PORTLAND, Ore. — In terms of a two-day turnaround, the Portland State women's basketball team pulled off everything it could have asked for Wednesday in a rematch with Idaho. Everything, except the end result, as the Vikings were once again foiled in a game they led in the fourth quarter, falling 73-68 to the Vandals at Viking Pavilion.
 
The Vikings (5-22, 0-19) led by as many as 12 points at three different points in the third quarter, but an 18-3 burst from the Vandals (12-16, 11-8) that bridged the third and fourth quarters put Idaho up 62-58 with 5:35 to go in the fourth. The Vikings came back with six straight points to briefly take the lead again at 64-62 with 4:06 remaining, but the Vandals answered with six straight of their own and never relinquished the lead from there.
 
The Vikings had no answer for Idaho's Beyonce Bea, who led all players with 40 points on 16-of-22 shooting. Bea scored 24 of her 40 points in the second half, including 14 in the fourth quarter alone.
 
"We set some goals before the game. Rebounding and turnovers have been where our attention has been. Offensive rebounds, we said five or less. We got that [Idaho had five]. We lost the rebounding by one but then the turnovers were even. So, I'm pleased with those things," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said after the game.
 
"It comes down to, can we get stops when we need it and we cannot give somebody [Bea] a career-high at our place."
 
Still, the Vikings showed Gregg's emphasis was in the right spot as Wednesday's game stood in stark contrast to the game the teams played against each other Monday. Idaho silenced the Viking offense in that one while running away over the final three quarters en route to a 64-39 victory at ICCU Arena.
 
Wednesday, the Viking offense was humming. Whereas the Vikings shot just .290 (18-of-62) from the floor Monday against the Vandals, Wednesday saw the Vikings shoot 46.9 percent (30-of-64) overall. That number was even higher in the first half, too, as the Vikings went 17-of-30 (.567) in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The Vikings' shooting has been on an upward trend recently, even as the team still searches for its first conference win. The Vikings have now shot better than 40.0 percent in three of their last four games, after only doing so twice in their first 15 Big Sky games of the season.
 
Part of the better shooting has been better distribution, which was apparent in Wednesday's game against the Vandals. The Vikings assisted on 18 of their 30 field goals, the third time in their past five games that they've assisted on at least 60 percent of their field goals. Esmeralda Morales led the distribution as she finished with eight assists, the fourth time out of the Vikings' past five games that she's had at least five helpers in a game.
 
"I think we really saw a different offense from us tonight [compared to Monday]. We shared the basketball, which I really, really liked. Eighteen assists, positive. We stepped up and made some shots, and players found ways to affect the game even without scoring," Gregg said of the team's improved offense.
 
Morales opened Wednesday's game as one-half of a two-woman show for the Vikings. She and Savannah Dhaliwal combined for the first 18 points of the game for the Vikings, with Dhaliwal scoring the first six before Morales poured in 10 of the team's next 12. Alaya Fitzgerald finally broke through with a good give-and-go with Dhaliwal that made it 20-19 in favor of the Vikings.
 
The Vikings spread the wealth more in the second quarter when six different players accounted for the team's seven field goals.
 
The Vikings stretched their lead after halftime. Bea opened the half with a bucket for the Vandals that made it 37-35, but the Vikings immediately responded with a 9-0 run to go up 11 at 46-35. Fitzgerald capped the run with a second-chance three-pointer that came off an assist from Dhaliwal following an offensive rebound from Jada Lewis.
 
A three-pointer from Dhaliwal two possessions later gave the Vikings their first 12-point lead of the game at 49-37.
 
It was still a 12-point game at 53-41 when things started to shift the Vandals' way. Lewis answered a three from Idaho's Tiana Johnson with a jumper that put the Vikings back up 11 at 55-44. But the Vandals then scored the final eight points of the third quarter. Fitzgerald opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer that doubled the Vikings lead to six at 58-52, but the Vandals came back with 10 straight to go up 62-58.
 
Mid-range jumpers from Morales, Lewis and Syd Schultz put the Vikings back in front, 64-62, but the Vandals out-scored the Vikings 11-4 the rest of the way to close it out.
 
Morales and Dhaliwal combined for 41 of the Vikings' 68 points against the Vandals. Morales finished with 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting to go with eight assists, three rebounds and three steals. Dhaliwal poured in 19 on 9-of-14 shooting to go with three assists and two rebounds.
 
"I thought Sav was a dog. She came ready to play tonight. And Esme, the ball is in her hand most of the game and she has only two turnovers. Way to go," Gregg said of Dhaliwal and Morales.
 
Fitzgerald, who made her return from a concussion in Monday's first game against the Vandals, showed she's back in form with 10 points to go with four assists, three rebounds and a steal.
 
Mia 'Uhila was held scoreless but found other ways to contribute as she set a new career-high with eight rebounds. As a team, the Vikings only lost to the Vandals – a team that leads the Big Sky in defensive rebounding percentage – by one on the glass Wednesday. That was again a stark contrast to Monday's game in which the Vandals out-rebounded the Vikings 49-37.
 
So, as much as Gregg may feel like she's repeating herself, the progress has been there for the Vikings. They've just been missing the end results.
 
"In a season where we're building a foundation, we've talked about the process. So, it's not so hard [to get the team to put close losses behind them] because we've been practicing it. We've been practicing identifying those things that are positives because that's what we can control right now. We can ask, what have we done well for the week, for the game, for the practice? What can we do better? And how can we make that better? And I think that practice has really helped us."
 
The Vikings close their regular season Friday, when they'll get one final chance to couple their progress with their desired end result. Eastern Washington comes to Viking Pavilion for a 6 p.m. tipoff Friday evening. It'll be Senior Day for Dhaliwal, too, who would love nothing more than to go out with a win.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings fell to 14-32 all-time against Idaho following Wednesday's loss…Bea's 40 points were one off the single-game record for a Viking opponent that Gretchen Meinhardt, of the University of the Pacific, set with 41 on Dec. 31, 1990…Wednesday's game was the sixth time this season – and the third time in the Vikings' past four games – that they've either been in the lead or tied with their opponent in the fourth quarter.