In the groove

After her team lost to Montana State at home on Jan. 31, putting a blemish on an otherwise (still) perfect conference record, head coach Sherri Murrell had one word to describe the Vikings’ (18-7. 11-1 BSC) defensive performance: “horrible.”

Following Portland State’s 62-49 victory over Weber State (8-16, 3-8 BSC) on Thursday night at the Stott Center, Murrell had a different adjective come to mind.

“Our defense tonight was outstanding,” she said. “We made all the adjustments we needed to. It was just an outstanding effort.”

At the outset of the second matchup of the season between the two teams, it looked as though the visiting Wildcats were in no mood to allow the Vikings to sweep them for the first time since the 1999–2000 season.

Perhaps remembering its loss at the hands of Portland State on Jan. 8, Weber State attacked early, taking control of the paint and scoring layups with ease.

The Vikings tried to counter by pushing the ball on offense, but their advances were forced, and they gave up four turnovers within the first three and a half minutes of action.

Veteran point guard and team leader Claire Faucher recognized the need for her team to make adjustments, and in her customary fashion, she took the matter into her own hands.

“Claire helped settle us down,” Murrell said. “She realized we were pushing the tempo but not scoring. She helped calm everyone down a little and found some rhythm to the offense.”

Once the Vikings’ offensive play began to click, the defense soon followed suit.

As their pressure on the ball tightened up, Portland State was able to nab seven first-half steals, three from Faucher, to force the Wildcats into a total of 10 first-half turnovers.

“[The Wildcats] were packing the ball inside early on, so our post players did a good job of forcing them to push the ball outside,” Murrell said.

Starting the second half with a 14-6 run, the Vikings built a solid lead behind the offensive spark of Kelly Marchant and Kelli Valentine, who combined for 24 points and 14 rebounds in the game.

In nine second-half minutes, freshman guard Eryn Jones made all three of her shots in the period, including the team’s lone three-pointer after the intermission, to help the Vikings push the game beyond reach for the Wildcats.

Coming off the bench to add defensive firepower, freshman forward Katy Wade took advantage of her increased minutes, making all three of her field goals and six points, three rebounds and two blocks in 12 minutes.

“Katy helps a lot on defense, but tonight she did a great job offensively,” said Murrell. “She was one of the real bursts of energy off the bench tonight.”

The win allowed Portland State to maintain its half-game conference lead over second-place Montana, and also guaranteed at least a top-two finish for Portland State in the Big Sky.