POCATELLO, Idaho – Ashley Bolston scored a game-high 17 points but the Vikings dropped a low-scoring affair to the Idaho State Bengals, 53-47, Thursday night in Pocatello, Idaho.
 
Bolston, a sophomore from Medford, Ore., scored just three points with three turnovers in the first half before turning things around in the second. She scored 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting with a pair of three pointers in the second half for her game-high 17. It was her ninth-straight double-digit scoring game and fifth-straight game scoring at least 17 points.
 
Sophomore G Sidney Rielly added 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting, while sophomore F Courtney West added 10 points, a team-high eight rebounds, and five blocks.
 
West, the Big Sky's leading blocker, improved her season total to 60, just eight shy of the Portland State all-time single-season record of 68 set by Katy Wade during the 2009-10 season.
 
Idaho State (13-9 overall, 7-4 Big Sky Conference) came into Thursday's game as one of the lowest scoring teams (59.8 ppg) in the Big Sky Conference, while holding opponents to a league best 61.3 points per game. The Bengals made a concerted effort to slow the game down right from the start, averaging 23 seconds per possession for the game.
 
Portland State (10-13, 4-7) got off to a slow start in the first quarter, scoring a season low four points over the first 10 minutes. Thankfully for the Vikings, the Bengals struggled at the start as well and only led 9-4 heading into the second quarter.
 
Rielly scored eight of the team's 18 points in the second quarter as Portland State climbed back into the game and trailed by just one point, 23-22, heading into the break. Rielly went 4-for-5 from the floor in the second quarter.
 
All season long the Vikings have struggled with letting one quarter put them out of the game. Thursday night it was the third quarter. PSU was outscored 14-5 in the quarter.
 
The Vikings turned the ball over eight times, which led to 10 points for the Bengals who led 37-27 as the game went to the fourth. Portland State went just 2-for-5 from the floor in the third with Bolston hitting both baskets.  
 
Portland State got back to its game over the final 10 minutes and outscored Idaho State in the period but they were not able to overcome the deficit created in the third, and fell 53-47.  
 
The trio of Bolston, Rielly, and West combined for 38 of the team's 47 points or 81 percent. The Vikings got just four points from their other two starters and five points from the bench.
 
The Vikings shot 43.5 percent from the floor but a lack of possessions hurt them in the end.
 
Isabel Vara De Rey led Idaho State with 13 point on 5-of-10 shooting. Estefania Ors came off the bench for 10 points.
 
Portland State continues its road trip Saturday at Weber State in Ogden, Utah. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. PT. Weber State defeated Sacramento State 66-60 earlier in the day to improve to 11-11 overall and 5-6 in league play.