Wildcats down Vikings in First Playoff Appearance Since 2007

Harrison Epstein

March 9, 2016

Junior Deeshyra Thomas dives on the ground to grab the ball from a Portland State player. (Ariana Berkemeier / The Signpost)

Weber State is moving on to the quarterfinal round of the Big Sky Tournament. The Lady Wildcats defeated the Vikings by a final score of 91-68 in what was the largest margin of victory in a playoff game in Weber State history.

“I’m just really proud of what they’ve accomplished this year so far, and they’re not giving up they’re going to keep battling,” Coach Bethann Ord said

In a game where four players scored in double digits the leading scorer was Yarden Danan.

Coming off of the bench Danan scored 24 points while shooting 6-7 from 3-point territory in the highest scoring game in her career. The freshman from Rehovot, Israel also picked up six rebounds and dished out one assist.

“That’s our game and we need to win the game so I did the best I can and I’m happy I could help the team,” Danan said.

The rest of the Wildcats in double digits were Brittney Dunbar who scored 17 points, Jaiamoni Welch-Coleman scored 16 points in what was also the highest scoring game of her career, and Kailie Quinn picked up 13 points off of four 3-pointers.

The Wildcats used 10 different players in the game and every single player picked up at least one rebound. The rebounding leader though was Quinn who recovered seven rebounds.

Following her were four different girls who all recovered six rebounds. The assist leader was Welch-Coleman after she dished out five assists.

Senior Brittney Dunbar reaches out to grab the ball as a Portland State player dives to pass to an open player. (Ariana Berkemeier / The Signpost)

Dunbar also got to remind the entire conference why she was the Defensive Player of the Year in the Big Sky by forcing four steals. The crowd was loud from the start and mostly in favor of Portland State.

Part of that came from the Portland State men’s team which was in the crowd and cheered hard from the start. While this could be a distraction for some teams, it did not phase the Wildcats.

Dunbar said, “We had the coaches talking to us the whole time, and then we have people on the bench like Gina.”

Gina Okoye was ruled out just prior to the game with the continuing knee injury and is considered day-to-day. The next game for the Wildcats will be up against the University of Idaho team that beat The Wildcats by seven in the last home stand of the season.

Ord said, “The girls are hungry for Idaho but we like to enjoy this moment because you only have it once.”