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PORTLAND – Freshman guard Emily Easom scored a career-high 14 points in her first career start but it was not enough as the Vikings fell to the Thunderbirds, 70-68, Thursday night at the Peter W. Stott Center. 

“I told the team after the game, 'I loved our effort from beginning to end. Effort was not an issue tonight,'” Head Coach Sherri Murrell said following the tough loss. “It breaks my heart because we did so many good things tonight. Emily Easom came out wanting to shoot. Even though she missed some threes she gave us a spark. We had one more mistake than they did.”

What could go overlooked with the tough loss was the emergence of Easom. She had a career night recording career marks in points (12), rebounds (5), steals (5), and minutes (37) in her first career start as a Viking.

Sophomore guard Allison Greene scored a game-high 16 points for the Vikings. She has come on of late from the floor scoring in double-figures in three straight games. Senior guard Courtney VanBrocklin scored 13 points and matched her career-high with seven assists.

Junior forward Mikaela Rivard came off the bench and gave the Vikings 20 strong minutes after missing the last game with an illness and scored 10 points.

Green hit a jumper with 45 seconds remaining in regulation giving the Vikings (9-10 overall, 3-7 Big Sky Conference) a one-point lead at 58-57. Southern Utah's Kimie Hawkins hit one of two free throws to tie the game at 58-58. Portland State had a shot with eight seconds left but Lariel Powell's drive to the basket was blocked sending the game to overtime.

It was the second time the Vikings have played an overtime game this season. PSU defeated Oregon 87-85 in double-overtime for their second win of the season. The Vikings are now 1-1 in overtime games with the loss and are 19-10 all-time in overtime games.

The Vikings went up by three early in overtime on a Rivard 3-pointer with a little over four minutes remaining. VanBrocklin and Greene each added a pair of free throws to put the Vikings up seven.

After a pair of SUU (10-8, 4-4) free throws, Angela Misa hit a jumper in the paint and was fouled. She hit the and-one free throw to give the Vikings an eight-point lead at 68-60 with 1:12 remaining.

Down by eight with a little over a minute left, the Thunderbirds turned up the defensive pressure and forced three straight Viking tournovers.

Southern Utah hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead to six with 1:03 remaining. SUU got a quick steal and called timeout. On the ensuing possession Hailey Mandelko hit a 3-pointer from the corner and was fouled by Allie Brock who had just checked into the game.

Mandelko hit the free throw capping a rare four-point play cutting the Vikings' lead to just two with 50 seconds left. Mandelko finished the game with a team-high 15 points.

The Thunderbirds again stole the ball and hit a jumper to tie the game at 68-68 with 33 seconds remaining. SUU recorded their third steal in as many Viking possessions and had the ball with the shot clock off.

SUU's Andrea Jones hit a jumper with four seconds on the clock to give the Thunderbirds a two-point lead at 70-68. Southern Utah scored the final 10 points of the game to finish the improbable comeback.

Portland State will next be on the court Thursday, Jan. 31 when they travel to Montana beginning the second half of the Big Sky Conference season.

NOTES: Freshman Emily Easom made her first career start … Easom had a career-high 12 points … Portland State had the lead at the half for the first time since Dec. 2, 2012 when they hosted University of Portland … Portland State is now 1-5 on Thursdays.