MISSOULA, Mont. — A short-handed Portland State women's basketball team couldn't keep up with one of the Big Sky Conference's top offenses Thursday, as Montana ran away from the Vikings, 87-46, at Dahlberg Arena.
The Vikings (5-14, 0-7) were without three players on the trip –
Cinco McCartney,
Lana Wenger and
Alani Encinas – as well as assistant coach
Ashley Bolston. McCartney has been out since the Vikings' game against University of Portland on Dec. 20, but missed the trip to Montana due to undergoing surgery on her torn ACL. Wenger, Encinas and Bolston, meanwhile, all stayed home due to illness.
Of course, the way to turn the lemons associated with an absence into lemonade is for a new player to step up. That can be especially encouraging during a touch stretch like the Vikings are going through, and
Sofía Llanos provided that bright spot for the Vikings Thursday. She set a career high with 10 points against the Lady Griz (13-5, 5-2) while making her first career start Thursday. Llanos also set career highs for field goals (4), steals (2) and minutes played (25) while tying her career high with four rebounds.
Still, it wasn't enough for the Vikings against a Montana team that has now won 10 of its last 12 games.
Wenger's absence, along with the ongoing absence of McCartney, certainly hurt the Vikings in their efforts on the glass. Montana out-rebounded the Vikings 51-to-26 Thursday, which led to an 18-0 advantage for the Lady Griz in second-chance points. Rebounding was a known strength for the Lady Griz, who came into Thursday leading the Big Sky Conference in rebounding margin (+6.4) while ranking second in total rebounds per game (38.3).
The other known strength for the Lady Griz came from three-point range where Montana entered Thursday leading the Big Sky and ranked third nationally with 10.2 makes per game. The Lady Griz surpassed that average with 14 makes against the Vikings while shooting 51.9 percent from beyond the arc.
Montana's three-point shooting helped them separate from the Vikings initially. The Lady Griz went 5-of-7 from deep in the first quarter while building a 26-18 lead after the opening 10 minutes. The Vikings got back within two at 20-18 after five straight points from
Esmeralda Morales and one of two free throws from
Mia 'Uhila. But the Lady Griz answered with back-to-back three-pointers to spark a 10-0 run that extended their lead to double figures.
It was a 15-point Montana lead at halftime and the Lady Griz kept pushing it the rest of the way.
Llanos' career-high 10 points led the Vikings in the game. No other Viking went into double figures, though four others recorded at least six points.
The Vikings shot 47.1 percent from (8-of-17) the floor in the opening quarter, but then went cold from there. They finished at 32.8 percent (19-of-58) for the game, including a 21.4-percent mark (6-of-28) in the second half.
Thursday's game represented the opener of a four-game road trip for the Vikings. They'll continue on the road Saturday, as they hop over to the east side of Montana to face Montana State at 1 p.m. PT / 2 p.m. MT.
Game Notes: The Vikings fell to 22-55 all time against Montana following Thursday's loss… Morales, the Big Sky's leading scorer, was held under 10 points for the second straight game after scoring 10+ points in the team's first 17 games of the season.
