PORTLAND, Ore. — There's something about Pride Nights for the Portland State women's basketball team. A year ago, Esmeralda Morales hit a game-winning three-pointer to beat Weber State on Pride Night. Thursday night, the Vikings erased an 11-point second-half deficit to beat Montana State, 60-55, at Viking Pavilion.
 
Play proud with your chin up and good things happen.
 
"Total team effort. That's a good team on the other side of the ball. But what a complete team win," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said after the win over the Bobcats.
 
"Tonight, I think we showed the resiliency that we're continuing to try and build. It's hard when you are reminded at times [of previous struggles] and there's a lot of outside noise, but ultimately when we have everyone on the same page and we care, we see what can happen. When we have the belief and we all come together and play for each other, you see it."
 
The Vikings (7-20, 2-13) went down 42-31 with 4:42 remaining in the third quarter, but then took over the game from there, outscoring the Bobcats (14-13, 8-6) the rest of the way. The 11-point second-half deficit is the biggest the Vikings have made up since overcoming a 12-point deficit in a 74-72 overtime win over Montana on Feb. 23 last season.
 
Mia 'Uhila and Laynee Torres-Kahapea combined for three straight three-pointers after the Bobcats went up 42-31 to help spark the comeback between them. 'Uhila hit the first and third in the 9-0 run, while Torres-Kahapea hit the middle one. Torres-Kahapea showed some fire after connecting on the triple, backpedaling to the half-court line where she celebrated with 'Uhila and Rhema Ogele as the Bobcats called a timeout.
 
That swagger spread across the team in the second half as the Vikings seized control. Portland State outshot the Bobcats .583-to-.226 in the second half while only giving up four turnovers to a Montana State defense that came into the game leading the Big Sky in turnovers forced and steals per game.
 
"A difference for me in the second half was we were making good decisions. We were taking shots that we were supposed to take. We were reading the defense a little bit better, and then ultimately we were making them," Gregg said.
 
"Our starting five showed out. That's what we've asked of them. Super proud of this team for fighting back."
 
Morales became Captain Swagger for the Vikings in the fourth quarter, as she carried the Vikings over the finish line. Her three-pointer with 5:10 remaining gave the Vikings the lead for good, while she scored the team's final seven points of the game to shut the door on the Bobcats.
 
Twice, the Bobcats cut the Vikings' lead to a single possession within the final two minutes, and Morales answered each time. She hit a step-back three-pointer with 26.8 seconds remaining that iced the game essentially at 60-55, which ended up being the final score.
 
Morales accounted for 12 of the Vikings' 18 points in the fourth quarter, while she scored 18 of her game-high 20 points in the second half when she was 7-of-10 from the field.
 
"That's the Esme that we know," Gregg said of Morales' play in the fourth quarter. "She has to work extremely hard to get shots, but that's the kind of player she is, and we know is in there. Tonight, she really stepped up to the challenge and came through for us when it mattered."
 
The win marks the Vikings' second in a row at Viking Pavilion. The Vikings initially broke through with a 59-53 win over Idaho State on Feb. 10 that snapped a 15-game losing streak. Thursday night, the Vikings reversed some more bad fortune, as they entered the game 0-17 when trailing at halftime.
 
You can check off that box now, as the Vikings came back Thursday.
 
The strong second half meant the Vikings cracked 50 percent from the field for the second straight game. The Vikings shot 51.1 percent (23-of-45) against the Bobcats, bettering the conference season high they set last Saturday when they shot 50.9 percent at Northern Arizona. Three different Vikings finished in double figures between Morales (20), Lana Wenger (13) and 'Uhila (10).
 
It was the Wenger show early for the Vikings. She accounted for 11 of the Vikings' first 15 points while scoring all 13 of her points in the first half. Wenger's hot first half helped keep the Vikings in contact with the Bobcats, who shot 50.0 percent (14-of-28) from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The Bobcats still got a big momentum play at the end of the first half, when Madison Hall beat the buzzer on a three-pointer to put the Bobcats up 34-25 heading into the break. They then pushed their lead to 11 points twice in the third quarter before the Vikings came storming back.
 
The Vikings still hadn't led since early in the first quarter when Morales connected on her first three-pointer that put the Vikings up with just over five minutes remaining. Alaya Fitzgerald followed with her biggest bucket of the game, cleaning up a missed layup to put the Vikings up three with 3:02 remaining.
 
That came after the Vikings held the Bobcats scoreless on three straight opportunities on the other end. The Bobcats got a second chance when they received a jump ball after a shot got stuck between the rim and the backboard. They then got a third opportunity when the Vikings were called for a foul on the rebound. None of it mattered, as the Vikings forced a shot clock violation and took it from there.
 
Morales followed Fitzgerald's second-chance bucket with a steal-and-score, putting the Vikings up 55-50 with under three minutes remaining.
 
The defensive effort on Montana State's three straight chances late in the fourth quarter was indicative of how the team played throughout the second half. The Bobcats shot 50.0 percent in the first half, but then went just 7-of-31 (.226) from the field in the second half. That included going 1-of-15 (.067) from three-point range in the second half after they were 5-of-9 (.556) in the first half.
 
"That's a belief thing," Gregg said of the team's defensive effort in the second half. "I hope we can carry this forward. You see what happens when we show up. I don't think our defense has been terrible, but we haven't forced people to miss. And tonight, I felt like we forced people to miss shots and were able to take advantage on the offensive end."
 
Thursday's win marked a dramatic turnaround from the teams' first meeting against each other. Montana State won that 71-50 on Jan. 27 while outscoring the Vikings 48-8 in the paint. Thursday night, the Vikings held the Bobcats to only 18 points in the paint while scoring 20 themselves.
 
That's a big turnaround.
 
It's what happens when you play with pride. And there's no better night to do that then on Pride Night.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 32-43 all-time against the Bobcats with Thursday's win…Morales passed Kelli Valentine (2007-11) to move into 10th place all-time on the career scoring list at Portland State…Morales also became just the fourth player in program history to hit 200 career three-pointers, as she connected on her 200th and 201st in the fourth quarter…'Uhila added five rebounds and five assists to go with her 10 points while going 3-of-3 from the field.
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