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PORTLAND, Ore. — Despite shooting a seasonal-best .480 from the floor, the Portland State women's basketball team fell 75-64 to Division II power Western Washington Sunday at the Stott Center.
 
Portland State (1-8) held the lead late in the game, but a cold finish from the field and the free-throw line cost PSU as Western Washington stretched its winning margin out to double digits.
 
PSU went up 61-60 with 4:41 remaining on the second of back-to-back jumpers in the paint from senior forward Ani Avanessian.
 
WWU answered right away with a three-point play from sophomore center Tia Briggs, however, which gave WWU the lead back at 63-61 with 4:18 remaining.
 
Both teams went cold from the floor after that before a sideline jumper from WWU's Kiana Gandy broke the dry spell and put WWU up by four at 65-61 with 2:17 left on the clock.
 
Portland State came back with a layup from sophomore guard Laurent Holt on its next trip down the floor, but Western Washington answered right back with a jumper in the paint from Briggs to put WWU back up by four at 67-63 with 1:51 remaining.
 
PSU then missed the front end of a one-and-one on its next trip down the floor, giving WWU the ball back with the lead.
 
Portland State started to foul at that point, but Western Washington made all eight of their free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
 
Western Washington's late-game push completed a large comeback in the second half for the WWU Vikings, as Portland State jumped out to a nine-point lead with a run soon after halftime.
 
The teams went into halftime tied 34-34, but PSU opened the second half on a 13-4 run that gave them a 47-38 lead with 14:12 remaining. Senior guard Lariel Powell led PSU during the stretch, as she scored six of the team's 13 points during the run, and assisted on a layup from junior center Alicia Carline.
 
Western Washington responded with its own 13-4 run, however, and drew back even with Portland State at 51-51 with 11:09 remaining.
 
The teams stayed within three points of each after that, until Western Washington made its push late.
 
Portland State had been nearly perfect from the floor before Western Washington made its run to pull back even at 51-all, as PSU started the second half 8-11 from the floor.
 
Portland State had a near-perfect stretch in the middle of the first half, too, as after staring the game 0-5 from the floor, PSU made 11 of its next 16 shots to get back even with Western Washington.
 
Individually, Western Washington's Katie Colard led all scorers with 26 points in the game, as she went 4-6 from behind the three-point line. Holt and Carline led Portland State with 15 points apiece, meanwhile, while Powell and senior guard Emily Easom finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Powell also had a career-high 12 assists against Western Washington Sunday, the most assists in a single game by a Portland State player since Claire Faucher dished out 13 assists against Sacramento State on Jan. 2, 2010.
 
Holt also set a career high Sunday, as she finished with nine rebounds, breaking her previous single-game best of eight. Carline also had nine rebounds for Portland State Sunday, as she and Holt led all players on the floor in the category.
 
Portland State will now close out its non-conference schedule on the road, as PSU plays at Princeton and Columbia next weekend. PSU faces Princeton Friday, Dec. 19, at 5:30 p.m. (ET), before facing Columbia Sunday, Dec. 21, at 12 p.m. (ET).
 
Game Notes: Western Washington improves to 9-5 all-time against Portland State with its win Sunday…Western Washington head coach Carmen Dolfo earned her 500th career win with her team's victory over PSU…Portland State held the Western Washington Vikings to under their season averages in scoring (81.8) and field goal percentage (.477) Sunday, as WWU finished with 75 points on .426 shooting from the floor.