Dora Goles and Montana Oltrogge scored 19 points apiece and the Idaho State Bengals held on in the fourth quarter to down Portland State, 68-63, in Portland on Thursday night for their eighth win in nine games.

ISU (16-11, 12-6 Big Sky Conference) went on big runs in both the third and fourth quarters to take multiple double-digit leads, but had to fend off Portland State responses both times.

After Goles’ hot shooting opened up an 11-point lead for ISU in the third quarter, Portland State (12-15, 6-11 Big Sky) clawed all the way back to tie the game at 52-52 with 9 minutes, 46 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Idaho State responded with a 16-4 run to take a 68-56 lead, but a Callie Bourne 3-pointer with 4:27 left were the final points for the Bengals.

Portland State cut the lead to five points with 1:36 left, but couldn’t reduce the deficit any further despite Idaho State turning the ball over twice and missing four free throws in the final minute-and-a-half.

The first half belonged to Oltrogge, who scored 11 points in the first 20 minutes. Her jumper snapped a game-opening 8-0 run for Portland State and, despite the bad start, ISU ended the first quarter down just 17-14.

The Bengals took their first lead not even a minute into the second when Diaba Konate scooped up a loose ball and pushed the pace before finding Ellie Smith for a layup and an 18-17 advantage.

Things went back and forth from there, but Oltrogge had five points in a 9-0 ISU run midway through the quarter and the Bengals led 35-28 at halftime.

Goles then scored 11 of ISU’s 17 points in the third as the Bengals pulled away before Portland State’s first response.

Bourne added 10 points and Delaney Moore eight for Idaho State.

The Bengals shot 46.7% from the field, forced 19 turnovers and matched the taller Vikings with 35 rebounds.

Up next

Idaho State hosts Eastern Washington on March 4 at Reed Gym.

IDAHO STATE 68, PORTLAND STATE 63

Idaho State 14 21 17 16 — 68

Portland State 17 11 22 13 — 63

Idaho State — Goles 19, Bourne 10, Smith 4, Konate 4, Oltrogge 19, Vicente 4, Moore 8.

Portland State — Jimenez 16, Stotler 5, Streun 4, Schultz 9, Hansen 22, Canzobre 1, Gardner 3, Lewis 3.