GREELEY, Colo. — Two steps forward, one step back still leaves you a step ahead from where you were. The Portland State women's basketball team can remember that. After the Vikings snapped their losing streak within Big Sky Conference play with back-to-back wins over Idaho and Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado brought the Vikings back to earth Saturday, beating them 75-56 at Bank of Colorado Arena.
 
The progress that the Vikings (7-8, 2-3 Big Sky) had shown in their wins over Idaho and NAU simply wasn't there against the Bears (9-8, 2-4 Big Sky). A defense that held Idaho to 43 points on Jan. 7 as well as a league-leading NAU offense to 12 points below its scoring average, allowed 75 points to the Bears. The Bears came into the game having scored 42 points or less in three of their last four – all losses – and yet scored the most points by a Viking opponent this season.
 
The Bears shot 48.2 percent (27-of-56) against the Vikings thanks to completely owning the paint. The Bears scored 31 of their 34 first-half points either from the paint (22 points) or from the line (nine points), and essentially all of those free throws came from passes into the paint. That dominance in the first half then opened things up from the outside in the third quarter, and the Bears used that to hit five three-pointers while outscoring the Vikings 25-11 in the period. The Bears shot 9-of-13 (.692) from the field in the third quarter alone while turning what had been a one-point game at halftime into a 15-point UNC lead heading into the fourth quarter.

"We got outplayed today," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said after the game. "Kudos to Northern Colorado for how hard they played, rebounded, and for knocking down shots.

"We didn't have the same fire about us today and it showed on both ends of the floor. As a coach, I need to continue to find ways to get our team ready to play every game and I didn't get the job done today."
 
The Bears' dominance in the paint led to a 39-21 rebounding advantage. Rebounding had been another facet that had been working for the Vikings during their two recent wins. The Vikings out-rebounded Idaho by four in their win on Jan. 7, and only lost the rebounding battle to NAU – the Big Sky's top rebounding team – by four Thursday. But the Bears used 15 offensive rebounds to outscore the Vikings 17-9 on second-chance points.
 
The Vikings were still in the game at halftime thanks to a quick 7-0 start and strong first halves from guards Esmeralda Morales, Mia 'Uhila and Jada Lewis. While the Bears dominated the paint in the first half, the Vikings owned the outside. Those three guards accounted for 26 of the team's 33 points in the first half between 11 for Morales, eight for 'Uhila and seven for Lewis.
 
Only Morales continued that into the second half, however. She finished with a team-high 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting overall and 4-of-8 from three-point range. Morales is averaging 20.0 points per game now in Big Sky play while she's shooting better than 50.0, both overall (.571) and from three-point range (.533).
 
But no other Viking scored more than four points in the second half besides Morales. The Bears outscored the Vikings 41-23 in the second half, while outshooting them .556-to-.321 after halftime.
 
The Vikings can right the ship at home next weekend, as they host Weber State and Idaho State on Jan. 19 and 21, respectively.

"Back to work on Monday, gotta get better," Gregg said. "We can't settle for just a few wins in conference. That's not our goal, nor where we want to finish. We got to stay hungry."

Tipoff for the Vikings' game against Weber State on the 19th is scheduled for 6 p.m.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings fell to 10-23 all time against the Bears with Saturday's loss…The Bears have won seven in a row against the Vikings, as well as 14 of the last 15 and 18 of the last 20…Morales has scored in double figures in six straight games for the Vikings.