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GREELEY, Colo. — 2018 has been good to the Portland State women's basketball team, but the Vikings will be happy to put the final quarter they played in 2018 behind them going into 2019. Northern Colorado broke open a close game while outscoring the Vikings 21-9 in the final period Monday, beating the Vikings 79-63 at Bank of Colorado Arena.
 
Sophomore point guard Kylie Jimenez converted a three-point play to make it 60-57 with 8:53 remaining, but the Bears responded with 11 straight points while the Vikings didn't make another field goal in the quarter until there was 2:27 remaining and the Bears led by 10.
 
"It's tough to play on the road in the Big Sky," PSU head coach Lynn Kennedy said after the loss. "We have to be better in the first quarter. Then we need to finish the game in the fourth when everything is against us. That's what good teams do. We need to learn from this and be better on Thursday."
 
The Vikings (8-2, 0-1 Big Sky) may have fallen victim to some holiday rust Monday, as they hadn't played since losing 73-68 to UC Irvine at home on Dec. 18. The Bears (7-4, 2-0 Big Sky), meanwhile, played a game Saturday, beating Sacramento State 82-69.
 
Regardless, the Vikings will lament the loss after they responded well to an early deficit against the Bears.
 
The Bears scored the first seven points of the game against the Vikings, and then used a 12-2 run to close the quarter after the Vikings had gotten back within four at 14-10. It was the second straight strong opening quarter for the Bears, who outscored Sacramento State 33-0 in the first quarter of their game Saturday.
 
The Vikings quickly erased the Bears' first-quarter advantage, however, as they scored the first 15 points of the second quarter to take their first lead of the game at 27-26 with 4:10 to go before halftime.
 
"We settled into the game [in the second quarter] and focused on what we need to do: rebounding and execution," Kennedy said of the team's turnaround. "Now we need to get a full game like that on the road."
 
The Vikings made seven of their first 10 shots in the second quarter, after hitting just six of 17 from the field in the first quarter. It was almost the exact opposite for the Bears, who missed their first seven shots in the second quarter, after going 11-of-21 in the first quarter.
 
Freshman guard Desirae Hansen scored seven of the Vikings' first 15 points in the second quarter, including the jumper that gave the Vikings their first lead at 27-26.
 
Hansen continued her hot start in the third quarter, as she made her first six shots in the game and finished 6-of-7 from the field. Hansen hit her second three-pointer to tie it at 48-48 with 5:08 in the third quarter, and then tied it again at 50-all with a layup with 4:38 remaining.
 
The Bears seemed to follow every big shot from the Vikings with a three-pointer, however. The Bears made a three-pointer after the Vikings tied it at 43-43 in the third quarter, then again when the Vikings tied it at 50-50, and a third time when the Vikings got within one at 55-54.
 
Savannah Smith – last year's Big Sky MVP – hit another three-pointer to start the Bears' decisive run in the fourth quarter, after Jimenez's three-point play made it 60-57.
 
The Bears finished with 13 three-pointers in the game, the most by a Portland State opponent this season. The Vikings actually out-shot the Bears .446-to-.403 Saturday, but the Bears made 10 more three-pointers than the Vikings.
 
"It was one of those nights," Kennedy said of the Bears' shooting from beyond the arc. "They hit shots. They will hit those at home and we need to be better at defending them."
 
Northern Colorado's Micayla Isenbart and Alexis Chapman made five three-pointers each for the Bears while leading the team with 21 and 19 points, respectively.
 
Hansen tied senior Ashley Bolston for the PSU lead with 14 points each, while junior Jordan Stotler scored a career-high 12 points to go with five rebounds and two blocks. Senior Courtney West finished with six points, nine rebounds and six blocks – two blocks off the single-game record she's set twice before.
 
The Vikings return home for a homestand against the Montana schools this weekend, when they will look to get in the win column in Big Sky play. The Vikings open the weekend against Montana State Thursday at 7 p.m. (PT).
 
Game Notes: The Vikings have now lost seven straight to the Bears, including nine straight in Greeley…The Vikings fell to 9-16 all time against the Bears with Monday's loss…Hansen's 14 points were her most in a game since she scored 22 points in the Vikings' season opener against Warner Pacific.