Mia ‘Uhila
Anchorage’s Mia ‘Uhila experienced March Madness for the first time as a college player on Sunday.
The sophomore guard helped seventh-seeded Portland State upset No. 2 Montana State 77-65 in the quarterfinals at the Big Sky Championships.
‘Uhila scored seven points off the bench, including four in the first quarter when she was summoned to get the party started after her team fell into an early hole.
Sixteen seconds after entering the game she got to the free-throw line and made both shots. Seventy-seconds later she converted a driving layup to put Portland State up 9-5. Her layup late in the third quarter pushed the lead to 50-33.
The 2021 Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year out of Bartlett High scored seven of Portland State’s nine bench points as the Vikings (15-15) advanced to the Big Sky semifinals for the first time since 2019. They will face the winner between third-seeded Sacramento State and sixth-seeded Idaho on Tuesday.
🌊 ➡️ 🌊 @psuviksWBB pic.twitter.com/xXkVmM8Gkm
— Big Sky Conference (@BigSkyConf) March 4, 2023
With 15 wins, the Vikings have improved their overall win total from last season by 10, the second-best year-to-year improvement in overall wins in program history.
Winning back-to-back games at the Big Sky Championships is a huge indication of that growth, with the upset over a 21-win Montana State team serving as a major statement. Six days ago, Montana State defeated PSU by 29 points.
It looked like things might be headed in the direction after the Bobcats raced out to a 5-0 lead. But ‘Uhila injected energy into the Vikings.
A night earlier, she bagged 12 points and six rebounds in a 73-58 victory over No. 8 seed Idaho State in the first round. It was her first double-figure scoring effort in six weeks and her second-highest rebounding total in 24 games this season.
‘Uhila’s 9.5-point scoring average at the Big Sky Championships is a nice bump from her 5.9 average in the regular season. The surge also helped her surpass the 300-point career benchmark.