TIPOFF

When you find the people you want to spend your season with, you want the season to start as soon as possible. And while that may be a poor imitation of the final scene from When Harry Met Sally, it's an accurate portrayal of the feeling within the Portland State women's basketball team.
 
Let's get this thing started already.
 
Tuesday, in a game against Warner Pacific, marks the long-awaited start for a Portland State women's basketball team full of youth and promise. Nine of the Vikings' 14 players this season will be freshmen or sophomores, and even the team's four juniors have a youthful tinge to them considering the pandemic ended their freshman seasons prematurely and altered their entire sophomore campaigns.
 
The Vikings' youth will surely show some inconsistencies, but the team can deal with that considering the promise that same youth showed last Sunday in an exhibition against Multnomah. Three of the Vikings' four freshmen started the team's exhibition, while the fourth – Mia 'Uhila – was quick off the bench while playing 14 minutes for the Vikings.
 
All four freshmen showed their potential, none more so than point guard Esmeralda Morales who would have set a pair of freshman records with her 30 points and 12 assists if it had been a counting game. Morales scored 23 of her game-high 30 points in the first half when she went 10-of-14 from the field while adding six assists and four rebounds.
 
Alaya Fitzgerald and Rhema Ogele, meanwhile, added 13 points each while starting alongside Morales. Fitzgerald went 5-of-10 from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point range while adding five rebounds and a steal. Ogele missed only one shot while going 6-of-7 from the floor, and added eight rebounds. 'Uhila was no slouch off the bench, either, totaling six points, five rebounds and three steals.
 
Jada Lewis will mix in with the Vikings' youth, as she transitions into being an upperclassmen and leader for the Vikings. Lewis broke out as a sophomore when she averaged 9.3 points per game while ranking second in the Big Sky and 40th in the nation with a 40.2-percent three-point field goal percentage. Lewis proved clutch for the Vikings last season, hitting two game-winning threes over the course of the season. Lewis' first game-winner came with 2.1 seconds remaining in the Vikings' 75-73 in over Northern Arizona on Feb. 11. The second came with less than 10 seconds remaining in the Vikings' 11-point, fourth-quarter comeback win over Southern Utah on March 5.
 
Lewis showed she's more than just a three-point shooter in the Vikings' exhibition against Multnomah. Lewis finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and four steals, the latter two of which led all players in the game and would have set new career highs for Lewis had it been a counting game.
 
Tuesday's season opener will also mark the long-awaited return of Savannah Dhaliwal. If everything goes well between now and Tuesday, Dhaliwal will make her official return for the Vikings after a pair of ACL tears forced her out of the entire 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. The last time Dhaliwal played in a counting game for the Vikings will have been 985 days ago by the time Tuesday rolls around.
 
Dhaliwal has been out since tearing her ACL against Idaho on Feb. 28, 2019. It was a cruel end to what had been a breakout month for Dhaliwal in February. Dhaliwal started with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting in a home game against Sacramento State on Feb. 7. Two days later, Dhaliwal followed with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go with seven rebounds in the Vikings' win over defending conference champion Northern Colorado. Dhaliwal then scored in double figures in three straight games against Southern Utah (Feb. 16), Idaho State (Feb. 21) and Sacramento State (Feb. 23) that included two-more 16-point games against SUU and ISU.
 
Dhaliwal played an all-around game against Multnomah last Sunday, in what amounted to a tease of her official return. Dhaliwal finished with eight points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two steals against the Lions.
 
Warner Pacific plays in the same conference as Multnomah, and beat them three times during the Knights' strange spring season during the 2020-21 school year. The Knights didn't officially start their season until March 12, 2021, though they played a pair of games against the Vikings in February that counted for the Vikings but served as exhibitions for the Knights due to them being an NAIA school. 
 
Once their 2020-21 season started, the Knights played 18 games in a span of seven weeks, going 7-10 and ending with a 67-51 loss to Oregon Tech on May 1.
 
Courtney Jackson – an All-Cascade Collegiate Conference Honorable Mention last season – represents the Knights' leading returning scorer off last year's team. Jackson averaged 12.5 points per game behind a team-high 38 three-pointers on 36.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc. The Knights also returned their third-leading scorer from last season in Lynden Harry, who averaged 9.2 points per game to go with 1.5 assists and 1.4 three-pointers made per game.
 
A familiar face joined the Knights over the offseason, as Labrea Denson, who played the last four years for the Vikings, moved across the river as a graduate transfer for the Knights.
 
Tuesday will mark a reunion of sorts, then, though the Vikings will mostly just be thankful that the season is finally here. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. Tuesday, and if we could sprint to it from Washington Square Park, we would.
 
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE (0-0) vs. WARNER PACIFIC (0-0)

LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
GAME INFO: Tuesday, Nov. 9, 6 p.m., Portland, Ore. (Viking Pavilion)
SCOUTING WARNER PACIFIC: The Vikings thought they started their 2020-21 season late, playing their season opener on Dec. 16, 2020, but the Warner Pacific Knights had an even longer wait. The Knights didn't play their season opener until facing off against Northwest University on March 12, 2021, though they played a pair of games against the Vikings earlier that counted for the Vikings but were exhibitions for the Knights. Once their 2020-21 season started, the Knights played 18 games in a span of seven weeks, going 7-10. Three of those wins came against Multnomah University, while another three of the seven came against NCAA Division III opponents. Gabriella Bruno led the Knights in scoring with 15.8 points per game as a senior last season, but graduated out of the program. Courtney Jackson represents the Knights' leading returning scorer, after she averaged 12.5 points per game behind a team-high 38 three-pointers on 36.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Jackson earned All-Cascade Collegiate Conference Honorable Mention last season, while Bruno made the All-CCC team. The Knights also return their third-leading scorer from last season in Lynden Harry, who averaged 9.2 points per game to go with 1.5 assists and 1.4 three-pointers made per game. A familiar face joined the Knights over the offseason, as Labrea Denson, who played the last four years for the Vikings, moved across the river as a graduate transfer for the Knights.
ALL-TIME SERIES: The Vikings lead the all-time series between them and the Knights, 3-1. The Vikings have won the last three in the series, including two last season. The Knights' lone win in the series came on Nov. 21, 2015, when they beat the Vikings 76-64 at the old Peter W. Stott Center.
 

STORYLINES/STREAKS/RECORDS

• Jada Lewis represents the Vikings' top returning scorer from last season, when she averaged 9.3 points per game while leading the team with 51 three-pointers on .402 shooting from beyond the arc. Lewis showed more facets of her game in last Sunday's exhibition against Multnomah, leading the team with 11 rebounds and four steals while adding 12 points.

• Esmeralda Morales led the Vikings with 30 points and 12 assists against Multnomah last Sunday, both of which would have been freshman records had it been a counting game. Morales hit 10 of her first 14 shots from the field, while totaling 23 points, six assists and four rebounds in the first half alone.

• Two other freshmen scored in double figures against Multnomah, as Alaya Fitzgerald and Rhema Ogele added 13 points each. Ogele went 6-of-7 from the field while adding eight rebounds against the Lions, while Fitzgerald went 5-of-10 with five rebounds.
• The Vikings assisted on 29 of their 39 field goals against Multnomah last Sunday, tied for their most in a game since at least 2006-07, the first year with complete game-by-game totals in the program's archives. The last time the Vikings had 29 assists in a counting game was Jan. 6, 2018, in a 101-90 loss to Idaho.
• Savannah Dhaliwal is set to play in her first counting game in 985 days Tuesday. Dhaliwal hasn't played since tearing her ACL against Idaho on Feb. 28, 2019. Dhaliwal was set to make her return during the 2020-21 season, but tore her ACL again that fall, forcing her to miss a second straight season. Dhaliwal played an all-around game against Multnomah, finishing with eight points on 4-of-7 shooting to go with 10 rebounds (five offensive) and six assists.
• The Vikings have nine underclassmen out of the 14 players on their roster this season, while Savannah Dhaliwal represents the team's lone senior.
• First-year head coach Chelsey Gregg will coach her first official game at the helm of the Vikings Tuesday. She served as an assistant coach from 2015-18, then stepped into an associate head coaching role from 2018-21. Tuesday will be Gregg's first-ever job as the head coach of a college team.

 

JADA CAN KNOCK DOWN THE J's, DUH

Jada Lewis hit two game-winning shots as a sophomore last season, and the Vikings will count on her even more this year. Lewis enters the year as the Vikings' leading returning scorer after averaging 9.3 points per game last season, when she also led the team with 51 three-pointers on 40.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Lewis ranked second in the Big Sky and 40th in the nation with her 40.2-percent three-point shooting last season, and also ranked fifth in the conference with 2.1 three-pointers made per game. But Lewis will do more than camp out on the three-point line this season, as she showed in last Sunday's exhibition against Multnomah. Lewis led all players with 11 rebounds against Multnomah, three more than her current career high in the category. Lewis also would have set a new career high in steals with four against Multnomah, and would have had the first double-double of her Viking career had it been a counting game as she added 12 points in the exhibition. 
 

FRESHMEN PROMISE

The Vikings started three freshmen in their exhibition against Multnomah last Saturday, while the fourth – Mia 'Uhila – was quick off the bench while playing 14 minutes. It was a sign that the Vikings will likely rely heavily on their four freshmen this season, especially considering how they performed against Multnomah. Point guard Esmeralda Morales led the Vikings with 30 points and 12 assists against Multnomah, both of which would have set new freshman records had it been a counting game. Morales scored 23 of her game-high 30 points by halftime while making 10 of her first 14 shots in the game and adding six assists and four rebounds in the opening 20 minutes. Alaya Fitzgerald and Rhema Ogele, meanwhile, added 13 points each while starting alongside Morales. Fitzgerald went 5-of-10 from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point range while adding five rebounds and a steal. Ogele missed only one shot while going 6-of-7 from the floor, and added eight rebounds. 'Uhila was no slouch off the bench, either, totaling six points, five rebounds and three steals.
 

THE LONG-AWAITED RETURN OF SAVANNAH DHALIWAL

By the time Tuesday's season opener rolls around, it'll have been 985 days since Savannah Dhaliwal last played in a counting game for the Vikings. Dhaliwal tore the ACL in her right knee in the Vikings' home game against Idaho on Feb. 28, 2019. That injury kept her out of the entire 2019-20 season, then she re-tore her ACL in the fall before the 2020-21 season, forcing her out of that season, too. The first tear was a cruel end to what had been a breakout month for the then-sophomore in 2018-19. Dhaliwal broke out with a string of good games during the month of February that season, starting with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting in a home game against Sacramento State on Feb. 7. Two days later, Dhaliwal followed with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go with seven rebounds in the Vikings' win over defending conference champion Northern Colorado. Dhaliwal scored in double figures in three straight games after that against Southern Utah (Feb. 16), Idaho State (Feb. 21) and Sacramento State (Feb. 23) that included two-more 16-point games against SUU and ISU. Dhaliwal played an all-around game against Multnomah last Sunday, in what amounted to a tease of her official return. Dhaliwal finished with eight points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two steals against the Lions.
 

YOUTHFUL ROSTER

Nine of the Vikings' 14 players this season will be freshmen or sophomores, and neither class has had a normal basketball season due to the pandemic since they were either sophomore or juniors in high school. That should make for a youthful roster at times for the Vikings this season, especially considering the Vikings' only have one senior – Savannah Dhaliwal – to counterbalance that youth. Even the Vikings' juniors had their freshmen years in 2019-20 cut short in March due to the pandemic, and then weren't able to work on their games nearly as much as they would have liked as sophomores during the 2020-21 season.
 

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS

Big Sky coaches and media members picked the Vikings to finish ninth and eighth in their respective preseason polls. The top three in both polls were identical, with Idaho State the clear favorite in both. The Bengals return several key players from last year's team that ran away with the Big Sky regular-season and tournament titles. Because of that, the Bengals earned all but their own first-place vote in the coaches poll, and picked up 17 of the 22 first-place votes in the media poll. Montana State followed the Bengals at second in both polls, narrowly edging Idaho in third.