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PORTLAND – After being down by nine points at the break, the Vikings stormed back with 43 second-half points but could not hold on to a one point lead and fell 61-60 to the Eastern Washington Eagles in the final Dam Cup game of the season Monday night at the Peter W. Stott Center.

Portland State held a one-point lead with 37 second remaining in the game. The Vikings were outside the 30-second shot clock so they could not play for the final shot. They nearly gave it away as they struggled to get it up court. PSU maintained possession but Delanie Parry had to put up a rushed three-pointer as the shot clock ran down but was blocked by Eastern Washington's Aubrey Ashenfelter. Ashenfelter took the ball, went coast-to-coast, and laid it in to give Eastern Washington a one-point lead at 61-60.

The Vikings quickly took the ball up court, as they were out of timeouts, and Emily Easom threw up a long three-pointer as the buzzer sounded but the ball hit off the back iron and bounced away.

Portland State (6-19 overall, 4-12 Big Sky Conference) was outscored 26-17 in the first half but came storming back with 43 second-half points as they Vikings shot 46.9 percent from the floor in the period to put them in position for the win.

PSU forwards Keaton McFadden and Mikaela Rivard led the Vikings with 13 points apiece. It was a career scoring night for McFadden who scored her career-high 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting. She also went 5-for-6 at the free-throw line. Rivard scored in double figures for the fifth time this season. It was the first time this season she did it in back-to-back games after scoring a career-high 22 points Saturday against Southern Utah.

The Vikings did a good job of getting to the line in the second half going a perfect 12-for-12 from the charity stripe, which aided in the comeback effort. They finished the game 13-for-15 (.867) from the line as a team, their third best mark this season.

Portland State seemed out of sorts through much of the first half shooting just 23.3 percent from the floor going 7-for-30. That quickly changed in the second half as they scored 10 points in the opening four minutes of the second half to cut the Eastern Washington lead to five points at 32-27.

Easom pulled the Vikings to within one at 35-34 after she completed an and-one. The Vikings have struggled scoring in the paint of late but more importantly defending in the paint. Eastern Washington outscored the Portland State 28-to-26 in the paint Monday night with the final margin coming on the game-winning basket.

After the Eagles built their lead back up to seven points, Parry hit a three-pointer to cut it to four. McFadden later hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at for just the second time at 48-48 with 7:43 remaining.

Portland State took its first lead of the game since it opened the game with a three pointer on a pair of Easom free throws. Eastern Washington retook the lead with back-to-back field goals before Lanz once again tied the game with two at the line. The lead bounced back and forth as the teams kept trading baskets until the Vikings took a three-point lead on a McFadden jumper with 46 second remaining.

Eastern Washington (14-11, 10-6) pulled to within one at 60-59 with 37 second left before getting the game-winning basket of the block and layup with five seconds on the clock to win by the final score of 61-60.

Eastern Washington moves one game out of second place in the conference while the Vikings move four games out of the seventh and final Big Sky Tournament spot with four games remaining.

Hayley Hodgins led the Eagles with a game-high 17 points going 5-of-12 from the floor with three three-pointers. She also went 4-for-6 from the line.

Parry added 12 points for the Vikings going 5-for-11 from the floor with a career-high two three-pointers. She pulled down three rebounds and had four assists. The Vikings played a relatively clean game turning the ball over just 10 times, which matched their season low.

The Vikings will play their final two home games of the season this Thursday and Saturday as they welcome North Dakota and Northern Colorado respectively. Saturday's game with the Bears will be senior day as well as the Vikings' Alumnae Game as they welcome back former Viking greats.

NOTES: Keaton McFadden scored a career-high 13 points … Mikaela Rivard scored 13 points for her her fifth double digit scoring performance of the season … Allie Brock is now 3-4 all-time against former teammate Aubrey Ashenfelter.