PORTLAND – It took overtime but the Portland State women's basketball team defeated Western Oregon, 100-96, in an exhibition game Friday night at the Peter W. Stott Center.
 
"You don't want to see overtime in an exhibition but with our young team I think it helped," second-year Head Coach Lynn Kennedy said following the win. "You saw our team fight at the end of the fourth quarter and in overtime. You want to see that fight out of a young team. It's nice to come out with a win after not winning a lot last year."
 
The redshirt sophomore trio of Ashley Bolston, Sidney Rielly, and Courtney West came up big for the Vikings. The trio combined for 63 of the Vikings' 100 points on the night and went a combined 25-for-45 (.556) from the floor.
 
The Vikings had a chance to win it at the end of regulation. Bolston got the ball in the key off an inbounds play with seven seconds on the clock, went up, and through a lot of contact which was not called, missed the shot sending the game to overtime.
 
Western Oregon took a two-point lead, 86-86, with the first basket of overtime. Bolston countered with her second three-pointer of the game to give the Vikings a one-point lead. A pair of free throws from Rielly put the Vikings up three. A layup by sophomore G Kian McNair put the Vikings up five at 91-86 with 2:08 remaining.
 
After a WOU three-pointer, Bolston came back with a layup to put PSU up 93-89. West came up with a big block on the defensive end, which turned in to a fast break layup by McNair to extend the Vikings' lead to six at 95-89.
 
West came up with another defensive rebound, which turned into another fast break opportunity for the Vikings, this time capped by a layup by Rielly to put the Vikings up eight at 97-89.
 
The Wolves cut into the lead with a three pointer and a pair of free throws but the Vikings held on to win 100-96. McNair led the Vikings with seven points in overtime. Bolston and Rielly added five and four points respectively.
 
Rielly led the way for Portland State with a team-high 25 points. She went 9-for-17 from the floor, with a three-pointer, and 6-for-8 at the free-throw line. She also led the Vikings with six assists in 35 minutes of action.
 
Bolston, like Rielly, went 9-for-17 from the floor with a pair from three-point range. She added 4-of-6 at the line and four assists. She also tallied a pair of steals in a team-high 42 minutes.
 
West added 14 points and nine rebounds for a near double-double. She shot .636 from the floor on the night, going 7-for-11. She tallied a team-high three blocks in the game.
 
McNair provided the Vikings with a spark off the bench, scoring 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting. She went 7-for-9 at the line, including 3-for-4 in overtime.  
 
Sophomore Pia Jurhar only scored two points in the game but led the team with 10 rebounds. She added a block and two steals in 26 minutes.
 
Freshman F Caroline Wich had a productive debut for the Vikings. She scored eight points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor. She got into foul trouble early in the second half and was limited to just 13 minutes in the game.
 
"We could get things offensively when we wanted tonight," Kennedy added. "We got to the basket well. We had open shots that we missed but that some of that comes with some of our players not having played in a couple years. I liked what I saw offensively tonight."
                                                       
Portland State got out to a hot start hitting seven of its first 10 shots of the night to jump out to a 14-6 lead midway through the opening quarter. Rielly hit the Vikings' first three-pointer of the game to make it a 10-point lead at 19-9.
 
Western Oregon pulled within six at 22-16 after a three-pointer but the Vikings extended their lead and led 27-16 at the end of the first. Bolston and Rielly combined for 16 of the Vikings' 27 points in the quarter, going 7-for-10.
 
A steal my McNair and a fast break basket made it a 15-point game, 45-30, late in the first half. Western Oregon hit a pair of free-throws late to make it 47-34 at the break.
 
Western Oregon came on strong in the third quarter, out-scoring Portland State 31-20 to pull within two, 67-65, heading to the fourth. The Wolves went 4-for-5 from three-point range in the third. They took their first lead of the game with 8:12 left in regulation. Western Oregon hit its seventh three-pointer of the game to go up four, 72-68, which forced a Portland State timeout.
 
Rielly hit a pair of free throws to bring the Vikings within two at 72-70. Another three-pointer by the Wolves made it a five-point game with 6:39 remaining. A pair of free throws from Bolston and a layup by McNair made it a one-point game at 75-74.
 
A steal by McNair and basket by West gave the Viking the lead again at 76-75 with 5:05 remaining. After a WOU basket, Bolston finished an and-one opportunity to give the Vikings a two-point lead at 79-77.
 
West put the Vikings up 82-81 before a defensive stop and a Bolston layup put the Vikings up three. Western Oregon banked in a three-pointer to tie the game with 39 seconds left.
 
Bolston had a chance to win it late but could not get her shot to fall and the game headed to overtime.  
 
After an early WOU basket, the Vikings took control of the overtime period and outscored the Wolves 16-12 to win by a final score of 100-96.
 
The Vikings struggled to hit from distance in the game, going just 3-for-15 from three-point range. They made up for it around the basket. Portland State out-scored Western Oregon 62-to-40 in the paint and 15-to-2 in fast break points.
 
Portland State will hit the court one more time during preseason play with a final exhibition against Lewis & Clark College on Sunday, November 6 at the Stott Center. Tip is slated for 2 p.m. PT.