PORTLAND, Ore. — The feels-like temperature outside Viking Pavilion throughout Thursday's game between Portland State and Montana was hovering at 12 degrees Fahrenheit. But we can guarantee you, the temperature of the ice in the veins of the Vikings was even colder.
 
Down four with 11.6 seconds left in regulation, the Vikings (13-13, 8-8 Big Sky) sandwiched two three-pointers around two Montana free throws to tie it at 66-all and send it to overtime. Esmeralda Morales hit the first, getting the Vikings within one at 64-63 with 2.9 seconds remaining. Cinco McCartney hit the second, getting the in-bounds pass back from Morales and banking in a deep three with no time left on the clock.
 
Morales hit another big three late in overtime, putting the Vikings in front at 73-72 with 25.0 seconds remaining. Morales added a free throw with 4.0 seconds left after Jada Lewis stole the ball on the previous defensive possession. Montana (13-14, 9-7 Big Sky) had one final look at a potential game-tying midrange jumper, but Syd Schultz played solid defense on All-Big Sky first-teamer Carmen Gfeller, and the shot clanged off the rim.
 
The 74-72 overtime win extended the Vikings' home winning streak to six straight games, the last five of which have been by a combined margin of 13 points. The Vikings are now 5-0 in games decided by five points or less, and that 5-0 mark includes a two-point win Thursday and two one-point wins earlier in the season.
 
"Great job by our staff to get us ready for that game, and then our kids just stepped up," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said after the game. "We found a way, and the players believed all the way through. At times, we haven't had that, but the games that we're able to finish, we do."
 
Thursday's win over the Lady Griz may have been the Vikings' most improbable last-second win yet. The Vikings trailed by eight with less than four minutes remaining against a Lady Griz team that beat them by 32 in Missoula earlier in the season.
 
An accidental elbow to Schultz's nose turned some of the momentum back to the Vikings. The intentional foul resulted in four points for the Vikings between two free throws from Morales and a second-chance layup from McCartney. That cut the deficit in half at 62-58 with 2:48 left in regulation.
 
Both teams went cold from there as no one scored for more than two minutes. Morales finally broke the deadlock, getting loose on an in-bounds play for a layup with 19.5 seconds remaining.
 
The Vikings only had committed one foul at that point, however, leaving them needing to foul four times in order to get Montana to the line and get the ball back. The Vikings finally got the Lady Griz to the line with 11.6 seconds remaining, and the Lady Griz's Gina Marxen hit two free throws to put the Lady Griz up four at 64-60.
 
The initial play for the Vikings went to Alaya Fitzgerald, but she missed a three from the wing. Fitzgerald followed her own shot, though, collecting the loose rebound and passing back out to Morales who hit a three from straightaway.
 
Marxen hit two more free throws with 2.0 seconds remaining, but McCartney followed with her banked-in three to send the game to overtime.
 
McCartney set new career highs for points (15) and rebounds (12), giving the junior newcomer her first double-double as a Viking. She finished the game as a plus-18 in the plus/minus column, making her by far the largest difference maker in the game.
 
"I can't say enough about Cinco's performance tonight," Gregg said of McCartney. "With her maturity, and just her experience, but also just her competitiveness. When she's ready to go and locked in, she's just a difference maker. Whether that's on the boards, or whether that's getting stops. And then she's really expanded her game to be able to be a shot maker when we need it. She's put in the work and she's seeing the results, and that's exciting. I'm happy for her."
 
Morales led all scorers with 27 points, 20 of which came in the second half and overtime. Jada Lewis also went into double figures with 14 points to go with five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Rhema Ogele chipped in nine points and nine rebounds, four of which came on the offensive end.
 
The Vikings' success on the glass was one of biggest differences between Thursday night's win and the team's earlier loss to the Lady Griz. In their first game, the Lady Griz out-rebounded the Vikings by 14. Thursday, that margin shrunk to two (46-to-44).
 
The Vikings won the battle on the offensive glass, as they turned 16 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points. Last time, the Lady Griz out-scored the Vikings 16-6 in second-chance points, but Thursday, it was 19-10 in favor of the Vikings.
 
The Vikings also limited the Lady Griz's success from three-point range Thursday. In their first game, the Lady Griz shot 13-of-26 (.500) from three-point range, but Thursday, they finished just 6-of-22 (.273) from the outside.

The win keeps the Vikings in the hunt for one of the top six seeds at next week's Big Sky tournament. The top six teams all get a bye into the quarterfinals, while the No. 3-6 seeds don't play until Monday, March 6. After Thursday night, the Vikings remain tied with Idaho for sixth in the conference, putting them just a game behind Eastern Washington and Montana, which are now tied for fourth in the standings.
 
A win Saturday against conference-leader Montana State would go even farther. The Vikings can hopefully rely on a more typical home game and crowd than Thursday's game, which featured a one-hour delay and a pre-game advisory for fans to not show up. Even with that advisory, a select group of Montana fans filtered in, having already made the trip to see their team. Several Portland State students followed suit, coming over from their dorms with nothing else going on on campus.
 
"When we see all the other PSU teams that were there, it matters. Because when we first walked into the gym, all we saw were UM fans. I was like, 'oh, we're home. What's going on?' So, our fans really gave us a lift. That support was really big for us tonight."
 
That small group of fans were certainly treated to an epic finish Thursday.
 
After the game, they had to go back out into the weather that felt like 12 degrees. That'd be cold for most, but these Vikings are colder.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 22-54 all time against the Lady Griz…The Vikings are now 2-0 in overtime games this season, having also won 80-73 at Seattle U on Nov. 17 earlier this season…The Vikings have now improved their conference win total from last season by eight – tied for the second-best year-to-year turnaround in Big Sky Conference history.