Weber State women’s basketball shakes off cold start, beats PSU in Big Sky tournament
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- Weber State’s Taylor Smith, right, drive against Portland State in the first round of the Big Sky tournament Saturday, March 9, 2024, in Boise, Idaho.
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- Weber State’s Amelia Raidaveta (13) shoots against Portland State in the first round of the Big Sky tournament Saturday, March 9, 2024, in Boise, Idaho.
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- Weber State’s Daryn Hickok (21) drives against Portland State in the first round of the Big Sky tournament Saturday, March 9, 2024, in Boise, Idaho.
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- Weber State’s Jadyn Matthews (5) shoots against Portland State in the first round of the Big Sky tournament Saturday, March 9, 2024, in Boise, Idaho.
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- Weber State’s Kennedy Eskelson (11) drives against Portland State in the first round of the Big Sky tournament Saturday, March 9, 2024, in Boise, Idaho.
Weber State women’s basketball had lost seven straight games, a span of one full month on the calendar, entering Saturday’s Big Sky tournament opener.
On Feb. 8, WSU beat Portland State by 21 on the road and, at 4-7, appeared poised to battle in the middle of the conference. But the Wildcats lost by 31 at Sacramento State two days later and woefully skidded down the stretch.
Saturday, the No. 9 Wildcats appeared they would skid right out of the 2023-24 season by missing every field goal attempt in the first quarter, trailing No. 10 Portland State 16-4 at Idaho Central Arena in Boise after PSU center Rhema Ogele nearly matched her per-game average with eight points.
WSU senior Jadyn Matthews made it 16 straight misses to open the game on her team’s initial second-quarter possession, but an Amelia Raidaveta offensive rebound led to Kenda Parra driving and scooping in a lefty layup.
Just like that, the lid was off.
Parra and Kennedy Eskelson hit WSU’s only two 3-pointers of the game on the next two possessions. The Wildcats shot 10 of 13 in the second quarter for a 26-6 advantage, and Weber State won just its second conference tournament game in the last seven seasons with a 62-53 victory, giving first-year head coach Jenteal Jackson a postseason win.
“Really proud of our group,” Jackson said. “First quarter did not go the way we wanted it to so the resilience we showed and just our ability to bounce back and really turn it on in that second quarter, I was proud of them.”
Raidaveta totaled 14 points and five rebounds to lead Weber State (8-24). Matthews had 13 points and seven assists. Freshman post Taylor Smith scored 12 points, and Hickok totaled 11 points and eight rebounds.
Ogele finished with a career-high 27 points for Portland State (8-23), shooting 7 of 10. All other Vikings shot 8 of 37.
WSU faces No. 1 Eastern Washington (26-5) at noon Sunday in the second round.
Weber State went into halftime on a 10-2 run for a 30-22 advantage, highlighted by Daryn Hickok stripping a steal in the paint, taking it coast to coast and eurostepping around a defender for a layup.
The Wildcats held PSU to 2 of 13 from the floor in the second quarter and shot 17 of 29 in the middle quarters to keep the lead. Weber State found driving lanes and found easy buckets at the rim, eventually winning the paint-points battle 38-16.