BOZEMAN, Mont. — The improvements in Saturday's Portland State women's basketball game won't result in a win for the Vikings – they lost 71-56 to Montana State at the Bobcats' Worthington Arena – but should lift morale in the middle of the Vikings' five-game road trip.
 
Saturday's game against the Bobcats followed a 93-57 loss at Montana in which the Vikings were out-rebounded by 20 and saw the Lady Griz shoot 49.2 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from three-point range. In contrast, the Vikings and Bobcats finished even, 41-41, in rebounds, while the Vikings held the Bobcats to 39.1 percent (25-of-64) shooting overall and 29.4 percent (5-of-17) from beyond the arc.
 
"We got better today, even if the score may not reflect that," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said after the game.
 
"We continue to place emphasis on showing up. Keep showing up, for your teammates and for yourself. Continue to focus on the process and not on the results and the growth will come."
 
The Vikings' effort on the glass marked their best performance against a Division I opponent since they out-rebounded Prairie View A&M, 41-39, in Hawai'i on Nov. 20. Nine straight Division I opponents had out-rebounded the Vikings since that game.
 
"Our rebounding was significantly better tonight due to better shot selection and better positioning defensively after watching film, but more just showing heart and a passion for it," Gregg said of her team's effort on the glass.
 
The Vikings didn't back up their rebounding with strong shooting numbers, however. The team went 14-of-52 (.269) from the field, the second time during the Vikings' past three games that they've shot well below 30 percent.
 
Junior Jada Lewis provided a bright spot for the Vikings, as she broke out for her best offensive output since the Vikings' win over Pepperdine on Dec. 10. Lewis scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting overall and 5-of-7 from three-point range. Four of Lewis' five three-pointers came in the first half, when she scored 12 of the Vikings' 28 first-half points.
 
Lewis' second three-pointer cut it to a five-point Bobcat lead at 26-21 with 6:06 remaining in the second quarter. The Bobcats pushed their lead back out to 14 with a 9-0 run, but Lewis answered with two straight triples around a Bobcat basket that made it 37-27 with just over a minute left before halftime.
 
Lewis' fifth three-pointer came early in the second half, as she knocked down a shot to make it 42-31 less than 90 seconds into the third quarter. But that would be as close as the Vikings got as the Bobcats maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half.
 
"It was great to see Jada's shot go in today. It was definitely a needed lift," Gregg said of Lewis.
 
The rest of the Vikings struggled from the field, going 8-of-43 (.186) from the field against the Bobcats without Lewis.
 
The Vikings' best offense, outside of Lewis, was to get to the free-throw line where they were 20-of-25 (.800) as a team. The 20 made free throws marked a season-high for a Viking team that came into the game ranked fourth in the nation at 79.8 percent from the line.
 
Freshmen Alaya Fitzgerald and Mia 'Uhila did most of their damage from the line. Fitzgerald went 6-of-6 from the line while scoring eight points to go with four rebounds and three assists. 'Uhila, meanwhile, went 5-of-6 from the line while finishing with seven points and two steals.
 
Savannah Dhaliwal led the Vikings' effort on the glass, as she finished with 10 rebounds (four offensive) to go with six points. Dhaliwal's 10 rebounds marked her most in a game since she had a season-high 11 against Prairie View A&M on Nov. 20.
 
The Vikings will take the improvements they made Saturday into a Monday afternoon matchup against Idaho. The game against Idaho will be the fourth leg of a five-game road trip for the Vikings that spans 11 days from Jan. 17-27. Tipoff between the Vikings and Vandals is scheduled for 2 p.m. PT.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings fell to 30-39 all-time against the Bobcats following Saturday's loss…Portland State coaches wore red in solidarity with Montana State's support for No More Stolen Sisters, a campaign to bring awareness to the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women…The Vikings' eighth made three-pointers, five of which came from Lewis, were the team's most since they hit 12 against Pepperdine on Dec. 10.