PORTLAND, Ore. — There's always one game in a basketball season that a team wishes it could expunge from the record. Not only its record, but humanity's record. Monday night was that game for the Portland State women's basketball team as the Vikings lost 78-51 to Northern Colorado at Viking Pavilion.
 
The signs were there early that it might not be the Vikings night as the Bears, who came into the night shooting 27.7 percent from three-point range, made four of their first six shots from beyond the arc. The Bears finished 9-of-22 (.409) from three-point range, setting a new season high for makes while recording their best shooting performance since they went 8-of-17 (.471) against the Vikings the first time the teams faced each other this season.
 
Two of the Bears' early three-points came on second-chance points, which was the other major sore spot for the Vikings Monday. The Bears out-rebounded the Vikings 43-26, including an 18-8 advantage on the offensive glass that led to a 21-4 advantage in second-chance points.
 
"We've got a figure out a way to get through this stretch," head coach Lynn Kennedy said of his team, which dropped its third straight game Monday. "We as coaches have to give our players confidence. We'll be back at it at practice tomorrow with the eye towards Eastern Washington on Saturday. That's all you can do."
 
The second of the Bears' two second-chance three-pointers gave them an 11-2 lead with 6:21 left in the first quarter. Junior guard Kylie Jimenez capped an 11-3 Viking run with back-to-back jumpers that got the Vikings back within one at 14-13. Jimenez scored back-to-back buckets again a little later on aggressive drives to the hoop that got the Vikings back within five at 22-17.
 
The wheels started to come off for the Vikings from there, however, as Northern Colorado followed Jimenez's buckets with seven straight points of its own. That put the Bears up 29-17, and UNC stretched it to a 13-point game at 38-25 going into halftime.
 
The air went out of the Vikings early in the second half when the Bears' Alexis Chapman hit a desperation three-pointer as the shot clock was winding down. The Vikings had come out aggressively on defense at the start of the second half, but Chapman's shot took the Vikings' legs out from under them, and it the Bears stretched their lead to more than 20 points shortly afterwards. The Vikings didn't get closer than 18 points the rest of the way.
 
Jimenez finished with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting for the Vikings, while Desirae Hansen and Cassidy Gardner added 10 points each. Labrea Denson scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field, giving the junior guard her highest scoring output since the Vikings' game against Nevada on Nov. 23.
 
The one bright spot for the Vikings Monday night came in the return of freshman guard Jada Lewis. Lewis hadn't played for the Vikings since their preseason WNIT game against UC Irvine on Nov. 16, and scored two points to go with one rebound in 16 minutes of action.
 
The Vikings will now need to break out of their funk on the road, as they play their next three games away from home. The first of the Vikings' three-game road trip comes Saturday at Eastern Washington, who the Vikings face at 2 p.m. (PT).
 
Game Notes: The Vikings fell to 10-18 all time against Northern Colorado after Monday…The Vikings have lost three straight games for a third time this season, and have dropped four of their last five…Senior forward Jordan Stotler was held without a block for only the second time this season, and the first time since the Vikings' game against Nevada on Nov. 23… Monday's game was the largest Big Sky home loss for the Vikings since they lost 88-59 to Idaho State on Jan. 18, 2018.