GREELEY, Colo. — It wasn't the Big Sky opener the Portland State women's basketball team wanted Saturday, as Northern Colorado beat the Vikings 77-58 at Bank of Colorado Arena. The remarkable thing, though? The Vikings were in the exact same spot last season.
 
The 2018-19 Vikings, who went on to win the Big Sky tournament in March, lost their Big Sky opener at Northern Colorado, 79-63, on New Year's Eve last year. The Vikings followed that loss with six straight wins en route to a 14-6 conference record and a Division I program record 25 wins overall.
 
The Bears (5-5, 1-0 Big Sky) used a fourth-quarter run to bury the Vikings (6-5, 0-1 Big Sky) last season. This year, the Bears started with a big lead and held onto it throughout. The Bears went up 10-2 on back-to-back three-pointers from Micayla Isenbart. A third three-pointer for Isenbart made it 18-8 UNC, while the Bears took a 24-17 lead into the second quarter.
 
The Vikings went ice cold from there, going 1-of-12 from the field in the second quarter as the Bears outscored them 14-4 to take a 38-21 lead into halftime.
 
"All road games are tough in conference and you hope that the non-conference has prepared you for it," PSU head coach Lynn Kennedy said afterwards. "We should know from starting conference play with this trip three of the past four years what it takes, but this is a new and young team and so we need to continue to learn."
 
The Viking defense picked up its play in the third quarter while holding the Bears to 4-of-18 shooting in the period. The Viking offense took advantage with a 9-0 run to close the quarter, bringing the Vikings back within 11 points going into the fourth quarter. The Vikings got to the line well in their run, as the last seven points in the 9-0 run came from the free-throw line.
 
The Bears responded with a 16-4 run to open the fourth quarter, however, that put the game out of reach for the Vikings. The defense that helped the Vikings make it interesting in the third quarter disappeared as the Bears shot 11-of-19 in the final quarter.
 
Isenbart finished with 20 points for the Bears, while Bridget Hintz led all players with 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Those two players came into the game averaging 5.7 and 6.4 points per game, respectively, but easily had their best games of the season for the Bears. The Vikings limited the Bears' leading scorer Alexis Chapman to only five points through the first three quarters, but she closed the game with 10 points in the fourth quarter.
 
The Vikings had trouble generating their own offensive, as they assisted on only seven of their 21 field goals in the game. Additionally, the Vikings went just 2-of-9 from three-point range against the Bears despite coming into the game shooting a Big Sky-leading .395 from deep and averaging 7.5 three-pointers made a game.
 
Sophomore Desirae Hansen scored nine of her team-high 13 points before halftime, while redshirt junior Tatiana Streun scored all 10 of her points in the second half. Jordan Stotler, Belle Frazier and Kylie Jimenez all added eight points each.
 
Stotler added a game-high 10 rebounds to her eight points while also finishing with four blocked shots. Stotler now has 13 blocked shots in the Vikings' past two games, and leads the Big Sky with 2.82 blocks per game.
 
Jimenez added three steals and three assists to her eight points. Jimenez's three steals moved her into a tie for 10th all time in career steals at Portland State, after she had moved into the career top 10s for assists and three-pointers made in the Vikings' last game.
 
The follow up to the conference-opening loss to the Bears will differ for the Vikings from last season to this season. Last year, the Vikings came home for home games against Montana State and Montana, both of which the Vikings won to start their six-game winning streak that followed their loss to the Bears. This year, the Vikings remain on the road for a game against a strong Southern Utah team Monday night.
 
"It will be another tough game, but we need to focus on things we can change and be ready for Monday," Kennedy said of the game against the Thunderbirds.
 
Southern Utah did not play a game Saturday, meaning Monday's game will be their first since Dec. 19. Tipoff between the Vikings and Thunderbirds is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. (PT) / 6:30 p.m. (MT).
 
Game Notes: The Vikings fell to 10-17 all time against the Bears following Saturday's loss…The Vikings fell to 2-12 against the Bears in Greeley, where they haven't won since Feb. 19, 2009…Jimenez moved into a tie for eighth all time with her 346th career assist in the game…With two three-point attempts, Jimenez moved into sole possession of 10th place all time…Stotler has 77 blocked shots in her PSU career after Saturday, leaving her five away from entering the career top 10 at Portland State.