Game Book
Boise, Idaho (March 9, 2020) – The Vikings of Portland State University fended off a furious fourth-quarter rally by the Eagles of Eastern Washington to win their first-round game of the 2020 Big Sky Conference basketball tournament.
The Vikings got off to an early lead in the first quarter and wouldn’t relinquish it for the remainder of the game.
Portland State’s Belle Frazier stood out in the first quarter, scoring 12 points on four of five three-point shot attempts.
At the beginning of the second quarter, the defense of the Vikings proved staggering as they held the Eagles to zero field goals until 5:56 left when EWU’s Tatiana Reese hit a three-pointer to end the drought.
The Vikings would go up 39-19 thanks to a three-pointer, made by Frazier with 4:28 left in the half.
The Eagles weren’t done yet, going on a 12-3 run to close out the first half down 42-31.
After re-extending the lead to 20 points, the Eagles didn’t give up, chipping away at the lead until a two-point field-goal by EWU’s Kennedy Dickey cut the Portland State lead to five.
The teams would go back and forth with Eastern Washington pulling back to within five points twice more before the Vikings eventually pulled away thanks in part to PSU’s Desirae Hansen hitting a three-pointer with 3:23 left.
After a series of fouls, the Vikings extended their lead to 13 points for the rest of the game, winning the contest 83-70.
Portland State finished the game shooting 29-of-62 from the field for a 46.8 percent field-goal percentage. The Vikings went 11-of-24 from behind the three-point arc and hit 14-of-16 free throw attempts.
Eastern Washington ended the game shooting 26-of-65 from the field for a 40% field-goal percentage. The Eagles hit 11-of-29 three-point attempts and went 7-of-13 from the free-throw line.
Portland State dominated the glass, outrebounding the Eagles 45-30.
The Vikings move on to the second round of the tournament where they will face the Vandals of the University of Idaho at 5:30 p.m. MT on Tuesday, March 10th.