BOX SCORE

PORTLAND, Ore. — Teams that test themselves get better. The Portland State women's basketball team got a test Sunday in an exhibition game against Montana Tech, but passed the test while winning 63-55 at Viking Pavilion.
 
The Vikings trailed the Orediggers 26-24 at halftime but responded with a strong third quarter that included a 13-0 run that gave the Vikings the lead for good.
 
"It was really good for us to play against someone who made us work," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said afterwards. "I'm happy with how we responded. To have us go up and feeling good and then we have to find a way was good for us. I want to continue to put ourselves in those spots. We can learn and grow from that.
 
"Sure, we'd love that margin to be larger, but the reality is when you have that sometimes you don't learn as much."
 
The Vikings got to the basket while making their run in the third quarter. That had been a struggle in the first half, when the Vikings scored six of their nine field goals from three-point range while shooting 27.3 percent (9-of-33) from the field.
 
They flipped that in the third quarter, scoring six of their nine field goals in the period at the basket while also forcing turnovers and scoring in transition. That was reflected in the team's second-half shooting percentage, which rose to 55.6 percent (15-of-27).
 
"We needed to stop relying on the three," Gregg said of encouraging the team to get to the paint. "We were getting some good looks, but they just weren't falling for whatever reason.
 
"Go to the basket. Make them defend. Make them keep you in front and then good things happen when we do that."
 
Gregg played point guards Kyleigh Brown, Taylor Moffat and Laynee Torres-Kahapea together for all but a few minutes of the third quarter. She had teased playing the three together during the preseason, and the trio delivered, scoring 18 of the team's 21 points in the third quarter while assisting on seven of the team's nine field goals.
 
Those three played well throughout Sunday's exhibition. Moffat led the Vikings with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-8 from three-point range. Torres-Kahapea added eight points and six assists, while Brown filled the stat sheet with nine points, five rebounds and five assists.
 
"When we have good decision makers on the court, good things happen. They were able to attack and I think with the size that they were going against us, that was a good lineup for us," Gregg said of playing the three together.
 
Brown helped kickstart the Vikings' decisive run in the third quarter. She hit a jumper to start the burst, then dished to Moffat and Rhema Ogele on back-to-back possessions to put the Vikings back in front at 32-31 with 4:58 left in the period. Moffat then scored on back-to-back fast breaks to extend the lead, while Torres-Kahapea followed with a layup off a Montana Tech turnover to cap the run at 38-31 with 3:27 remaining.
 
The Vikings extended their lead to 12 with five quick points at the start of the fourth quarter. Alaya Fitzgerald hit a three-pointer – her third of the game – on the Vikings' opening possession of the period. Brown then took a steal the whole way to give the Vikings a 50-38 lead with 9:00 remaining.
 
The Orediggers eventually cut the lead back to four at 56-52. They had a look at a layup to cut it to two with two minutes remaining, but fumbled the pass out of bounds. Moffat took advantage of that mistake with a dagger three-pointer at the end of the shot clock that give the Vikings a 59-52 lead with 1:39 remaining.
 
Rhema Ogele hit two free throws with 42 seconds left that both sealed the win and gave her a double-double of 10 points and 15 rebounds. Ogele's 15 rebounds – five of which came on the offensive end – would have been a new career high had they come in a regular-season game.
 
"To start with a double-double is great," Gregg said of Ogele. "We'll lean on her quite a bit. She was able to stay on the floor for us, too, and that's a focus for us. We need her to be able to play good minutes for us [this season]."
 
Sunday's exhibition saw the Vikings share the ball well with 17 assists on 24 field goals. That's a better assist percentage (70.8%) than all but three of the Vikings' games last season. That's a goal that Gregg has stated for her team coming into the season, and through Sunday's exhibition, the Vikings delivered.
 
Besides Torres-Kahapea (6) and Brown (5), Fitzgerald added four assists to go with 13 points.
 
The Vikings officially open their season Saturday when they host Hawaii at 7:30 p.m. at Viking Pavilion. Sunday's exhibition helped formulate the lesson plan for the Vikings over the next week leading up to that game.
 
Because after today, everything counts.
 
"Our message to the team is to only worry about us. Not what other people are doing. Not what they see from other teams or other scores. But just worrying about where we're at. When we take care of ourselves, we'll be able to compete," Gregg said.