Portland State Saves Best for the Last Half

Portland State broke open a low-scoring game with a strong second half Friday to defeat Montana, 64-51, in a semifinal of the Big Sky women’s basketball tournament.

The Vikings came out in the second half and held the Grizzlies to two points in the first five minutes to extend a 25-23 halftime lead. Portland State hit 56% of its second-half shots to pull away at Cal State Northridge.

Senior forward Carrie Hawes made six of eight shots from the floor and finished with 16 points to lead the No. 2-seeded Vikings (18-9). She made her only three-point shot of the game.

Center Hiedi Hatcher scored 12 points, hitting six of eight free throws, and had nine rebounds and five assists for Portland State.

“Defense was the key for us,” Portland State Coach Jenny Yopp said. “We had to focus on keeping the ball out of the hands of (Linda) Weyler and (Linda) Cummings.”

Montana (12-16), seeded fifth and coming off a 62-46 upset of No. 4-seeded Weber State, was led by Cummings with 16 points and Weyler with 14 points.

Cummings was four of 10 from the floor and seven of 10 from the line, but Weyler, who had scored 23 points and had 13 rebounds against Weber State, made only six of 16 shots and two of five free-throw attempts before fouling out.

Laura Valley came off the bench to add 10 points for the Grizzlies.

“Portland State has an awfully good basketball team,” Montana Coach Robin Selvig said. “They made key shots all night. Whenever we started to get momentum, they got some good shots. They’re a balanced team.”

Portland State shot 22 of 52 (42.3%) from the field and made 14 of 24 (58.3%) free-throw attempts.

Montana shot 39.2% (20 of 51) from the floor and 52.9% (nine of 17) from the free-throw line.

The Grizzlies did outrebound the Vikings, 36-35, led by Cummings’ eight. Meggan Thompson paced Montana with six assists.