PORTLAND, Ore. – Given enough second chances, Portland State had no other choice but to take advantage of them.
The Vikings, picked to finish first in the Big Sky Conference in a pair of preseason polls, used 17 offensive rebounds on Sunday afternoon, turning them into 13 points and turned 18 turnovers into 20 points, using those differences to top the UC Santa Barbara women’s basketball team, 65-51.
The Gauchos fall to 0-2 to open the season.
Sweets Underwood led UCSB with 12 points as the only Gaucho to hit double figures.
Other than the second chance points and buckets off turnovers, the box score looked pretty similar between the two teams.
UCSB shot 41.8 percent compared to PSU’s 43.5 percent. The Vikings (2-0) had 36 rebounds compared to UCSB’s 32.
However, Portland State used some of their three-point shooting prowess to distance themselves from the Gauchos as the Vikings hit 8 of 15 from downtown.
Reigning Big Sky MVP Eryn Jones led all scorers with 15 points while Karley Lampman had 12 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Nicole Nesbit had nine points and five assists for the Gauchos who also got seven points from Melissa Zornig and six points and seven boards from Kirsten Tilleman.
With 17:06 to go in the game UCSB cut PSU’s lead to six on a driving layup from Nesbit. However, that was as close as Santa Barbara – who never led in the game – would get in the second stanza.
Portland State pushed its lead to 12 on a Lampman jumper with 12:19 to go before UCSB rallied back to again cut the deficit to six on Underwood’s free throw with 6:12 remaining.
From that point on, UCSB had just two baskets the rest of the way as the Vikings dealt the Gauchos their second straight defeat.
UCSB will look to rebound in its home opener on Thursday with a 6 p.m. tip-off vs. St. Mary’s.
