The Vikings with their first-ever Big Sky women's basketball trophy.
First-Time Dancers
Portland State Wins Big Sky Women's Title, Earns NCAA Spot
T. William Gooch - Big Sky Conference
Cheney, Wash. (March 13, 2010) – The Portland State Vikings punched their first ever ticket to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament with a 62-58 win over Montana State in the Big Sky Championship on Saturday.
Portland State (18-14) became the first No. 5 seed to win the tournament. The Vikings were the preseason favorite by the coaches and media, but entered the tournament neeting three victories. Portland State beat Idaho State, No.2 seed Montana and No. 6 seed Montana State en route to their first ever Big Sky postseason title.
Senior point guard Claire Faucher made tournament history, knocking down a single-game tournament record eight 3-pointers. She also attempted a single-game record 16 3-point attempts. The three-time All-Conference player finished with a game-high 26 points with six assists and five steals en route to earning Tournament MVP honors.
Head Coach Sherri Murrell on Faucher's record number of three-pointers, "I can’t say enough about Claire’s performance and hitting some key three-pointers. There were points in time in the game where Montana State could have really made a run, and she came down and hit a three. We shoot a lot, we just finally made a lot.”
Portland State made a single-game tournament record 11 3-pointers on a record 30 attempts. The teams combined for 18 made 3-pointers, tied for the second-most in tournament history, and attempted 49 3-pointers, which ranks second in tournament history. Guard Eryn Jones added 11 points, and was named to the All-Tournament Team.
“I always think before the game I’m not going to shoot a three but I’m really going to attack. I started pulling up threes. I don’t know why it was all threes, but that’s what it ended up tonight. I’m thankful they were falling. I’ve had some games where they weren’t", said Faucher
The Bobcats we led by junior Sarah Strand with 19 points and senior Erica Perry with 18 points. Sophomores Janette Jackson and Katie Bussey each had 10 rebounds. Strand and Perry were named to the All-Tournament Team.
“I feel like our program is established now. We’ve gotten the program to a point where we can play this every year. Perry will be hard to replace, but I feel like the nucleus is strong.”, said Montana State Head Coach Tricia Binford when asked about the progress her program has made.
Montana State (18-14) was hurt by 20 turnovers. PSU scored 20 points off of turnovers, while Montana State had nine points off of nine Portland State turnovers.
Portland State will learn its first-round opponent and seed in the NCAA Tournament on Monday. The pairings will be announced at 4 p.m. Pacific on ESPN.
Regular-season champion Eastern Washington earned an automatic bid to the WNIT. The Eagles will learn their opponent on Monday night.
Box Score
The 2010 Big Sky Conference All-Tournament Team
Iaona Iacovita – Idaho State
Eryn Jones – Portland State
Kelli Valentine – Portland State
Sarah Strand – Montana State
Erica Perry – Montana State
MVP Claire Faucher – Portland State