Portland State Women Defeat Northern Colorado, 77-63

Kelsey Kahle led the Vikings with 23 points.

Salem-News.com SPORTS

PORTLAND - Portland State sophomore forward Kelsey Kahle and Northern Colorado senior forward Heather Barbour both reached 1,000 career points, however, it was the Vikings that also came away with a win, defeating the Bears 77-63 in a Big Sky Conference game Saturday afternoon at the Peter W. Stott Center.

The game was also the regular-season finale for both schools.

With the win, Portland State improves to 12-17 overall and finished 8-8 in the Big Sky, marking the Vikings’ best conference mark since going 9-7 in 2002-03.

The Vikings finished tied for fifth with Montana State (13-15, 8-8 BSC), however, Portland State will be the No. 6 seed in next week’s 2007 Chinook Wireless Big Sky Tournament and will face No. 3 seed Weber State (16-13, 11-5 BSC) in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Northern Colorado finished its first season in the Big Sky 5-24 overall and 2-14 in the conference.

Kahle led the Vikings with 23 points and also had eight rebounds, while senior guard Heather Arns added 16 points and tied for the game-high with nine boards in her final home game.

Sophomore guard Jenni Ritter netted 13 as three players finished in double figures.

Kahle became the 12th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points when she drove the basket and hit a lay-up and was fouled midway through the first half.

She needed seven points to reach 1,000 and will enter the Big Sky Tournament with 1,016 points in 57 career games.

Sophomore guard Whitley Cox led Northern Colorado with 29 points, including 21 in the second half to keep the Bears within striking distance after being down 17 at halftime. Barbour also had 20.

Senior center Nicole Ford and junior center Dani Veal both had nine rebounds to tie for the game high.

Barbour was five points shy of the 1,000-point mark entering the game and reached the milestone with the trey to pull the Bears to within 20-15 in the first half.

“It was a good win and we’re playing our best basketball of the season heading into the tournament,” said head coach Charity Elliott.

“It was an emotional day, with it being senior day, but we did what we had to do. Give Northern Colorado credit, they kept battling.”

Portland State jumped out early with a 10-0 run to build a 13-2 lead with 15:55 left in the first half.

After Northern Colorado closed to within five at 20-15, the Vikings used a 6-0 spurt to push the lead back to double digits at 26-15.

The Bears would respond with a 10-3 run of their own, capped by a three-point by senior forward Heather Barbour, to make it 29-25 with 4:53 left.

Barbour’s trey would be Northern Colorado’s last points of the first half, as the Vikings scored 13 unanswered to carry a 42-25 lead into halftime.

Northern Colorado would get as close as seven in the second half when it opened the half with a 15-5 spree to pull within 47-40 with 13:15 left.

The Bears finished shooting 44.1 percent from the field, making 26-of-59 attempts, including going 7-of-20 from three-point range.

Northern Colorado also held a 46-35 advantage in the boards.

Portland State shot an even 40.0 percent, making 24- of-60 from the field, including 7-of-18 from beyond-the- arc.

The Vikings held a decisive edge at the free throw line, converting on 22-of-30 trips, while Northern Colorado was only 4-of-9.

Northern Colorado also committed 24 turnovers, compared to just 12 for Portland State.

The 2007 Chinook Wireless Big Sky Tournament will be held Thursday-Saturday at the Dahlberg Arena in Missoula, Mont.

Montana (27-2, 15-1 BSC), the regular- season champions, will host the tournament and will receive a first-round bye along with the No. 2 seed Idaho State (15-13, 11-5 BSC).

Tip-off for the Vikings’ quarterfinal game against Weber State will be 4:30 PM, (PST), and the other game will feature No. 4 seed Northern Arizona (18-11, 11-5 BSC) against No. 5 seed Montana State.

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