PORTLAND, Ore. — Tyler McCliment-Call made a 3-pointer 22 seconds into the game, and the Montana Lady Griz never trailed in a 73-61 win over Big Sky Conference foe Portland State inside Viking Pavilion on Thursday.
McCliment-Call made her second 3-pointer a minute later, and then Montana put together an 11-0 run to build a 17-5 lead a little more than six minutes into the game. The Lady Griz led 29-13 at the end of the first quarter, grew the lead to as many as 20 points in the second and took a 42-25 lead into halftime.
Montana's lead ballooned to 24 points five minutes into the second half when an Avery Waddington bucket made the score 56-32. The Lady Griz led 63-44 after three quarters, and Portland State only shrunk the deficit to 12 when the game was well in hand.
McCliment-Call scored 17 points, connecting on 5 of 6 3-pointers in the game. Izabel Zingaro added 17 points off the bench for Montana, Mack Konig contributed 10 points, and Dani Bartsch filled the stat sheet with seven points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
Alaya Fitzgerald had 16 points to lead Portland State.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Lady Griz, who improved to 8-12 overall and 4-5 in Big Sky play. Montana stays on the West Coast for a game at Sacramento State on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. Mountain time.
Portland State, meanwhile, falls to 4-13 overall, 1-7 Big Sky, with the loss. The Vikings host league-leading Montana State on Saturday at 3 p.m. Mountain time.
