The hole was too deep, Tatiana Streun was too good and Portland State’s home floor continues to be a riddle too vexing to solve.
Montana shot 28 percent on Monday night and fell to the Vikings 78-65. The Lady Griz cut a 20-point, first-half deficit to four twice in the fourth quarter before falling.
“It was just that first half, digging a big hole like that. It’s really hard to overcome that against a good team on the road,” UM head coach Shannon Schweyen said
It was Montana’s fourth straight loss at Portland State, and the Lady Griz have lost all four by 13 or more points while shooting 31.0 percent.
Monday’s loss cuts just a little deeper than the first three.
Montana outrebounded Portland State 50-33, 27-4 on the offensive end and took 75 shots to Portland State’s 49. That the Vikings made two more baskets than the Lady Griz reveals pretty much all.
Portland State shot 46.9 percent for the game.
“We did a nice job on the boards. We controlled the rebounds and that was a great stat for us, and we got plenty of good shots,” Schweyen said.
“It’s tough when those are the ones they’re giving you and you’re not making them pay.”
Montana (9-6, 4-2 BSC) went just 5 for 22 in the first quarter, 8 for 35 in the first half and trailed by 20 before a 3-pointer by Gabi Harrington just before the break made it 39-22 at the half.
The Lady Griz would score the first eight points of the third quarter to fight their way back into it, and they were in the game until the final minute.
“We banged a few shots and got a few stops, got a couple of steals and got after it a little bit,” said Schweyen. “I was proud of the way we came out the second half and battled.”
Taylor Goligoski and McKenzie Johnston hit 3-pointers midway through the fourth quarter to make it 59-55. That’s when the Vikings (9-7, 3-3 BSC) had one of the key sequences of the game.
Montana forced a miss at the other end, but Jordan Stotler grabbed the offensive rebound. She found Streun cutting to the basket and the lead was back to six.
“Abby (Anderson) was intimidating in the post. They knew they weren’t scoring on her,” said Schweyen.
“They were getting their secondary cutters going, and we had kids falling asleep. You’ve got to stay with them. We needed to cover that better.”
Montana would pull within 61-57 on a pair of Johnston free throws with 2:40 to go, but two Streun free throws, an empty Lady Griz possession and an and-one by Streun pushed the lead to nine, 66-57.
And that was it.
Streun would finish with a career-high 30 points, the most scored by a Montana opponent this season, going 10 for 14 from the field, 10 for 13 from the line.
Belle Frazier had 13 points, Jordan Stotler 12 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and six blocks, and Kylie Jimenez 10 points and six assists.
It was enough to offset an inspiring effort by Johnston, who had 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and a welcome-back performance by Madi Schoening.
Schoening had her third career double-double, her first since February 2018, with 15 points and 10 rebounds. She had 13 points and seven rebounds in the second half to spark Montana’s near comeback.
She played 24 minutes and made the most of them.
“Madi played with heart, running down balls she had no business getting, chasing down rebounds, playing like a warrior,” said Schweyen.
“She was a huge lift for us. It was one of those nights when nobody was really doing anything. It was great to see her back in form. We need that kind of spirited play.”
Johnston went 4 for 9 from the arc, matching her career high in 3-pointers made.
The loss drops Montana into third place in the Big Sky Conference standings, behind 5-1 Montana State and Idaho.
The Lady Griz will get a shot at the Vandals (8-5, 3-1 BSC) when they travel to Moscow for a matchup on Saturday afternoon.
Griz Communications
