Vikings stung at home

The Portland State women’s basketball team fell to Sacramento State in front of a stunned Stott Center crowd on Friday. A game that began in favor of the Vikings, ended with a nail-biting finish before eventually ending with a Hornets win, 83–78.

In the first four minutes of the game, the Vikings’ (12–10, 6–3 Big Sky) starting lineup each put up a basket. With a three-pointer from senior center Erin Yankus, the five players combined to raise the score to 12–3 in Portland State’s favor.

The Viks (12–10, 6–3 Big Sky)  continued to hold off the Hornets (10–12, 6–4 Big Sky), and saw their largest lead early in the second half. Off a jumper from sophomore guard Eryn Jones, Portland State was up 10 points at 53–43, but Sacramento State refused to offer up an easy defeat. With 10 minutes left in the second half, the Hornets pulled ahead off a basket by Ashley Garcia, and from there it was a fight to the finish.

Jones put up a basket with 6:10 remaining to even out the score, 66–all, after which the score would be tied five more times before the Hornets’ eventual victory.

With 54 seconds left on the clock, Sac State’s Emily Christensen shot to pull the Hornets up by two at 80–78. A free throw by Charday Hunt and two more by Tika Koshiyama-Diaz put the Hornets at their final 83–78 score.

Although PSU outshot Sac State .475 to .457 from the field and outrebounded them 42–36, the Hornets led in accuracy in both three pointers and free throws.

Christensen led both teams in the game with 23 points and eight rebounds, barely edging Portland State’s Yankus, who put up 20 points with 10 rebounds.

Following the game, Portland State head coach Sherri Murrell offered accolades for Yankus’ performance.

“[She] just did a great job. She got the ball inside, she played her heart out—she didn’t want to lose that game,” Murrell said.

Sac State put up a tight full court press for almost the entire game, and both Yankus and Murrell agree that the defense was not handled well by the Vikings.

“Their strength is their press, and they’ve gotten a lot better since we last played them,” Yankus said.

Once the ball was down the court, the Vikings did well shooting. The Vikings had four players in double digits on the scoreboard. Behind Yankus, senior guard Claire Faucher and junior forward Kelly Marchant each put up 14, while Jones pitched in 10 points and added four assists.

Despite the loss, Faucher grabbed her 500th rebound early in the second half to become the ninth member of Portland State’s 1,000-point, 500-rebound club. She also tallied five assists.

The loss, combined with a win by Montana over the weekend, moves Portland State down to third place in the Big Sky standings. Sacramento State does not move up in the rankings, but is now just one conference loss behind the Vikings.

Next weekend, the Vikings hit the road to take on Montana and Montana State, with action beginning Missoula on Friday. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. local time.

Scores by period
                                      1st    2nd    Final
Sacramento State         31     52      83
Portland State               36     42      78