MISSOULA — With the Big Sky Conference tournament fast approaching, the Montana women's basketball team was bent on generating momentum and regrouping defensively at home this week.

Mission accomplished.

After fighting from behind to beat Sacramento State on Thursday, the Lady Griz did the same on Saturday in a 74-61 triumph over Portland State on senior day at Robin Selvig Court. The Lady Griz trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half and were locked in a 51-51 tie early in the fourth quarter before pulling away in front of 2,413 fans.

"I think both games this week showed a level of resolve and just grind-it-out that I don't know that we've had so far," said Montana interim coach Nate Harris, whose team suffered arguably its most humbling loss last weekend at Montana State. "You need that in March because people are going to make runs, make plays.

"Were we planning on (Portland State's Lana) Wenger hitting three pick-and-pop threes in the first half? No. But she did and you just have to respond to that and move forward. I thought this week was our best ability to just like, hey, we're not where we want to be, get back to the right stuff and grind it out."  

The win was Montana's second in a row, boosting the team to 8-9 in league play and 12-16 overall. The Lady Griz can lock up a finish of sixth or better in the Big Sky standings with a win Monday night at Eastern Washington — noteworthy because it would mean they would not have to play in the first round of the league tourney Saturday in Boise.

Junior guard Mack Konig continued her hot shooting for Montana Saturday, scoring 17 points with a 5-for-6 effort from the floor and 5-for-6 performance from the free-throw line. Senior Tyler McCliment-Call and freshman Avery Waddington were right behind her with 16 points apiece. Senior Dani Bartsch, playing with chronic foot pain, led UM in rebounds with eight.

"We're definitely finding our identity again on the defensive end, really focusing on that and playing team defense," McCliment-Call said. "There's still ups and downs there, but overall we're headed in the right direction.

"In the fourth quarter today I just kept telling our team, stay calm, we're going to be OK, just keep playing great defense and keep chipping away. We're continuing to try and find our identity in the right moments and we're working through those stressful moments." 

Whether it was the emotion of senior day or just a matter of cold shooting, Montana struggled early. Portland State (1-16, 4-22) raced to an 18-7 lead in front of a stunned crowd thanks in part to a pair of triples by Wenger off the bench.

The Lady Griz gained a footing offensively in the second quarter, outscoring the visitors 24-16 thanks to four treys and a 6-0 edge in points from the foul line. Montana trailed 39-34 at halftime but started the second half with a 10-4 run, taking its first lead on a Waddington triple with 4:53 left in the period.

That set the stage for the Lady Griz heroics down the stretch. Montana hit 6 of 12 shots in the fourth period, including 4 of 7 from deep. Portland State was held to just 22 points after halftime.

"Outside of the first quarter, we held them to 38 points and really locked in defensively," Harris noted. "I don't we're ever going to be a team that leads the league in scoring defense. We get up and down and shoot a lot of threes. But we can be good on a per-possession basis and in the second half, goodness, they were 9 of 26 from the field."

Portland State's Kyleigh Brown led all scorers with 19 points. Teammate Thema Ogele posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Montana won the battle of the boards, 38-34.

Portland State has lost 13 games in a row. The Vikings' only road win came on Nov. 16 at Seattle University ... Montana was 9-5 at home this season and is 3-11 away from Robin Selvig Court ... Bartsch, a Helena native, was celebrated as part of senior day along with McCliment-Call, MJ Bruno and Imogen Greenslade ... Big Sky Conference leader Montana State suffered its first league loss at home Saturday on senior day against Sacramento State.