PORTLAND, Ore. — A slow start cost the Portland State women's basketball team once again, as the Vikings erased a 10-point second-half deficit but still fell 73-70 to Sacramento State Saturday at Viking Pavilion.
 
The loss dropped the Vikings to 5-4 in Big Sky play, with a common theme in all four losses being slow starts. The Vikings started slow in both games on the opening weekend of Big Sky play, falling behind by 17 at halftime of a 77-58 loss to Northern Colorado, and trailed by as many as 14 in the first half of a 71-58 loss to Southern Utah. Additionally, the Vikings started 2-of-18 from the field while falling behind Montana State in a 73-62 loss on Jan. 11.
 
Thursday night, the Vikings opened in a 7-0 hole, and made just one of their seven shots from the field. The Vikings were still only shooting 10-of-31 (.323) at halftime while the Hornets took an eight-point lead at 39-31 into the locker rooms.
 
"We've got to be better to start the game, especially at home," head coach Lynn Kennedy said afterwards. "[Sacramento State] did a good job coming in ready to play, but that's part of them sitting at home Monday and not playing while we were playing on the road. But we've got to be better. As a young team, I think we've got to learn that. I thought we learned that the first weekend [of Big Sky play] and were past that, but we've just got to continue to learn and get better."
 
An early bucket by Kennedy Nicholas made it 41-31 SAC in the third quarter, giving the Hornets their largest lead of the game.
 
To the Vikings' credit, every time the Hornets stretched their lead, the Vikings seemed to find their three-point stroke. That especially proved true in the third quarter, as the Vikings went 5-of-7 from deep in the period. The two biggest shots of those five makes came right after the Hornets went up by 10. Tatiana Streun and Belle Frazier hit back-to-back bombs to get the Vikings back within four at 41-37.
 
Jordan Stotler then answered a Sac State bucket with four straight points before Desirae Hansen put the Vikings up 44-43 with her first three-pointer of the game with 3:52 remaining in the third. That was only the second lead for the Vikings to that point of the game, and was the team's first since late in the first quarter.
 
Kylie Jimenez hit another three-pointer – one of four in the game for her – to put the Vikings up 49-48 a little later. Cassidy Gardner then hit the fifth three-pointer of the quarter for the Vikings with 33 seconds remaining, putting the Vikings up 52-51.
 
Those would be the only leads the Vikings would get in the second half, however, as the Hornets took a 54-52 lead in the fourth quarter and then twice took six-point leads after the Vikings had tied the game or closed within one.
 
It was still 69-63 Hornets with 2:56 remaining when the Vikings made a final comeback attempt. Stotler started it with a three-point play that cut the Vikings' deficit in half at 69-66. Streun then missed a shot on the Vikings' next possession but immediately stole the outlet pass to give the Vikings another chance with less than 90 seconds remaining.
 
Hansen took over from there, drawing the Vikings to within one with a short jumper in the paint that made it 69-68 with 1:25 remaining.
 
The Vikings were unlucky to not get a stop on the Hornets' next possession, as the shot clock ran all the way down before Sacramento State's Camariah King banked in a shot with 51 seconds remaining.
 
Hansen again answered for the Vikings, this time working her way around the Hornets' Nicholas for a layup that made it 71-70.
 
The Hornets hit two free throws to stretch their lead to three with 19 seconds remaining. The Vikings worked the ball to Jimenez on the left baseline for an open three-pointer, but the ball bounced off the rim and Nicholas grabbed the rebound for Sacramento State. Nicholas missed both free throws with five seconds left, but the Vikings were out of timeouts and couldn't advance the ball. Jimenez put up a mid-court heave at the buzzer, but it hit the right side of the rim and bounced off.
 
Nicholas gave the Vikings trouble in the paint throughout the night, finishing with 28 points on 12-of-25 shooting to go with nine rebounds, five steals and two blocks. Nicholas' performance helped the Hornets shoot 28-of-60 (.467) against the Vikings, well above their season average coming into the game of .356.
 
The Vikings, meanwhile, finished 22-of-57 (.386) from the field, rebounding to shoot 12-of-26 (.462) after halftime following their cold first half. The Vikings went 11-of-26 (.423) from three-point range against the Hornets, with five different Vikings connecting from beyond the arc.
 
All five Viking starters finished in double figures, led by Hansen and Streun who tied for the team lead with 15 points each. Hansen added six rebounds, five assists and three steals to her 15 points, while Streun grabbed five rebounds. Stotler followed with 13 points to go with seven rebounds and six blocks. Jimenez finished with 12 points while going 4-of-9 from beyond the arc, and added four assists, four rebounds and three steals. Frazier chipped in 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc while adding a career-high six assists.
 
The Vikings can bounce back Saturday, when they host Northern Arizona in a game presented by OnPoint Community Credit Union. Tipoff between the Vikings and Lumberjacks is scheduled for 2 p.m. (PT).
 
Game Notes: The Vikings fell to 30-19 all time against Sacramento State following Thursday's loss…The Vikings had won four straight games against the Hornets before Thursday's loss…Jimenez moved past Emily Easom (2012-15) on the all-time list for three-pointers made at Portland State, giving her 137 career makes after Thursday's game…Jimenez tied her former teammate Ashley Bolston (2016-19) for seventh on the all-time assists list, finishing Thursday's game with 381 career assists…Stotler's six blocks moved her into a tie with Kay Wade for the fourth-best single-season block total in program history with 68 so far.