The Portland State women’s basketball team heads toward their final two games of the regular season, both on the road. This year has been a rough one for the Lady Vikings who sit at 5–13 in conference and 7–20 overall. A recent losing streak has ended PSU’s chances for making the Big Sky Tournament.
PSU as a team sits at the bottom of the Big Sky in several statistical categories: scoring margin (-13.6), turnover margin (-4), free throw percentage (.669) and steals (5.5 per game).
Despite these glum circumstances, the team has refused to hang their heads or throw in the towel. They continue to play hard every night, and most of their recent losses have been fiercely contested matchups.
For seventh-year head coach Sherri Murrel, the challenges of this season come with working in a competitive environment.
“We’re trying to win every game,” said Murrel. “It’s hard, but everyone’s staying positive. They’re not giving up.”
Part of what has made this season so hard is a key injury. PSU’s go-to big, Angela Misa, went down with a season-ending knee injury halfway through the campaign. Since then the team has been forced to adjust the way they play on both sides of the ball.
“We’re a program in transition. This year we had injuries to top kids. There’s some great post players in this conference and Angela was such a force for us,” said Murrel.
Since this injury, guard play has been the hallmark for this team, as well as a healthy dose of grit and hustle. “They’re not quitters. They want to win,” said Murrel.
Mikaela Rivard has been starting in Misa’s place. While not a physical force like her predecessor, Rivard is a more multi-skilled player. She averages seven points, three boards and one and a half assists this year. She also has some shooting range, tossing in 10 three-pointers so far.
Perhaps the most promising aspect of this year has been the emergence of talented young players. Sophmore guard
Emily Esom has become an emotional and playmaking leader. Esom is tied for seventh in the Big Sky in three-pointers made. Freshman Delanie Parry, who took the reins as starting point guard midway this season, controls the tempo of the game in addition to being a dangerous scoring threat. Parry’s play, while not entirely a surprise to the coaching staff, has certainly impressed them.
“We found Delanie Parry is a true point guard,” said Murrel. “She’s improving every day. Kate Lanz is more a combo guard, so moving her to off guard is a better situation.”
Coach Murrel played point guard as a collegiate player at Louisiana-Lafayette and Pepperdine. “I get how hard it is to be in that situation, you have to run the team. I’ve never seen a successful team without a good point guard or quarterback.”
Senior Night was a bright spot for the women’s basketball team. While honoring six players, the Vikings also won the game, 57-51 over Northern Colorado. They had a season low 7 turnovers and fittingly Kate Lanz had a great game in her last at the Peter W. Stott Center.
The team’s last two games are against Weber State, the only team with a worse conference record than PSU, and Idaho State, who sit right in the middle of the Big Sky standings. PSU defeated Weber State back in January but lost to Idaho State by 12 points.
There is no doubt this team will give the final games of the season their best effort; it’s what they’ve done all year long.
