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PORTLAND, Ore. — Facing the mirror image of itself, the Portland State women's basketball team fell to its alter ego Tuesday, losing 73-68 to UC Irvine at the Viking Pavilion.
 
The loss drops the Vikings from the ranks of the unbeaten, though the Vikings still finished the non-conference schedule with their best record ever as a Division I program at 8-1. Only two other Viking teams across all divisions finished with a better non-conference record than this year's Vikings.
 
"They're a good team," head coach Lynn Kennedy said afterwards. "We let it get away from us in the third quarter. It's something we've got to work through. We've got to get ready for conference. Looking back, though, 8-1 is 8-1, and one loss won't take that away from us."
 
The Vikings and Anteaters came into the game with nearly identical records at 8-0 and 8-1, respectively, while both teams had beaten three common opponents in Portland, San Jose State and UNLV. Both teams also came into the game ranked in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 with UC Irvine at 22nd, and Portland State at 25th.
 
The Anteaters matched the Vikings star for star, including a great back-and-forth between the 2017-18 Big Sky Freshman of the Year in the Vikings' Kylie Jimenez, and the 2017-18 Big West Freshman of the Year in the Anteaters' Jordan Sanders. Sanders and Jimenez led their respective teams with 34 and 28 points, respectively, new career highs for both players.
 
Sanders' 34 points was just one off the single-game record for an opposing player against the Vikings in a home game, and came on 15-of-25 shooting from the field as she hit shot after shot from the high post. 
 
Twenty of Sanders' 34 points came in the second half, when the Anteaters (9-1) erased a 13-point Viking lead in the third quarter to take control. 
 
Ashley Bolston fed Courtney West for a short-range jumper to make it 48-35 Vikings with 7:38 remaining in the third quarter, but that proved to be the Vikings' last field goal until Jordan Stotler broke the dry spell with 8:37 left in the fourth quarter.
 
The Anteaters took advantage, scoring 20 straight points – eight coming from Sanders and nine coming from Lauren Saiki. Sanders scored eight of the Anteaters' first 11 points in the run, while Saiki scored the final nine in just over a minute of game time.
 
The Vikings finally stopped the bleeding when Bolston and Sidney Rielly each hit one of two free throws to make it 55-50, but the Anteaters stretched the lead out to nine at 59-50 with a jumper from Tahlia Garza on their first possession of the fourth quarter.
 
The Vikings twice got back within five points after that, but Sanders responded with four straight points each time to stretch the lead back to nine. Saiki gave the Anteaters their largest lead of the game at 71-61 with 1:37 to go.
 
The Vikings came alive for one final comeback attempt from there, starting with a jumper from West and then a steal and layup from Jimenez that made it 71-65 UCI with 1:04 to go. Jimenez stole another ball – her sixth steal of the game – and scored again to bring the Vikings within four at 71-67 with 30 seconds remaining.
 
Rielly got another steal for the Vikings, and passed up to Jimenez who was fouled. Jimenez made one of two free throws to bring the Vikings within a single possession at 71-68 with 10.8 seconds left.
 
The Anteaters got the ball inbounds safely on their next possession, however, and the Anteaters' Andee Ritter hit two free throws to make it a two-possession game once again at 73-68. The Vikings then weren't able to generate a shot on their final possession out of a timeout, and Sanders stole the ball and ran out the clock.
 
The Vikings had their own strong run of play earlier in the game, as they played a near-flawless second quarter to take a 45-35 lead into halftime. The Vikings trailed 15-9 in the first quarter, but scored the final seven points of the period to take a 16-15 lead into the second.
 
West extended the Vikings' run with a mid-range jumper in the paint at the start of the second quarter, while Jimenez drove for a layup to make it 20-15 as the Vikings had scored 11 straight points.
 
UC Irvine recovered to tie the game at 30-30 with 4:10 left before halftime, but Jimenez took over from there as the Vikings outscored the Anteaters 15-2 until a late three-pointer from Ritter cut into the Vikings' momentum just before the break.
 
Jimenez scored 10 of the Vikings' final 15 points in the first half while assisting on one of the Vikings' two other field goals. Jimenez had already tied her career high with 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting by halftime, with 15 of her 21 first-half points coming in the second quarter.
 
As a team, the Vikings shot 10-of-12 from the field in the second quarter, including a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and 6-for-6 from the free throw line. The Vikings also had seven three-pointers in the first half – more than they had in the past two games combined (4).
 
The Vikings weren't able to maintain their form going into the third quarter, of course, but will now take that lesson into Big Sky play as they turn their attention to the conference schedule.
 
The Vikings face another stiff test in their Big Sky opener, as they head out on the road to face the defending Big Sky champion in Northern Colorado on Dec. 31. The Vikings and Bears will tip off at 6 p.m. (MT) in Greeley, Colo.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings still lead the all-time series between them and the Anteaters, 9-4, despite Tuesday's loss…The Vikings had won three in a row in the series before Tuesday's loss…Jimenez has now recorded six steals in each of the past two games, tying her career high both times…Jimenez and Bolston now sit tied atop the Big Sky with 33 steals each this season.