Vikings Clinch Big Sky Tourney Berth with 73-65 Win

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PORTLAND - Sophomore forward Kelsey Kahle scored 18 points and freshman guard Claire Faucher netted 16 to lead Portland State to a 73-65 win over Northern Arizona in a Big Sky Conference game Thursday evening at the Peter W. Stott Center.

With the win, the Vikings (11-17, 7-8 Big Sky) clinched the sixth and final spot to next week’s Big Sky Tournament.

Portland State shot 51.9 percent from the field, connecting on 27-of-52 attempts and forced the Lumberjacks (17-11, 10-5 BSC) into 26 turnovers.

Northern Arizona finished shooting 44.2 percent, hitting 23-of-52 shots. The Lumberjacks shot 57.7 percent in the second half, making 15-of-26, after shooting only 30.8 percent in the first half.

Northern Arizona, however, was 11-of-12 from the free throw line in the first half to trail only 30-28 at the break.

The Lumberjacks’ only lead of the game was 7-6 with 17:15 to go in the first half. The two teams were tied five times in the first half.

Leading 54-49 with 9:43 remaining, the Vikings broke open the game with 12-4 spurt over the next 6:55 to build a 66-53 advantage with 2:48 to go.

“This was a team win tonight,” said Portland State Head Coach Charity Elliott. “Everyone contributed tonight. This is a big step to make clinch our second straight Big Sky Tournament berth, but we still have a game to play Saturday against Northern Colorado.”

Freshman center Janie Bos also had 11 points to give Portland State three players in double figures.

Senior forward Megan Porter led Northern Arizona with 26 points. Senior forward Alysa Wahl posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Northern Arizona held a 34-28 advantage on the boards.

Portland State will return to action Saturday afternoon when the Vikings host Northern Colorado in the regular season finale. Tip-off is set for 2:05 PM, at the Stott Center.

NOTES: With 18 points, Kahle became the 11th player in school history, and the first since Portland State joined the Big Sky Conference in 1996, to score 500 points in a season. She currently has 509 points to tie Kristi Smith (1992-1996), who was the last Viking to score 500 points in a season, for 10th place on the school season list for points.

Kahle will enter Saturday’s game versus Northern Colorado seven points shy of becoming the 12th player in school history to record 1,000 career points.

Kahle went 4-of-4 at the FT line to set a new school season record for FT attempts with 202, breaking the previous mark of 201 set by Sheri Stemple (1991-1993) during the 1992-93 season.

Kahle has made 158 FTs this season, one shy of her own school record of 159 set last year.

Portland State’s seven Big Sky wins is its most since the Vikings went 9-7 in conference play in 2002-03.

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