PORTLAND – Ashley Bolston scored a career-high 26 points but it was not enough as the Vikings fell to cross-town rival University of Portland, 79-68, Wednesday night at the Chiles Center.
 
Bolston, a redshirt sophomore from Medford, Ore., led the Vikings with 26 points for her second consecutive 20-point game. She went 9-for-17 from the floor with a pair of three-pointers. She added 6-of-7 at the free-throw line and is 15-for-18 (.833) at the line over the past two games. She pulled down a career-high six rebounds and added five assists. She is averaging 5.6 assists per game.
 
Sophomore G Cici West came off the bench to post the Vikings' first double-double of the season. She scored 13 points, going 3-for-5 from the floor and 7-for-8 at the line, while pulling down a team-high 10 rebounds.
 
Sidney Rielly came in as the leading scorer, averaging 21.0 points per game. She scored a season-low nine points on just 3-of-12 shooting from the floor. She missed some practice time this week while nursing a minor injury but battled through against the Pilots.
 
Tied at 10-10 late in the first quarter, Portland (2-5 overall) went on an 18-0 run that spanned the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second. During the Pilots' run, Portland State (2-3) went cold from the floor, going 0-for-11 with four turnovers.
 
Portland extended its lead to 23 points late in the second quarter but a 10-0 run by Portland State cut the lead to 39-26 at the break.
 
Bolston led the Vikings with seven of her 23 points in the first half on 3-of-5 shooting. Portland State shot only .383 from the floor in the first half, going 9-for-29.
 
Portland State shot much better in the third quarter, going 9-for-14 (.643). Unfortunately, the Vikings fell further behind as Portland increased its lead to 67-47 at the end of the third.
 
The Vikings opened the fourth quarter on a 16-4 run and cut the lead to eight points, 75-67, after an old-fashioned three-point play by Bolston. Unfortunately, that would be the closest they would get as the Pilots held of the Vikings' final push to win 79-69.
 
Darian Slaga led the Pilots with 18 points, going 5-for-14 from the floor with a pair of three-pointers. She went 6-for-8 at the line.
 
Portland State shot .383 (23-for-60) for the game, its second lowest shooting mark of the season. The Vikings did move the ball well recording 18 assists on 23 field goals.
 
The Vikings are back home this weekend and will take on UC Irvine on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 2 p.m. PT. It will be the first game of a doubleheader with the Portland State men's basketball team who will take on Texas Rio Grande Valley.
 
NOTES:
• Sophomore G Ashley Bolston recorded a career-high 26 points.
• Bolston recorded her second-straight 20-point game.
• Sophomore G Cici West recorded her first double-double of the year with 13 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
• Portland State turned the ball over a season-low 15 times.
• Portland State shot a season-low .150 (3-for-20) from three-point range.