March 9, 2006
Box Score
Pocatello, ID -- Junior guard Kim Winkfield scored a season-high 22 points and added nine assists to lead third-seeded Northern Arizona past sixth-seed Portland State 80-68 in the first game of the Big Sky Conference Postseason Women's Basketball Tournament.
Winkfield's 13 points, including three three-pointers, keyed a big first half in which NAU outscored the Vikings 43-24. NAU shot 60 percent from the field in the first half. The Lumberjacks extended their lead to 23 points, 58-33 with 12:45 left.
But Portland State went on a 28-10 run over the next eight minutes, cutting NAU's margin to 70-66 at the 4:08 mark, with Jenni Ritter scoring nine points of her 17 points in the run. At that point, NAU's defense stiffened and limited the Vikings to a pair of Kelsey Kahle free throws until the final buzzer. NAU's final six points came at the free throw line.
Backing Winkfield for NAU were Megan Porter with 14 points, Sade Cunningham with 13, and Alyssa Wahl with 10. PSU's Kahle tied Winkfield for game scoring honors with 22, and Brianna Thompson added 11.
NAU controlled the boards 40-31 with Wahl collecting a game-high nine.
Northern Arizona made 30 of 55 shots from the field, 54.5 percent. Portland State, which made only eight of 28 first half shots, ended shooting 34.3%
