OGDEN, Utah — A hot shooting afternoon for Weber State saw the Wildcats cruise past the Portland State women's basketball team, 89-53, Saturday at Dee Events Center.
 
The Wildcats (5-12, 2-2) shot 64.3 percent (36-of-56) from the field against the Vikings (5-11, 0-4), topping 66.7 percent in each of the first three quarters of the game. The Wildcats went 11-of-15 (.733) while scoring 30 points in the third quarter alone, as they stretched what was already an 18-point game at halftime into a 34-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
 
The Wildcats are the second team to shoot over 60 percent from the field against the Vikings this season. Kansas City also topped the mark with a 62.7 percent shooting percentage against the Vikings on Jan. 3. That was the second-best shooting percentage by a Viking opponent in the 18 seasons at the time, but Weber State surpassed it Saturday. Weber State's mark trails only the 68.0 percent Eastern Washington shot against the Vikings on Jan. 15, 2015.
 
The Vikings got open looks themselves at times but struggled to keep pace with the Wildcats offensively. They opened the game by going 4-of-16 (.250) in the first quarter and finished at 32.2 percent (19-of-59) from the field.
 
The tough start shooting was unfortunate considering the Vikings did a better job taking care of the ball early in the game Saturday. Two days after Idaho State scored 18 of its first 30 points off PSU turnovers, the Vikings only gave up three turnovers in the opening quarter against the Wildcats.
 
It appeared as if that would be the key difference early on, as the Vikings led 9-6 early after back-to-back three-pointers from Alaya Fitzgerald and Esmeralda Morales. But the Wildcats would outscore the Vikings 24-4 over the next nine minutes of game time and didn't look back from there.
 
Fifty-six of Weber State's 89 points Saturday came from inside the paint. The 56 points were the most the Vikings have given up to an opponent inside the painted area this season.
 
A positive for the Vikings came in the play of Mia 'Uhila. Morales did her usual thing by leading the Vikings with 18 points, but 'Uhila joined her in double figures this time with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 from three-point range. It was 'Uhila's first time in double figures in the past six games, breaking her out of an offensive slump since the Vikings' game against Portland on Dec. 20.
 
'Uhila added a team-high six rebounds to her 13 points, three of which came on the offensive end.
 
No other Vikings went into double figures besides Morales and 'Uhila, however. Rhema Ogele was next on the scoresheet with eight points to go with four rebounds.
 
The Vikings head back to Portland for two games at Viking Pavilion next week. They'll host Northern Arizona Thursday at 6 p.m., before Northern Colorado comes in Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
Game Notes: Weber State's win gives the Wildcats a 32-31 lead in the all-time series between them and the Vikings…Before this season, opponents had shot over 60 percent against the Vikings only four times over the past 18 seasons (game-by-game records are incomplete before then).
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