BOISE, Idaho — When taking out a defending champ, you've got to beat them two or three different times in a single game. The Portland State women's basketball team did that Sunday, going up early on second-seeded Montana State, then answering every run in a 77-65 quarterfinal win at the Big Sky tournament in Idaho Central Arena.
 
With the win, the Vikings advanced to the conference semifinals for the first time since they won the tournament altogether in 2019.
 
"What a win," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said afterwards. "Great job to Montana State. To have the unit they had, a great team, super well-coached. It took one of our best games, best performances to beat them. It makes that win feel even better. But they made us work and work and work some more for that win."
 
"For our players, the belief that they had today – the belief that they had yesterday and the game that we had – you can feel it. I was talking to [ESPN+ courtside reporter Alex Eschelman] afterwards and the highest compliment she gave was just the chemistry that you can feel. You can visibly see the culture and the chemistry that we're building, and again, that comes back to our players."
 
The win represented a complete reversal from the last time the teams played each other. Montana State (20-11) won that won, 63-34, at Viking Pavilion on Feb. 25. The 34 points represented a season low for the Vikings, as did their 18.2 percent shooting from the field against the Bobcats.
 
But Sunday, the Vikings (15-15) tied a single-game program record with 15 made three-pointers while beating the Bobcats for only the second time since 2019.
 
"[Playing on the first day of the tournament] it's a positive," Portland State sophomore Esmeralda Morales said of how Saturday's first-round win got the Vikings in a groove. "You get the feel of the court. You get the feel of the ball, the lights, it helps. At the same time, of course, you have the wear on your body and all that, but I think it helped us. We knew how it felt out there."
 
Morales led the way with six made three-pointers, five of which she hit in the first half. Jada Lewis followed with five makes from beyond the arc, matching the total she had Saturday in the Vikings' first-round win over Idaho State. Alaya Fitzgerald added another three from three-point range, while Cinco McCartney hit a big one after the Bobcats had closed within eight early in the fourth quarter.
 
Morales' six makes from the outside gave her a game-high 28 points Sunday, setting a new school record for a Big Sky tournament game. Lewis followed with 17 points – her second straight game at the tournament with 17 points – while Fitzgerald chipped in 16 points, five assists and four rebounds.
 
The threes started to come in a flurry at the end of the first quarter. The Bobcats jumped out to a 5-0 lead while holding the Vikings scoreless over the first 4:43 of game time.
 
The first three-pointer came from Lewis with 3:40 left in the first. That put the Vikings up for the first time – a lead they would not relinquish – while Fitzgerald and Morales followed with their first makes a few possessions later. Morales' first triple came with 1:36 remaining in the first quarter and capped a 15-0 PSU run that stretched over three-plus minutes of game time.
 
The Bobcats got back within eight a couple of times in the second quarter, but that would be as close as they'd come throughout the remainder of the game.
 
The Vikings opened the second half on a 13-1 run, stretching their lead to 21. Two buckets in the paint opened the spurt before the team's outside shooting again took center stage. Lewis, Morales and Fitzgerald all connected from the outside during the run, with Fitzgerald's triple putting the Vikings up 48-27 with 5:50 remaining in the third quarter.
 
The strong start to the second half helped silence what was largely a pro-Montana State crowd at Idaho Central Arena.
 
"Since it was a neutral-site, honestly, I didn't feel a difference of home-court advantage or non-home-court advantage," Lewis said of the pro-Bobcat crowd. "I felt there was great energy all around the gym. When they scored, when we scored. When they had more energy, it didn't affect us really. We stayed true to us, huddled up, and we handled it."
 
The Bobcats answered immediately with a three-point play from All-Big Sky second-team selection Kola Bad Bear, followed by a three-pointer from Leia Beattie. That got the Bobcats back within 15, and they'd drop it to an 11-point lead with less than a minute to go in the third. The Vikings countered with a picture-perfect in-bounds just before the third quarter horn, as Syd Schultz dropped it down low to Fitzgerald for a layup as time expired. That pushed it back to a 13-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
 
The Bobcats then made their final serious threat with five straight points to open the fourth quarter, including a three-point play from three-time All-Big Sky first-teamer Darian White. But McCartney answered immediately with what may have been the biggest shot of the night, hitting her first and only three-pointer from the corner to put the Vikings back up 11 with 7:50 remaining.
 
The Vikings went four and a half minutes without another field goal, but their defense held the Bobcats to only four points during that time while the Vikings got to the free throw line. The Vikings ended up with only two field goals in the fourth quarter – on 2-of-10 shooting in the quarter, no less – but the Vikings made up for it by going 14-of-18 from the line.
 
"Today, we talked about our mindset," Gregg said about how the Vikings were able to finish off the Bobcats. "Kudos to Julie Jones, who we work with as our performance coach. She's really helped us with, 'what's your mindset going to be? What's your approach to get the results that you want?' We talk about process with our team, not so much wins and losses but what we can control. I really thought that was on display today."
 
Besides their three-point shooting, the Vikings also narrowed the gap on the glass. The Bobcats outrebounded the Vikings by 18 in their win eight days earlier, but Sunday, it was only a three-rebound advantage for the Bobcats. McCartney led the way in that effort, as she grabbed 10 rebounds for only her second double-digit rebounding game of the season.
 
The new format of the Big Sky tournament now means that the Vikings have a day off before playing again in the semifinals. Third-seeded Sacramento State and sixth-seeded Idaho will face off against each other Monday with the winner advancing to face the Vikings Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. PT / 2:30 p.m. MT.
 
"Ice baths, a lot of ice baths," Morales joked about how the Vikings will use their day off. "I think it's helpful [to have the off day]. It's a rest day, but at the same time, we'll go scout. We'll go watch and be a spectator rather than a player. Just relax and have fun with the day off."
 
Considering how the Vikings have shot the ball through their first two games of the Big Sky tournament, it's going to take more than a few ice baths to cool down these Vikings.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 31-42 all time against the Bobcats with Sunday's win…The Vikings are now 4-0 against the Bobcats at the Big Sky tournament…At 15 wins overall this season, the Vikings have improved their overall win total from last season by 10, the second-best year-to-year improvement in overall wins in program history…The Vikings already set the program record for year-to-year improvement in conference wins with eight more than last season.