PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State women's basketball team showed some life in the second half Thursday, winning the second 20 minutes 36-31. But the Vikings still dropped the game to Montana, 73-61, on Pride Night at Viking Pavilion.
 
The Vikings (4-13, 1-7 Big Sky) fell behind by as many as 24. That came with 4:54 remaining in the third quarter, when the Lady Griz's Avery Waddington hit a layup to make it 56-32. The Vikings showed a little anger at how they were playing at that point. It suited them. The anger helped fuel the Vikings as they outscored the Lady Griz (8-12, 4-5 Big Sky) 29-17 the rest of the way.
 
The second-half victory won't count for anything. But it still marked the Vikings' first second-half win of the Big Sky Conference season and should give the Vikings some confidence heading into Saturday's game against Montana State.
 
"We keep talking about moral victories, but I also think you've got to take them where you can get them," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said of her team's fight in the second half. "If we had treated the first quarter [when the Vikings were outscored 29-13] like the last three quarters, it's a different ball game. We have to find a way to be ready to go.
 
"I liked the fight we showed. We continue to talk as a team that we have to be focused on us and fight no matter the outcome, and I thought we did that."
 
The Vikings got hot from three-point range in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter. The Vikings hit four of their five three-point attempts in the final 10 minutes, which helped them outscore the Lady Griz 17-10 in the final period.
 
Portland State finished 9-of-18 (.500) from three-point range for the game, setting season highs for both makes (tied) and percentage.
 
"We did a lot of things well against a good team [in Montana]," Gregg said of the team's offensive showing. "I liked that we had a lot more even scoring tonight. That's something that we need to continue to work towards."
 
Alaya Fitzgerald led the way, tying her career high for makes on 4-of-6 shooting from deep against the Lady Griz. Fitzgerald finished with a team-high 16 points, putting her in double figures for the seventh time out of eight Big Sky games this season.
 
Jamia Carter hit two of the other five three-pointers for the Vikings while Lana Wenger, Cici Ellington and Kyleigh Brown all connected for one each.
 
Ellington and Brown did most of their damage in the second half. They both finished with 11 points after combining for only two points in the first half. Ellington added six rebounds to her 11 points, putting her second on the team to Rhema Ogele (seven) and giving her a new season high.
 
The Vikings still never got close enough to really put the outcome in doubt in the second half. Montana led the game wire-to-wire and never led by fewer than 10 points after the opening quarter.
 
The Lady Griz put some initial distance on the Vikings with an 11-0 run midway through the first quarter. They'd finish with 29 points in the opening 10 minutes, setting a season high for a Viking opponent in a single quarter.
 
Montana's own three-point shooting – a strength coming into the game – helped the Lady Griz separate from the Vikings. Through three quarters, they hit 11-of-18 (.611) from distance. They went cold in the fourth quarter but still set a season high for a Viking opponent with 12 made three-pointers in the game.
 
It wasn't a complete 40-minute performance from the Vikings Thursday, then. But the second half gives the Vikings hope that it'll lead into a better showing Saturday, when they host league-leading Montana State for a 2 p.m. tipoff.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings fell to 22-57 all-time against Montana with Thursday's loss…It was the Vikings' first loss out of three Pride Nights so far (the Vikings beat Weber State on Pride Night in 2023, then Montana State in 2024)…The Vikings committed only eight turnovers Thursday, a new season low, though Montana still outscored the Vikings 14-4 off turnovers.
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