 23-10.
Up 23-16, the Vikings scored six straight points to start pulling away.
Allison Greene hit a pair of free throws, before
Stephanie Egwuatu made a tough left-handed scoop shot in the key with the shot clock winding down. At the 9:22 mark,
Eryn Jones blew past her defender along the right baseline and scored on a layin to put Portland State up 29-16.
Weber State pulled back within single digits, 37-28, with 3:39 until the break after two Megan Patterson free throws. But the Vikings scored the next six points and eventually held a 43-29 lead at the break.
Portland State led by double-digits for the entire second half and pushed its lead to as many as 20 points.
The victory snapped a four-game losing streak and upped their record to 12-9, 4-5 Big Sky.
"It was nice for us to be back here at home and for us to play like us," said
Courtney VanBrocklin, who led PSU with 16 points. "We played a full forty minutes tonight. We've been flat in the second half of the last couple of games for some reason, but tonight we played a full two halves of basketball."
Four of the Vikings starters – Jones, VanBrocklin,
Karley Lampman and
Kate Lanz – all scored in double-figures and combined to shoot 58.8 percent from the field. Lanz finished with 15 points and Jones 12, after both of them scored 10 in the first period. Lampman chipped in 10 points on the night.
Shawnte Taylor led Weber State with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Mikell Woodfield added 16 points and a game-high nine boards.
The Vikings are back in action on Saturday, hosting Northern Arizona at 2 p.m. The game will be tape-delayed broadcast on Comcast SportsNet that night at 7 p.m. It will also air Sunday at 12:30 p.m., and on Monday at 7 a.m.
NOTES: PSU outrebounded the Wildcats, 40-30 ... Jones moved into ninth place all-time at PSU in scoring. She has 1,239 points. With two more she'll take over the eighth spot ... Jones also moved into a tie for fifth in games played with 119 ... the Vikings have won three in a row over Weber State and five in a row in Portland ... Portland State's 76 points were their most in the past seven games ... Egwuatu came off the bench to contribute nine points, five rebounds and a steal for the Vikings ... Weber State dropped to 2-18, 0-9 Big Sky.
