MISSOULA, Mont. — It's perhaps fitting that the Portland State women's basketball team is on a road trip because the Vikings will pack up, drive out, and put Thursday night's game against Montana in the rear-view mirror as quickly as possible.
 
A 12-0 Montana run that bridged the second and third quarter turned a single-digit game into a 20-point game, while a 21-4 run between the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter put it completely out of reach, as the Lady Griz beat the Vikings 93-57 at Dahlberg Arena.
 
Thursday night's game marked the second leg of a grueling five-game road trip for the Vikings that spans 11 days from Jan. 17-27. The Vikings opened the road trip at Eastern Washington Monday, and will continue on to Montana State Saturday, Idaho on Jan. 24, and Southern Utah on Jan. 27.
 
It's the game against Montana State Saturday afternoon that will have the Vikings' full attention as they put the loss to the Lady Griz (11-4, 4-2 Big Sky) behind them.
 
Thursday started as a game of runs between the Lady Griz and the Vikings (5-8, 0-5 Big Sky). Montana broke a 7-7 tie with 13 straight points, but the Vikings responded with a 9-1 run to close the first quarter that included five points for Esmeralda Morales.
 
Morales knocked down her third three-pointer of the game early in the second quarter, which got the Vikings back within four at 28-24 with seven minutes remaining before halftime. Reilly Kelty then answered a Montana three with the second of her two second-quarter buckets to make it 31-26.
 
Montana garnered some momentum going into halftime, however, as Carmen Gfeller hit last-second three-pointer put the Lady Griz up 43-30 at the break. The Lady Griz then scored seven straight points to open the third quarter and take their first 20-point lead at 50-30.
 
Montana's three-point shooting was a thorn in the Vikings' side Thursday, the first time this season that an opponent has really hurt the Vikings from the outside. Portland State came into the game ranked fifth in the nation for three-point defense, having held opponents to 23.8 percent shooting from beyond the arc this season. No team had shot better than 33.3 percent from three-point range against the Vikings, while only five opponents had made more than five three-pointers in a game. Montana blew that up Saturday, however, as they went 41.4 percent on 12-of-29 shooting from three-point range, with both the percentage and makes marking new season-highs for a Viking opponent.
 
On the bright side for the Vikings, they improved their own shooting after hitting a season-low 21.4 percent from the field Monday against Eastern Washington. The Vikings shot 41.4 percent (12-of-29) in the first half and finished 36.2 percent (21-of-58) from the field for the game.
 
Alaya Fitzgerald led the Vikings in scoring for the third straight game, as she scored 10 of her team-high 12 points after halftime. Morales scored all 11 of her points in the first half, while Savannah Dhaliwal matched her with 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting to go with five rebounds.
 
The Vikings have a quick turnaround ahead of Saturday's game against Montana State, which tips off at 1 p.m. PT / 2 p.m. MT. 
 
Game Notes: The Vikings fell to 21-52 all-time against Montana after Thursday's loss…The Vikings had a season-low three steals in Thursday's game…The Vikings finished with only six assists, the third straight game – all since the restart – that the Vikings have finished with single-digit assists.