PORTLAND, Ore. — Grit separates winning and losing in basketball. Both teams will have their moments, but the grittier team pulls it out. Portland State has been that team recently.
 
Last Saturday, the Vikings saw a 16-point lead shrink to one entering the fourth quarter against Eastern Washington. The Vikings answered with a 7-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter, and they held on from there for an 80-71 road win over the Eagles.
 
Thursday night at Viking Pavilion followed a very similar script as the Vikings saw a 17-point lead shrink to nothing against Northern Colorado. But again, the Vikings responded. Alaya Fitzgerald scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter for the Vikings, while Esmeralda Morales scored the final five. Morales hit a three-pointer to make it a four-point game again with 2:09 remaining, and the Bears wouldn't make another field goal from there as the Vikings held on for a 56-52 win.
 
"We found a way," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said afterwards. "Can't say enough how proud I am of the team's progress. We handled their run. They came back and we didn't let that affect us.
 
"The next step is for us to close the door. Foot on the gas, we don't let teams back in it. But I thought [the win over Eastern Washington] gave us confidence tonight to say, 'hey, we were able to stop their runs. We found a way.' And ultimately our defense is what got it done."
 
Balance, as much as grit, defined the win over the Bears. Seven of the eight Vikings who played against the Bears scored in the game, while five of the eight scored at least six points.
 
Good distribution led to the Vikings' balance offensively. The Vikings (11-11, 6-6 Big Sky) assisted on 20 of their 24 field goals, by far their most assists and highest assist percentage within Big Sky play this season. The Vikings' previous conference high for assists was 14 against Weber State on Jan. 19, but those 14 assists came on 26 field goals, a much smaller percentage than Thursday night.
 
"Most times [tonight], we didn't settle for just an okay shot, we found a great shot," Gregg said of the assists. "To have 20 assists on not even a great shooting night, I think that says a lot about our team."
 
Four different Vikings recorded at least three assists in the game, while seven of the eight Vikings recorded at least one. Fitzgerald and Cinco McCartney led the way with five assists each, with McCartney's total representing a new career high. Jada Lewis tied her career high with four assists, while Morales added another three.
 
The Vikings assisted on 12 of their 13 field goals in the first half as they built a 13-point halftime lead. The defense went hand-in-hand with the distribution in building the Vikings' big early lead. The Vikings gave up only five points to the Bears (11-13, 4-9 Big Sky) in the second quarter, the fewest points they've allowed in a single quarter to a Big Sky opponent this season. While the Bears grabbed seven offensive rebounds in the quarter, they shot just 2-of-18 (.111) in the period.
 
A 6-0 run after Northern Colorado scored on its opening possession of the third quarter saw the Vikings' lead swell to 17 at 35-18. But that's where the Vikings' grit started to get tested.
 
The Bears immediately went on an 8-0 run to cut it to a nine-point game, then followed with a 16-4 stretch that saw them tie it at 44-all with 7:51 remaining in the fourth quarter. Free throw shooting – a strength of the Bears as they came in ranked second in the Big Sky in free throw percentage (.782) – led the Bears back. They had just one free throw attempt in the first half, but went 11-of-13 (.846) from the line in the second half while the Vikings were just 1-of-3 (.333).
 
Fitzgerald answered with a three-pointer – her second of the fourth quarter – to put the Vikings back in front, then followed with a drive and finish through contact that made it 49-44 with 6:05 remaining.
 
Morales took over from there, then, as scored the Vikings' last five points in the game. In addition to her late three-pointer, Morales hit a floater as the shot clock was winding down to put the Vikings up 56-52 with 23.4 seconds remaining.
 
A final defensive stop then sealed the deal. The Vikings held the Bears without a field goal over the final 3:32 of game time.
 
Thursday's win avenged an earlier loss to the Bears for the Vikings. The Bears beat the Vikings 75-56 in Greeley on Jan. 14, as they set their conference season highs for points (75) and field goal percentage (.482) against the Vikings. But Thursday was a different story. Not only did the Vikings hold the Bears to 52 points, they forced them into just 30.5 percent shooting, a far cry from their 48.2-percent mark in their previous game against the Vikings.
 
"Credit to our coaching staff on their scout and preparing our team to face them again tonight," Gregg said of the improvements from game-to-game against the Bears. "Last time, we were with them even into the third quarter before they just blew us out. Tonight, we were able to handle their run and not let them take the game."
 
Fitzgerald led the Vikings with 16 points, eight of which came in the fourth quarter. Morales scored five of her 12 points in the fourth quarter, as she and Fitzgerald combined for 13 of the team's 15 points in the final period.
 
Rhema Ogele finished with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting to go with five rebounds. Lewis and McCartney both did a little bit of everything. Lewis finished with seven points, eight rebounds and four assists, while McCartney totaled four points, seven rebounds and five assists. Syd Schultz also had six points and five rebounds.
 
Those four – Ogele, Lewis, McCartney and Schultz – all contributed to an improved effort on the glass for the Vikings. Last time the Vikings played the Bears, Northern Colorado outrebounded them by 18. Thursday night, while the Bears still finished with 19 offensive rebounds that led to 20 second-chance points, the total rebounding margin was only minus-two (36-to-38) for the Vikings.
 
Grit saw the Vikings improve on the glass. It's what the Vikings relied on in the fourth quarter after the Bears had come back, and it's what they'll lean on in every game the rest of the way.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 11-23 all time against the Bears with Thursday's win…The win snapped the Bears' six-game winning streak over the Vikings, while it was only the Vikings' second win in their last 16 games against the Bears…The Vikings have won their last four home games and are 4-2 at home in Big Sky play.