Vikings win with free throws

In the end, it all came down to a pair of free throws for the Viking women’s basketball team to secure a win over Northern Colorado. The nail-biting finale gave the home team a 62-61 victory over the visiting Bears. The win sets the Vikings at 11-5; 6-1 in conference standing.

In the final moments of the game, at a one-point deficit, the Vikings struggled to secure a final run against the Bears―and after a series of missed shots, they did. An inbounds play made specifically for sophomore Kate Lanz and junior Karley Lampman created an opportunity for the Vikings to score and turn the game in their favor.

Senior guard Eryn Jones sought Lanz for the final play. Lanz shot and missed, but was fouled in the process, putting her on the charity stripe with just over three seconds on the clock. Lanz made not just one, but both of her baskets, and gave the Vikings the night’s win.

“You train yourself to clear your mind and remember it’s like any other free throw,” Lanz said. “So I was focusing on hitting it and getting into defense so we didn’t let a quick basket happen.”

The night might not have been Lanz’s biggest offensive performance, she grabbed just 12 points compared to her 25.7 point average, but her perfectly shot free throws proved to be the story of the night.

Head coach Sherri Murrell said the turnovers late in the second half almost sunk the Vikings’ win, but that Lanz―who has been one of four players ill with the flu this week―came in when it really mattered.

“We have a great offensive team,” Lanz said. “It doesn’t matter who scores, everybody plays their hardest, and everybody wants to win. That’s really rare for a team.”

Neither team was able to hold a solid lead throughout the game, but the Bears managed to go into the locker room at half up by seven points after forward Lauren Oosdyke made a three-pointer from well outside the arc at the buzzer. After the break, the back-and-forth scoring continued with both teams putting the defensive heat on their opponents.

“They did a good job on us defensively,” Murrell said. “Everything we earned tonight was really hard, I think we just have so many offensive powers.”

Midway through the second half, the Vikings appeared to have found their rhythm after they went up 54-49, but the Bears were not done. Portland State went on to make just one basket throughout the next nine minutes. Junior Courtney VanBrocklin broke the Vikings’ succession of missed shots with a layup, bringing the Vikings within just three (61-58) with under two minutes on the clock. VanBrocklin made yet another fast break to get the Vikings within one, and a turnover by the Bears gave the team the chance to run their winning inbounds play.

Murrell said it was not just the defensive performance at the final seconds that won the game, but throughout the entire game.

“The defense I thought was really good tonight,” Murrell said. “I thought we did a good job on Oosdyke, their post player, who is really one of the best post players in the conference. And Courtney VanBrocklin for the most part when she was playing [D’Shara] Strange—she just really made some important defensive stops.”

The Vikings held Oosdyke to nine points, with Strange grabbing 16. The Viking offensive leaders of the night were Jones with 16 points, VanBrocklin with 15 and Lanz with 12. Four of Jones’ baskets were from outside the arc. Lampman also chipped in nine points, and senior Shauneice Samms grabbed eight.

“We made some defensive stops and I thought we came up with some big boards at the end,” Murrell said. “They could have come up with some offensive boards and used more clock but we didn’t let them, I am just really proud of the team.”

Monday, the Vikings played the Idaho State Bengals on the road; however, the results were not available as of press time. The Vikings hit the court again Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Stott Center.