PORTLAND – The Vikings have gotten all too familiar playing in nail-biters of late, and they did it once again to defeat the Southern Utah Thunderbirds, 70-66, at the Pamplin Sports Center at Lewis and Clark College.
 
Portland State (15-11 overall, 9-6 Big Sky Conference) now sits in a three-way tie for fourth with Weber State and Eastern Washington. The Vikings swept the Wildcats this season and split with the Eagles. EWU took the only meeting of the season with WSU Thursday with a 77-68 win at home.
 
If the season ended today, the Vikings would be the No. 4 seed in next month's 2018 Big Sky Women's Basketball Championship in Reno, Nev. due to tiebreakers, which would give them a coveted first-round bye.
 
Portland State led by as much as 20 points early in the second half but Southern Utah (3-23, 2-13) was able to come all the way back and make it a one-possession game late in the fourth. The Thunderbirds' comeback bid started in the third when they cut a 16-point first-half deficit to just 10 points heading to the fourth.
 
After the Vikings improved their advantage to 12 points, The Thunderbirds went on an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to cut the lead down to four points. Courtney West put the Vikings up by six with a jumper with 3:04 left, which as it turned out, would be the final shot PSU would attempt as they did the rest of their scoring at the free-throw line.
 
Ashely Bolston made it a seven-point game after hitting a pair of free throws. Southern Utah cut the lead to just one point at 67-66 following a 6-0 run in which they forced three PSU turnovers. Bolston hit two more free throws to make it once again a three-point game.
 
Southern Utah missed its next jumper, the ball went out of bounds, and was last touched by the Thunderbirds. After the Vikings called a timeout to advance the ball, they got it once again to Bolston who was fouled. She went 1-of-2 at the line to make it a four-point game.
 
The Thunderbirds had a chance for a last second shot to continue the game but Tatiana Streun stole the ball right out of the air and the Vikings were able to run out the clock.
 
Portland State entered the game as the fifth-best free-throw shooting team in the nation, averaging 77.7 percent at the line as a team. After West's jumper, the Vikings 6-for-8 at the line down the stretch to close out the victory. They finished the game going 16-for-20 at the line with Bolston going 11-for-13.
 
Bolston scored a game-high 26 points going 7-for-10 from the floor and 11-for-13 from the line. She also pulled down three rebounds and had two assists and scored 15 of her 26 points in the first half. It was the sixteenth time in her career that she posted at least 20 points, the fourth time this season. Portland State is now 12-4 when she scores at least 20 points.
 
Kiana Brown came off the bench and gave the Vikings 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting. She hit four of the team's six three-pointers, one shy of her career high.
 
Sidney Rielly added eight points, West had nine points, five rebounds and six assists, and Corey James tallied seven points in 27 minutes. Kylie Jimenez had four points and a team-high nine assists, which matched her career high. Portland State recorded 19 assists on 25 field goals.
 
Portland State shot 52.2 percent from the floor, while Southern Utah shot 43.1 percent. The Turnover bug bit the Vikings again Thursday night. They turned it over 17 times, which led to 27 points for the T-Birds.
 
Southern Utah had four players score in double figures led by Ashley Larsen and Whitney Johnson who each scored 13 in the game.
 
Portland State will host Northern Arizona on Saturday, Feb. 24 with tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. PT. The Lumberjacks have won two straight after defeating North Dakota at home last week and then Sacramento State on the road Thursday night. The 'Jacks defeated the Hornets 95-90 in overtime.