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SEATTLE, Wash. – In a reversal of fortune from one year ago, Washington hit a late shot to take down visiting Portland State, 51-50, the season opener for both schools at Bank of America Arena.

In last season's first game, the Vikings won 67-66 on a 13-foot jumper with 0.3 seconds left. On Sunday, Washington raced out to a huge lead, withered a comeback by Portland State, then had to mount a comeback of its own to win their first season opener under fourth-year Head Coach Tia Jackson.

The Vikings started out extremely slow and found themselves down 14-0 just over eight minutes in. Portland State missed its first nine shots and didn't get on the scoreboard until Courtney VanBrocklin made one-of-two free throws at the 11:59 mark.

VanBrocklin single-handedly brought the Vikings back from there. 49 seconds later she hit a three-pointer for PSU's first field goal, then hit a pull-up 10-footer to make it 15-6. With 9:49 remaining, she was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws to pull Portland State within 16-9.

Eryn Jones got the Vikings within 19-17 on a step-back 18-foot jumper at the 5:08 mark, then just over two minutes later Lexi Bishop banked in a three-pointer from the left wing to make it a one-point game, 23-22.

Forty-six seconds before intermission, Bishop tied it up with yet another three ball from the left wing. PSU went into the break up 27-25 after Katy Wade tipped out a Vikings' miss to Jones, who promptly buried a eight-foot jumper.

"You obviously don't want to start games like that," said Vikings Head Coach Sherri Murrell. "I've been in this situation before with these kids being down 20-something against Montana State last season. I know as a coach that if you stay positive with the kids and tell the shooters to keep shooting, then things will turn around. We emphasized defense with them after that rough start and we got some stops and then we started hitting shots."

Portland State pushed its lead to 44-37 after Jones hit a three-pointer with 11:23 to go. The Vikings again led by seven, 46-39, on a layup by Shauneice Samms with 7:58 left, but struggled down the stretch, hitting just one field goal the rest of the way.

Washington pulled within one, 50-49, at the 4:34 mark and the scored remained that way until Mollie Williams hit a 12-foot jump shot from the right baseline with 24 seconds remaining.

PSU got off one more attempt, but Jones' shot from the left side of the key missed.

Jones paced the team with 14 points, Van Brocklin added 11, and Samms had six points and seven rebounds in her first game as a Vikings.

Williams pulled down 13 boards for the Huskies, who got 18 points from Kristi Kingma and Regina Rogers.

The Vikings stay on the road for their next contest, playing at UC Santa Barbara next Thursday.

NOTES: PSU lost its first season opener in four tries under Murrell ... Samms and Wade both blocked two shots ... Washington shot just 5-of-16 from the free-throw line in the first half, and 7-of-23 for the game. PSU was 11-of-15.