CEDAR CITY, Utah — Thursday night had everything but an ending for the Portland State women's basketball team.
Playing their best basketball since their season re-started on Jan. 15, the Vikings pushed a Southern Utah team that had been unbeaten in Big Sky play until last week before falling 64-63 on a last-second free throw at America First Event Center.
"Really proud of the effort we had tonight. Showed some grit and character after some tough losses on the road," Portland State head coach
Chelsey Gregg said afterward.
The Vikings (5-10, 0-7 Big Sky) trailed by as many as 11 points in the third quarter, but closed the period on a 7-0 run to make it 49-45 entering the fourth.
Savannah Dhaliwal,
Esmeralda Morales and
Jada Lewis then all hit go-ahead three-pointers at various times of the fourth quarter after Southern Utah (11-6, 7-1 Big Sky) had led since the opening period.
Lewis hit from the outside to make it 63-62 with 1:12 remaining, giving the Vikings the lead heading into the final minute. Southern Utah's Darri Dotson answered with 1-of-2 from the line to tie it up, 63-63, with 44.4 seconds remaining.
That's where the late-game situations started to go against the Vikings. The Thunderbirds fouled the Vikings'
Reilly Kelty on a screen, but Kelty missed free throws with 23.5 seconds remaining to keep it tied. The Thunderbirds tried to wind the clock down for a last-second shot, but the Vikings poked it loose and called a timeout with 1.2 seconds left. The Vikings were unable to get the ball in-bounded, however, and Southern Utah advanced the ball into the forecourt with a timeout.
With still only 1.2 seconds remaining, the Thunderbirds fired a ball deep inside to Dotson, who was fouled going up for a layup with 0.8 seconds left. Dotson missed the first free throw, but hit the second, and the Vikings – out of timeouts – couldn't draw up a last-second miracle.
"We would rather learn from wins, but tight games like these will only help us come tourney time," Gregg said of the late-game situations. "We'll continue to polish things up with our execution, but if we can get effort and rebounding like we did tonight, we'll be okay."
The heartbreaking ending clouded what may have been the Vikings' best game of the season, let alone since the re-start. The Vikings held the Thunderbirds – the Big Sky's top offense at 74.4 points per game entering Thursday – to 10 points below their season average. Additionally, the Thunderbirds came into the game leading the Big Sky in rebounding margin and offensive rebounds, but the Vikings actually out-scored the Thunderbirds, 15-11, on second-chance points.
Dhaliwal produced her best game of the season, as she scored a season-high 21 points for only the second 20-point game of her career. Dhaliwal scored 14 of her 21 points after halftime, and accounted for eight of the Vikings' 18 points in the fourth quarter. Dhaliwal finished 9-of-12 (.750) from the field and 3-of-4 (.750) from three-point range, with her three triples marking a new career-high.
"I'm happy for Sav to have a game like that. I know our team feeds off her energy," Gregg said.
Dhaliwal's 3-of-4 performance from beyond the arc came as the Vikings went 10-of-27 (.379) as a team from three-point range. Lewis went 3-of-9 while scoring nine of her 14 points after halftime, while Morales and
Mia 'Uhila hit two triples each.
The Vikings also played their best defensive game in a while, as they swiped 11 steals, including three each Morales and
Alaya Fitzgerald. Additionally, the Vikings swatted a season-high six blocks, with Kelty setting a new career-high with five of the team's six blocks.
The Vikings and Thunderbirds will face each other again in only four days' time. The Vikings host the Thunderbirds in a makeup game Monday night at Viking Pavilion. The game will tip off at 5 p.m. as a doubleheader with the Viking men, who host Northern Colorado at 7:30 p.m.
The Vikings will next play Saturday, as they host Northern Arizona at Viking Pavilion at 6 p.m.
And if the Vikings play with the effort they did Thursday night, both upcoming games may have the ending the Vikings want.
Game Notes: The Vikings still lead the all-time series between them and the Thunderbirds, 16-12 despite Thursday night's loss…The Vikings were playing their fourth straight road game Thursday.
