The Portland State women’s basketball team hopes to keep the momentum from last week’s road win alive when they take on the University of Northern Colorado and the University of North Dakota this week. The Vikings managed to come through against Northern Arizona University to win 60-59 last Saturday, but have struggled to shut down their opponents’ offense in recent games. A strong defensive effort will be key for the Vikings in their next two games at home.
Northern Colorado comes into the game off a loss to top-ranked University of Montana. The Bears, 6-8 overall and 3-2 in conference, fell behind early in the first half and were unable to make up the difference in the second, falling 56-42. The squad boasts offensive threats in senior forward Lauren Oosdyke and junior guard D’shara Strange. Oosdyke had her first double-double of the season against the Lady Griz with 11 points and 13 rebounds, while Strange chipped in 10 points. They are the team leaders in both points and rebounds.
After the Bears, the Vikings will host conference newcomer North Dakota, who are 7-8 overall and 2-4 in Big Sky play. Their most recent matchup was a 64-49 road defeat to the Montana State University Bobcats. Montana State was ahead nearly the entire game before North Dakota went on an 11-3 run midway through the second half to close the gap to just nine. The Bobcats were unfazed, however, and with less than five minutes to go, stretched their lead back to double digits and held on for the win.
Tipoff for the Thursday game against Northern Colorado is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., while the Saturday matchup against North Dakota will begin at 2 p.m. Live scores and stats are available at goviks.com.