Regular season celebrations and post season woes

 The women’s basketball team has quite a season to look back on. The team landed a regular season championship, a shot at hosting the Big Sky Tournament, had three players named to All-tournament teams, and an honorable mention to the All-Region team. Although the team narrowly missed a second shot at the Big Dance, they still made an appearance at the WNIT tournament.

The Viks awed their fans when they beat the top-ranked Montana schools away and at home, giving the team its first-ever regular season title. With home court advantage in the Big Sky Tournament, the Vikings were able to end the Eastern Washington Eagles shot at tournament play.

In the next round, the Vikings (20-12 overall 12-4 conference), fought yet again against the Montana State Lady Griz for the third time in three weeks. However, this time it was the Griz who would take the victory and win the conference tournament with a narrow four-point victory. Even though it was the Lady Griz that ended the game in cheers, Portland State head coach Sherri Murrell said she couldn’t be more proud of the effort her team put forth.

The Vikings came into the season ranked third in both preseason polls behind Montana and Eastern Washington. They finished the preseason 7-6, but lost the opening two conference games on the road. The road continued to prove tough for the Vikings, as all four regular season losses were away and Portland State finished with a perfect regular season record at home. The Viks went on two major streaks in the regular season, a five-game streak starting with Northern Arizona and a six-game streak, which included the crucial wins over the Montanas.

Senior guard Lexi Bishop said that the shift in the performance on the road from the opening losses to beating the Montanas away for the first time in school history was due to simply seeing the end and wanting a favorable outcome.

“We knew if we didn’t change, then we didn’t have a chance to win the conference, which was our goal and the only thing we as seniors had left to do [in our careers],” Bishop said. “We knew the end was getting near and we needed to regroup and get back on track.”

The team regained focus and pulled out the regular-season conference title. Their top seeding gave the Viks an automatic bid to the second round in the Big Sky tournament, but unfortunately, the Viks were unable to fend off Montana State, which Murrell said was not a result of the difficulties of playing a team three times in a row.

“I don’t believe that [beating a team is harder the third time],” Murrell said, “I think it’s great that we know them well, this is going to be a game of heart, will, going to tell who’s going to outlast who.”

Portland State headed to the WNIT for postseason competition, but with the disappointment of the conference tournament still in their minds, the Vikings were outplayed by Wyoming 79-44. The loss proved to be the worst deficit for the Viks all season.

Bishop said that the team knows how to play in high-pressure games like this, but the focus wasn’t there.

“It was hard to get over the fact we were in the WNIT and not the NCAA,” Bishop admitted. “We were still frustrated about the outcome and we kept looking back on the loss against Montana. And many people were taking finals that week and we only had a 15-hour notice [before the game]. I don’t think our minds were in the right place the whole time.”

Despite how the season ended, the journey itself opened the eyes of fans and coaches alike to the depth of talent on the team. Alongside the four seniors, it was junior guard Eryn Jones who grabbed the attention of the region. The guard was named WBCA All-Region 8 Team. Jones earned the honor after being named the Big Sky Player of the Year prior to the Big Sky Tournament. This Saturday April 2, the NCAA will name the All-American team at 9 a.m. ET. Jones will join her four Region 8 nominees as part of the 52 national candidates in the running for the All-American Team.

The guard is the only Big Sky player to be ranked in the top 10 of eight conference categories. She also leads the Viks in average points at 13.9 ppg, three point field goal accuracy, free throw percentages and assists.

The junior will return to the court next season alongside her fellow guard, sophomore Courtney VanBrocklin. VanBrocklin was named Top Newcomer of the year and averaged 13.4 points. The two team leaders will have to step up even more now that the four Viking seniors, Bishop, forward Kelli Valentine, center Courtney Cremer and forward Kelly Marchant, are on their way out.

“It was a great season,” Bishop said. “It was tough to go out the way we did, but I don’t think that is what defined us a team. It was a very successful season and we did a lot of things that others before us haven’t.” ?