Perfection lives on

In their most difficult test of this early season, the Portland State women’s basketball team overcame several challenges to remain undefeated, notching a signature victory over Gonzaga (4-1) in the Stott Center Sunday afternoon.

Despite trailing by as many as 11 points at one point, the Vikings (5-0) rallied around primetime performances from star players, scoring 12 consecutive points in the final minutes to hand the Bulldogs their first loss of the season 75-72.

“They are a very good team, and they will be in the NCAA tournament,” said head coach Sherri Murrell about Gonzaga. “We knew that they would be a very big challenge for us.”

Gonzaga, which has posted easy victories over Washington, Nevada, Marquette and Montana thus far, demonstrated dominant play at times, but in the end were unable to slow the potent offensive combination of sophomore point guard Claire Faucher and junior forward Kelsey Kahle.

“Kelsey does what she does, that’s why she is so good. She refuses to be stopped,” Murrell said. “And Claire had an amazing game distributing and scoring the ball.”

Kahle struggled early in the game, but scored 18 of her 21 points in the second half, while Faucher pieced together an all-around performance with 17 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and seven steals.

The matchup featured two squads with contradicting offensive styles, as the Vikings usually look to push the tempo whenever possible and rely on outside shooting, while the Bulldogs typically pound the ball inside at every opportunity.

Both offensive approaches proved to be effective as the two squads were able to exert their will on offense at times. Gonzaga had 38 points in the paint and won the rebounding battle, but the Vikings struck back with 17 fast break points and went 18 of 22 from the foul line.

“This was a great win for us, and a really well-played game for both teams,” Murrell said.

The Vikings will hit the road this week to face the University of California, Davis Tuesday, before returning home to meet Long Beach State in the Stott Center at 2 p.m. next Saturday.

Vikings vs. Gonzaga

Pts, Reb, Ast, Min Kelsey Kahle, F 21, 4, 0, 24Erin Yankus, C 4, 2, 2, 20Delaney Conway, W 8, 7, 0, 35Claire Faucher, PG 17, 7, 10, 35Lexi Bishop, W 8, 3, 1, 31 Kelli Valentine 6, 4, 1, 28Kelly Merchant 7, 1, 0, 12

Field goal percentage: 42.9 percentThree-point percentage: 27.3 percent Free throw percentage: 81.8 percent