CHENEY, Wash. — If Saturday's official re-start against Sacramento State was a lesson in the importance of game conditioning, the Portland State women's basketball team got a lesson in playing all four quarters Monday afternoon at Eastern Washington. The Vikings got back within five after trailing by as many as 21 points in the first half, but then were out-scored 22-3 in the fourth quarter of a 68-44 win for the Eagles at Reese Court.
If the game had just been the middle two quarters, the Vikings (5-7, 0-4 Big Sky) would have beaten the Eagles, 35-24. But the Eagles (4-11, 2-4 Big Sky) out-scored the Vikings 44-9 combined between the first and fourth quarters to mask a great comeback from the Vikings in the middle 20 minutes of the game.
"Credit to Eastern, they came out strong and they're playing with a lot of confidence after their win on Saturday versus Weber State," Portland State head coach
Chelsey Gregg said afterwards.
"We can't expect to win any games by scoring six or three points in quarters. I liked the energy and effort in the third. We showed some fight and resiliency, but we have to have more than a few minutes of that to win conference games."
The Vikings only had one field goal through the first 16 minutes of the game, but were still within striking distance at halftime thanks to a flurry from the free-throw line in the closing minutes of the second quarter. Two free throws from
Alaya Fitzgerald snapped a 10-minute scoreless streak for the Vikings with just over four minutes to go before halftime, and kicked off a 13-6 finish to the half for PSU.
Nine of the Vikings' last 13 points of the half came from the free-throw line, while 13 of the Vikings' 19 first-half points were from the charity stripe. The Vikings were shooting just 3-of-29 (10.3%) from the field at halftime, but were 13-of-14 (92.9%) from the line.
Esmeralda Morales hit three free throws right before halftime after she was fouled on a three-point attempt with four-tenths of a second left on the clock. That gave the Vikings momentum heading into the third quarter, when the Vikings out-scored the Eagles 22-13.
Fitzgerald came alive for the Vikings in the third quarter, as she scored 10 of her team-high 13 points in the period. The freshman scored eight points in an 11-0 run for the Vikings that got them back within five at 39-34 with 4:37 remaining in the third quarter. Fitzgerald kicked off the run with the first made three-pointer of the game for the Vikings – they were 0-of-11 before then – and then followed with a steal-and-score and another three-pointer to make it a game.
The Eagles responded with a crucial three-pointer of their own out of a timeout, but the Vikings got back within five again when
Jada Lewis hit another three-pointer that made it 44-39. Fitzgerald then scored her final bucket of the game on a fast break off a block from Lewis that made it 46-41 heading into the fourth quarter.
But the Eagles answered with the first 10 points of the fourth quarter, and then held the Vikings scoreless over the final five minutes of the game to run away with it once again.
After going 3-of-29 from the field in the first half, the Vikings rebounded to shoot 8-of-15 (53.3%) in the third quarter. A 1-of-12 shooting performance in the fourth quarter dropped the Vikings' percentage again, however, as the Eagles outshot them .375-to-.214 for the game.
The Vikings finished 16-of-17 from the free-throw line, increasing their season average to 79.3 percent as a team. The Vikings came into Monday ranked 18th in the nation for free-throw percentage, and will be in a position to rise in the rankings after their showing against the Eagles.
The Vikings will want more than just a high free-throw percentage as they go on, however. They continue on the road Thursday, when they'll face the Montana Lady Griz for the second of five straight away from home. Tipoff between the Vikings and Lady Griz is scheduled for 6 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. MT.
Game Notes: The Vikings fell to 35-41 all-time against the Eagles after Monday's loss...Monday was the first of five straight road games the Vikings will play in an 11-day span from Jan. 17-27…Morales went 6-for-6 from the line Monday, putting her at 38-of-40 (95.0%) for the season.
