The Portland State women’s basketball team broke their four-game losing streak by sweeping their two home games last weekend. The Vikings beat the Weber State Wildcats on Thursday night and the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks on Saturday. Although the Wildcats and ’Jacks are dead last in the Big Sky standings, head coach Sherri Murrell said the games were a much-needed confidence boost for the road-weary Vikings.
The Portland State women’s basketball team broke their four-game losing streak by sweeping their two home games last weekend. The Vikings beat the Weber State Wildcats on Thursday night and the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks on Saturday. Although the Wildcats and ’Jacks are dead last in the Big Sky standings, head coach Sherri Murrell said the games were a much-needed confidence boost for the road-weary Vikings.
The Vikings did not advance in the standings despite their winning weekend. They still sit in sixth place with their 5-5 conference record, but now they are just one game shy of fifth-placed Northern Colorado at 6-4. There are six games left in the regular season, and only Eastern Washington (9-2) has been able to secure a post-season appearance so far.
Although the games may not have been substantial in terms of standings, they were the antidote the Vikings needed to wash away the taste of a four-game losing streak.
“It was a feel-good win,” Murrell said after Thursday’s game against Weber State. “We needed to go away from a game like this. I don’t think we’ve done it since the Denver game [Dec. 20] where we really felt like that was 40 minutes of a feel-good win, and Weber, even though they’ve only won two games out of the year, they have put a lot of people in a position to be nervous about the outcome.”
The Vikings took the Wildcats 76-63. The game highlighted the Vikings’ shooting and rebounding abilities. They made seven of their first eight shots, and shot 51.7 percent from the field in the first half. Even after a surge by the ’Cats midway through the first half, the Vikings went into the locker room hot, up 43-29.
The Vikings have lost their past three games to second half resurgences, but this weekend they were able to keep pushing. The Vikings continued to press their momentum against the Wildcats and led to the end by double-digit points the entire time.
“We were playing like us,” junior guard Courtney VanBrocklin said. “We were playing our game, fighting for two halves, 40 minutes, and getting after every play, playing like we know how to do.”
The Vikings took their winning momentum into Saturday afternoon when they beat the Lumberjacks 73-59. The team took a few minutes to get into game mode. The ’Jacks came out early, scoring six unanswered points, but an early timeout gave the Vikings the chance to get on top of the game.
“I thought we were working the ball really well and I think we gained some confidence from the other night,” Murrell said. “I thought we were shooting well the other night, so the kids had a little more confidence in them tonight.”
The home team made the next 11 points, but the Lumberjacks took them into a back-and-forth battle. The home team poured on the shots with a 22-9 run and proved they could, indeed, finish both halves.
“I thought it was really good to stay focused and come out hard the second half,” senior guard Eryn Jones said. “They kind of let up a little bit so it was good that we kept going and pushing harder.”
The guard-heavy Vikings shifted away from their outside shots and turned to their posts instead. Senior forward Shauneice Samms had 12 points and three blocked shots. Guard Kate Lanz, who played post by Samms, tipped in 17 points and seven rebounds.
Murrell said that baskets inside the key by Samms and Lanz were important for the offensive success.
“The bottom line is the post players are wanting the ball and they’re really posting up,” Murrell said. “Sixteen assists tonight, and I think 19 the other night [against Weber State], and as long as the post players are wanting the ball, our guards are going to get it to them.”
Jones was the other high scorer on Saturday night. She made 16 points, which moved the Vikings to eighth-place all-time Viking scorers.
“I thought we did really well passing the ball around,” Jones said. “We were getting other people open, and our posts did really well today.”
The Vikings stay at home next weekend. They are slated for a non-conference match against Seattle 7 p.m on Thursday. The team then moves back to conference games on at 2 p.m Saturday against Sacramento State.
