BOX SCORE - PDF | HTML

BOISE, Idaho — Down 42-38 in the third quarter against Montana State Tuesday, the Vikings forced what was at that point a rare three-pointer miss from the Bobcats, and sophomore point guard Kylie Jimenez answered with a three of her own on the Vikings' next possession. That six-point swing when the Vikings could have been down seven brought them to within one instead, and the Vikings didn't look back from there.
 
The Vikings (23-7) closed the third quarter on a 12-0 run, and held the Bobcats (16-15) to only six points from the 5:04 mark of the third quarter to the 3:13 mark of the fourth quarter. The Vikings built a 12-point lead in that time, and hit free throw after free throw to close out the Bobcats 68-56 in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament, presented by My Place Hotels, at CenturyLink Arena.
 
Tuesday's final score was just a one-point difference from the Vikings' win over the Bobcats Saturday, as the Vikings also beat the Bobcats 68-55 in Bozeman to close out the regular season.
 
"Give Montana State a lot of credit. It's tough to play a team three times and to play them back-to-back as well. They came out ready to play," Portland State head coach Lynn Kennedy said afterwards. "I thought we played one of our best games last Saturday against them, especially at their place, and for them to step up and play the way they did in the first half forced us to make some adjustments at halftime.
 
"I loved how our players stepped up. We were a little more aggressive rebounding [in the second half], which allowed us to get on the fast break and opened up a lot of our offensive sets. We also did a good job attacking their offensive looks. They had eight three-pointers in the first half, but we forced them into 22 turnovers and scored 21 points off of that, and that really was the difference in the game."
 
The Vikings advanced to the semifinals of the tournament with the win Tuesday where they will face top-seeded Idaho, which beat eighth-seeded Northern Arizona 90-73 earlier in the day. The Vikings have made the semifinals three straight seasons now, something the Vikings have done only once before between the 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons.
 
The Vikings also tied the program's Big Sky era record with their 23rd win of the season, matching the win total from the Vikings' 2008-09 season, when they went 23-10.
 
Seniors Courtney West and Ashley Bolston combined for a number of good high-low plays during the Vikings' decisive third-quarter run. West put the Vikings up for the first time since the early minutes of the second quarter with a put-back layup that made it 43-42 Vikings with 4:01 remaining in the third. West fed Bolston who sent it back to West for another easy layup on the Vikings' next possession, and Bolston found West wide open down low the next time down the court to put the Vikings up 47-42.
 
West went 3-of-3 from the field in the third quarter for the Vikings, and scored seven of her 17 points in the period while grabbing five of her game-high eight rebounds.
 
The Bobcats made it interesting again with four straight points to get back within six at 52-46 with 7:22 remaining. The Viking defense stepped up each time the Vikings needed it, however, and held Montana State to only one field goal over the next four and a half minutes as they stretched their lead back into double figures. Senior guard Sidney Rielly fed West on the right block for another easy layup to give the Vikings their first 12-point lead of the game at 60-48 with 3:13 remaining.
 
Free throws then iced the victory for the Vikings, as Portland State went 8-of-8 from the line down the stretch. The Vikings finished the game 23-of-25 from the line, while the Bobcats went just 2-of-5 from the charity stripe.
 
Rielly went 12-of-12 from the free throw line, setting a new school record for most makes without a miss in a Big Sky tournament game. Rielly aggressively got to the line throughout the game despite battling through an off-shooting night. Rielly hit her first two three-pointers in the game, but then missed her next 10 shots from the field. Rielly finished with a team-high 18 points to go with five rebounds, three assists and a steal.
 
Rielly wasn't alone in having a rough shooting night, as the Vikings made just 5-of-19 from beyond the arc in the game.
 
The Vikings went five-plus minutes without scoring at the start of the second quarter while missing their first nine shots in the period. Montana State answered with an 11-0 run, including three straight from beyond the arc that put them up 31-23 with 5:45 remaining. Kuderer and Squires hit threes on back-to-back possessions to end the run, and they combined for seven of the Bobcats' eight first-half three-pointers between three for Kuderer and four for Squires.
 
The Bobcats' eight three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes were twice as many as they had in the entire game against the Vikings Saturday, and more they had in their first game against the Vikings back on Jan. 3 when they hit six from beyond the arc.
 
"We had to make some adjustments," Kennedy said of changing the looks against the Bobcats' three-point shooters. "We weren't rotating like we were Saturday, and some of that is to Montana State's credit. They came back with some different looks after Saturday, but I like how we adjusted at halftime. We started using our length again, keeping them in front, and then really rebounding well."
 
West broke the Vikings' dry spell with a jumper in the paint with 4:38 remaining, and freshman guard Desirae Hansen followed with a three-pointer with 3:10 remaining that brought the Vikings back within three despite their struggles at the start of the quarter.
 
The Viking defense stiffened from there, as they held Montana State to only two points over the final 5:45 before halftime. West made another layup off an assist from Bolston to make it 31-30, but Montana State's Madeline Smith made it a three-point game again with a second-chance jumper with 41 seconds remaining before the half.
 
The Bobcats had 11 offensive rebounds in the opening 20 minutes, but only four after halftime.
 
The Vikings forced the Bobcats into 22 turnovers Tuesday, and turned that into 21 points. Bolston had five steals in the game, while West, Jimenez, Hansen and freshman guard Ana Tainta all had two each.
 
Bolston finished with 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting from the field, and added six rebounds and six assists to go with her five steals. Hansen also hit double figures with 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting to go with five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.
 
The Vikings and Vandals tip off at 5:30 p.m. (MT) Wednesday with the winner advancing to the championship game of the Big Sky tournament Friday at 1 p.m. (MT).
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 29-35 all time against the Bobcats with their win Tuesday, as well as 20-26 in the Big Sky series between the two teams…The Vikings are 3-0 all time in the Big Sky tournament against the Bobcats after Tuesday's game…Tuesday was the sixth straight win for the Vikings against the Bobcats…Rielly moved into fifth place all time on her own with her 72nd career 10-point game…Rielly and West moved into a tie for ninth all time for games started, as they each started their 92nd career game Tuesday.