Portland State’s women’s basketball team lost a hard fought match to the Sacramento State Hornets, 84-82. Sacramento State finished their regular season 7-9 while the Vikings, at 6-8, still have two games left. The two teams are currently vying for the sixth and final spot in the Big Sky Tournament. It will now be an uphill battle for the Vikings to grab the spot, as they must win the final games of their season.
Portland State’s women’s basketball team lost a hard fought match to the Sacramento State Hornets, 84-82. Sacramento State finished their regular season 7-9 while the Vikings, at 6-8, still have two games left. The two teams are currently vying for the sixth and final spot in the Big Sky Tournament. It will now be an uphill battle for the Vikings to grab the spot, as they must win the final games of their season.
The Hornets will now sit and wait as the Vikings complete their final two games. By virtue of winning both games against the Vikings, Sacramento State owns the tiebreaker if they were to lose one game and win the other.
The Vikings will face fourth-ranked Montana for their final home game on Thursday, and then hit the road Saturday against third-ranked Northern Colorado for their final game of the regular season.
Head coach Sherri Murrell said the lesson the team learned from the Sacramento State loss can be summed up in one word: focus.
“This has happened too many times,” Murrel said. “We have been focused and then they hit a three and we go into the locker room [down] and that makes a big difference on our confidence. We have to stay focused in our next games, we are losing focus too much.”
The Vikings found themselves down early in the first half, and Murrell said playing catch-up isn’t the position they wanted to be in against a team like Sacramento State. The Hornets play a signature full-court press for their entire games, which makes coming back difficult.
The Hornets exploded in the second half, leaving the Vikings down by as much as 16 points. Up 75-64 at 3:38 left, it appeared that Sac State was going to take the game in possible double-digits. But the Vikings had an explosive comeback of their own.
Freshman forward Mikaela Rivard capped the Viking comeback attempt with three good free-throws off a fouled three-point attempt. Down just two at 84-82 with seconds left, Hornet Allie Morena grabbed the ball and despite multiple Viking attempts to foul the guard she ran the clock down for a Sacramento State victory.
“We dug ourselves in way too many holes,” Murrell said. “That’s all we did was come back, and really to be down 10-plus and be able to come back and almost win it that was pretty good…coming back against this team, it’s hard, I mean this team just beat the number one [Idaho State].”
Murrell said the performance of freshman players Rivard and reserve point-guard Lariel Powell was a highlight of the game. While senior guard Eryn Jones struggled to make her usual double-digit points, the freshmen and senior forward Shauneice Samms made their marks on the season.
Rivard said a solid bench performance would be important in the upcoming games.
“We need the bench to come in and play 110 percent and give it our all,” Rivard said. “Because we only have a couple of games left so we need to really give it everything, every time.”
Of the reserve players, Rivard made a career-high 15 points, her freshman counterpart Powell chipped in five and Samms registered a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. New starter freshman guard Allison Greene led the Vikings with 16 points.
While Samms led the Vikings in out-rebounding the Hornets, Rivard said that the Hornets took advantage of the boards they got, while the Vikings did not always do the same.
“I think we took care of the ball pretty well. It’s just rebounding really affected us. We didn’t rebound and they got the second chance shots,” Rivard said.
The Vikings need to make the necessary corrections to ensure a win against Montana’s grizzlies. Montana beat the Vikings in the first match-up of the season, but with their post-season on the line, the Vikings have extra motivation.
“To get the win is our goal,” Rivard said. “Just do whatever we can to win, and play our hearts out.”
The game will be the Vikings’ senior night, highlighting the three Portland State seniors: Jones, Samms and forward Stephanie Egwuatu. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Stott Center.
A look ahead
With their loss against Sacramento State behind them, the Vikings must now focus on the games ahead: Montana and Northern Colorado.
Montana
Montana comes into the game off a two-game winning streak. They most recently beat in-state rivals Montana State in a convincing 77-59 win. A young team with just one senior, the Lady Griz see a lot of shots from inside from their key post-player junior Katie Baker.
Northern Colorado
The Bears have won their past three games. They rely heavily on the duo of sophomore guard D’Shara Strange and junior forward Lauren Oosdkye. The two players lead the Bears in nearly every statistical category and have consistently been the high scorers and high rebounders for their team.
