No. 9 Weber State 62, No. 10 Portland State 53
In her Big Sky tournament debut, first-year Weber State head coach Jenteal Jackson watched her team fail to make a shot from the field for the entire first quarter of the Wildcats’ first-round matchup with Portland State.
But despite trailing 16-4 going to the second quarter, the Wildcats turned things around, allowing Jackson to enjoy the aftermath of her first Big Sky tournament game.
“That was a big win for us, big win for the program,” Jackson said. “Really happy that we were able to get that done. Feeling good, really proud of our group and the way they bounced back after that first quarter, the way they really locked in and stayed consistent on what we were focusing on and what we needed to get done.”
A lay-up and a 3-pointer by Kendra Parra in the first minute of the second quarter took the lid off the basket for the Wildcats, who completely turned the game around by outscoring PSU 26-6 in the second stanza to lead 30-22 at halftime.
Portland State closed to within two points early in the fourth quarter, but Weber responded with a 6-0 run and closed the game out from there.
The Wildcats made just two 3-pointers on 14 attempts, but bullied Portland State inside and on the boards. Amelia Raidaveta led Weber State with 14 points, Jadyn Mathews had 13 and Taylor had 12, with most of the trio’s damage coming inside as the Wildcats swung the ball side-to-side to open up entry passes against the Vikings’ zone. Weber State had a 40-25 advantage on the boards.
BOX SCORE
“I think we finished with 38 paint points,” Jackson said. “Huge, huge number there for us, which is really helpful. That’s what we focused on all week, trying to get paint touches, trying to get scores in the paint. We knew we would be able to do it if we were able to stay patient in our offense and get the ball in the right spot.”
Weber State now plays No. 1 Eastern Washington at 11 a.m. Saturday. WSU lost 56-38 in Ogden to EWU and fell 74-54 in Cheney, giving the Eagles two of their 16 league victories this season.
Portland State’s season ends with an 8-23 record.
NO. 8 SACRAMENTO STATE 73, NO. 7 IDAHO STATE 55
Behind a flurry of fourth-quarter 3-pointers, rookie Sac State head coach Aaron Kallhoff got the win in his first-ever game in the Big Sky tournament — and he did it by beating Idaho State’s Seton Sobolewski, one of the top tourney coaches of the last two decades, to boot.
Sobolewski, the second-longest tenured coach in the conference behind Montana State’s Tricia Binford, and his physical Idaho State teams have often provided harsh wakeup calls to coaches new to the league.
On Saturday, the Bengals compressed the game down to their slow pace and led 48-45 early in the fourth quarter after a jumper by Kacey Spink.
But Solape Amusan’s 3-pointer with 7:33 to go tied the game and ignited a red-hot final stretch for the Hornets, who made seven 3-pointers in the final quarter alone.
Idaho State didn’t have an answer to the barrage, and Kallhoff was able to join Weber State’s Jenteal Jackson with a win in his tournament debut.
“Idaho State is one of the most physical teams in the league,” Kallhoff said. “We have a young group, and I feel like as the game went on, they kind of settled in a little bit and leveled up their intensity, their effort, their toughness, and I’m proud of them for that.”
Irune Orio led Sacramento State with 19 points and Lina Falk added 17, but the star of the game was Hornets point guard Benthe Versteeg, who put up a double-double of 13 points and 12 assists, breaking the school record for single-season assists in the process.
“Everybody did their job, and every ball was falling, and that’s so nice to see,” Versteeg said. “That makes me so happy on the court, so yeah, that was very exciting.”
Spink had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists for Idaho State.
Sac State advances to play No. 2 Northern Arizona on Sunday.
Idaho State’s season ends with an 11-19 record.
