The Portland State women’s basketball team fell Saturday to top-ranked Idaho State. The Bengals (19-6, 11-2 in conference) beat the Vikings in nearly all categories, most notably defense. Outrebounded, the Vikings were unable to keep the Bengals’ runs in check.
The Portland State women’s basketball team fell Saturday to top-ranked Idaho State. The Bengals (19-6, 11-2 in conference) beat the Vikings in nearly all categories, most notably defense. Outrebounded, the Vikings were unable to keep the Bengals’ runs in check.
This loss was a tough one for the Vikings who are fighting for the final spot in the Big Sky Tournament. At 13-11, 5-6 in conference, the Vikings are now just two games ahead of seventh-ranked Sac State.
The Vikings struggled with shots and recorded only a 35.3 percentage shooting. When they were able to get runs in, Idaho State responded with fast-paced offense and outside shots.
Freshman guard Allison Greene, who made her first appearance as a starter, said the team had to change tactics against the Bengals.
“They’re a great defensive team,” Greene said. “When we’re having a hard time scoring, we have to make more defensive stops. They hit some tough shots and moved the ball around well, and we weren’t able to make the comeback. We had some good runs, but we fell short in the end.”
Greene averages just 14.3 minutes a game, but tonight the freshman played 32 minutes and had 13 points.
The Bengals took the lead early and held on to it. Midway through the second half the Vikings had a second wind. A full-court press helped them get the ball back on offense. Junior guard Courtney VanBrocklin made two sets of free throws followed by a three-pointer to bring the score within six with just over 11 minutes in the half.
“We had some good runs against them and then they would answer with a three and we in the past would have answered back,” Murrell said. “We just haven’t had an answer tonight.”
Unfortunately for the Vikings, the Bengals pulled ahead by double digits before the game was over. The Vikings tried to foul to regain possession, but the Bengals sunk all but one free throw. The Vikings pushed through to the last minute, but the Bengals won 70-59.
“We need to box out on every play,” Greene said. “We gave up some offensive boards that gave them some momentum; I think we need to focus on that, work on that. We need to make those stops earlier in the game.”
The Vikings only had three offensive rebounds in the first half, and just eight overall. Although they ended the game with low accuracy, four Vikings still ended the game in double-digit scoring.
But, like Murrell and Greene said, the offensive was not the big area of concern—defense was. The Bengals had 41 rebounds to the Vikings 26.
“They killed us on the boards,” Murrell said. “They shot six for 19 threes, so there’s going to be long rebounds, so unfortunately, some went over our heads, but there was a lot of rebounds we could have had…unfortunately the last two nights we’ve just been killed [on rebounds].”
Murrell said defense in general needs to be focused in on the crucial Sacramento State game next weekend. Sac State sits just two games behind the Vikings at 4-9 in conference. The teams have not yet faced each other, so they still have two games to fight for the final spot in post-season play.
“We need to stay positive; that was a good team that we lost to,” Murrell said. “We’re not playing well, but I thought our effort was there…really it comes down to defense. We’re just giving up too many points and we’re not able to score we got to stay positive and play defense.”
The Vikings hit the road Saturday for their contest against Sac State. The game is slated for 1 p.m. and can be followed by going to goviks.com.
