Coming off a win Saturday night against the UC Irvine Anteaters at home, the Portland State women’s basketball team looked to put away the Washington State Cougars on the road. The momentum went back and forth during the 40 minutes of play and it finally found its way to the Cougar bench at the end as Washington beat the Vikings 55-49.
The lead was exchanged 11 times before the Cougars were able to capitalize and pull out the victory. Poor shooting from the Vikings helped to secure the win for Washington as Portland State went 35.7 percent from the field and 50 percent from the free-throw line.
Portland State turned the ball over 11 times in the first half alone as Washington turned it over nine times. The Cougars were able to take a 25-22 lead into the locker room at the half.
Nikki Petticrew came alive in the second half and helped her team make an 8-1 run after nine straight points from Washington State. The game was decided in the last few minutes as Portland wasn’t able to exploit any weaknesses in the hardened Cougar team.
Petticrew had a team-high 13 points and six rebounds along with Jill Feller, who had seven boards and nine points. Not far behind were Nikki Sadowski with six rebounds and Staci Kleier with seven points.
With the loss the Vikings fall to 2-3 in the Big Sky league. Portland State must now look ahead to the remaining schedule.
On Thursday, the Vikings took on UC Riverside. Results of that contest were not available at time of press. On Saturday, Portland State will play host to Boise State here at home at 7:05 p.m.
While most students are relaxing and enjoying their winter break, the women’s basketball team will be hard at work, preparing for its remaining games. The line up for the Vikings looks like this; Portland (televised on ASCN), New Mexico, Cal State Northridge (televised on ASCN), Santa Clara, Brown, Weber State and San Diego State.