Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Portland State
Wildcats Pull Off Overtime Win Over Vikings
2/16/2008 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Four players scored in double figures as Weber State pulled off a 76-71 overtime win over Portland State Saturday afternoon at the Dee Events Center. The win is the third straight for the Wildcats who improve to 5-6 in Big Sky Conference action.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 15 point lead in the first half over the Vikings, who entered the game in second place in the league standings. Portland State closed the half on a 12-2 run and cut the Weber State lead to four points, 34-30 at halftime.
The Vikings took the lead at 42-14 with 14:00 remaining and led by as many as six points with under 13:00 to play. PSU led 50-48 with 11:00 to play when the Wildcats went on an 11-0 run and took a 59-50 led with 7:28 to play. The rest of the game was back and forth with the ?Cats taking a two point lead with 1:19 remaining. Claire Faucher hit a three-pointer with 0:51 to play to give the Vikings a lead and the led by three points with 28 seconds left. That was when WSU senior Ahkiah Hunter drove the hoop and pulled off a three-point play that tied the game at 68. PSU missed a final attempt and the game was headed to overtime, just the second overtime of the season for Weber State.
In the extra period the Wildcats scored first and never trailed again. The ?Cats were 3-7 from the field in overtime, while the Vikings shot just 1-8 and the ?Cats pulled off the five point victory, the closest game of the season for WSU.
Senior Sara Tuomi continued her strong play by posting her fifth double-double this season. The Billings, Montana native finished up with 16 points and 13 rebounds, with all 16 points coming after halftime. The 13 rebounds moved her into tenth place on the Weber State all-time list. She was 5-11 from the field, including 5-7 from the free throw line, but she did snap a streak of 45 straight free throws. Tuomi has now scored in double figures in all 23 games this season.
Also scoring in double figures was freshman Cailtin Anderson who added 16 points and seven rebounds. Ahkiah Hunter came off the bench and scored 14 points and Ali Thorderson added 12 points.
Weber State shot 46 percent from the field, the third best shooting performance of the season, and held the Vikings to 36 percent shooting. WSU did commit 19 turnovers in the game, compared to 14 by Portland State.
The win moves WSU to 11-12 overall and 5-6 in the Big Sky, currently in sixth place in the league standings. Portland State drops to 8-4 in league play and in third place.
The Wildcats, who have just five conference games remaining, will hit the road next week to play at Montana Thursday and at Montana State on Saturday.
Saturday's game was part of the WBCA's National Think Pink Week, a global, unified effort across the nation to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond. Officials from the American Cancer Society were on hand for donations and a program honoring cancer survivors followed the game.
