PORTLAND, Ore. — Sometimes a clipboard has to eat it.
 
Down 10-2 to Idaho – one of the preseason conference favorites – less than three and a half minutes into the game, Portland State head women's basketball coach Chelsey Gregg called a timeout and smashed a clipboard against the floor. Kevin Durant would call that clipboard the "real MVP" because the Vikings immediately responded, scoring 17 of the next 19 points while holding Idaho to a single field goal over 13 minutes of game time.
 
And that change in momentum led the Vikings (6-7, 1-2 Big Sky) to a 53-43 win over the Vandals Saturday at Viking Pavilion, giving the Vikings their first conference win since March 5, 2021.
 
"We just needed to make a change. That's what we talked about [in the timeout]. Not verbatim, but it was 'enough is enough. I know we have the potential and talent, so why do we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot?' And that was the basic message," Gregg said of her message at the 10-2 timeout.
 
The monkey is now firmly off the Vikings' back. Fans could see the weight lifted off the Vikings' shoulders in real time as they celebrated on the court and then doused Gregg and associate head coach Keithan Gregg with water in the locker room afterwards.
 
"We talk more about our progress and more about our milestones than we do about wins and losses, but everybody knows that we didn't get [a conference win] last year. We were close several times, but we didn't get one," Gregg said. "And so for us to finish how we did…it wasn't a last-second play, it wasn't a lucky shot that went in, we played really good basketball. And so, we can take confidence from that moving forward."
 
If Gregg's clipboard smash inspired the Vikings in any one area, it would have been defensively. The Vandals (6-9, 2-2 Big Sky) started the game 4-of-5 from the field including two three-pointers in running out to their 10-2 lead. But that'd be as good as it'd get for them, as the Viking defense stifled them for the rest of the game. After their hot start, the Vandals would make just 12 of their final 51 shots from the floor while shooting 28.6 percent over the course of the game. They'd make just one more three-pointer after that initial 10-2 run while finishing 3-of-24 (.125) from three-point range.
 
What's more, the 43 points the Vandals scored were their fewest ever in a game against the Vikings. Additionally, the Vikings hadn't held an opponent to under 30 percent from the floor since they held Simpson to 27.3 percent on Dec. 19, 2021.
 
"I was telling coach AB, I don't know if we've held an Idaho team to only three made three-point attempts," Gregg said of the team's defensive effort. "We talked about it in our locker room, but what a great team win. We had a lot of people score today, and not just scoring, but contribute. Step up and give us minutes when we needed them."
 
Still, the Vikings had to finish. Idaho's Asha Phillips got a breakaway layup on the Vandals' second possession of the fourth quarter to give them a 37-36 lead. That was the Vandals' first lead since it was 12-10 early in the second quarter. A season ago, the Vikings may have given up momentum to the Vandals in that moment.
 
Not this time.
 
Alaya Fitzgerald provided a huge momentum swing with a three-point play immediately following Phillips' basket for the Vandals. Cinco McCartney added two more for the Vikings with a strong drive to the hoop that put the Vikings back up four at 41-37.
 
Idaho's Beyonce Bea answered with a layup on the other end, but the Vikings countered with what turned out to be a four-point possession. Esmeralda Morales made the initial shot through contact, but then missed the ensuing free throw. McCartney came up with a big offensive rebound off the miss, and Morales would redeem herself with another jumper, pushing the Vikings' lead out to six at 45-39.
 
Fitzgerald added another layup to put the Vikings up eight at 47-39 with 5:40 remaining. Idaho made a mini-run with back-to-back baskets from Bea in the paint, but Morales answered with a layup off a give-and-go with Syd Schultz.
 
The defense then shut the door for the Vikings from there. The Vikings forced five straight misses from the Vandals to finish the game, holding Idaho scoreless over the final 3:55 of game time. Morales added two more points for good measure after receiving a perfect high-low pass through the defense from Mia 'Uhila. Fitzgerald then added the final points from the free throw line to ice the game.
 
"Just taking care of the basketball," Gregg said of the key to the team's play in the fourth quarter. "I thought Esme really had some great passes and she was a great leader tonight. Now we know, that's how hard you have to work every possession to get a conference win. And so, can we bottle that up? Enjoy it tonight, and then we'll be back to work next week."
 
Morales and Fitzgerald combined for 15 of the Vikings' 17 points in the fourth quarter. Morales scored eight of her team-high 13 points in the final period, while also adding six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Fitzgerald, meanwhile, scored seven of her 11 points in the fourth quarter, while adding three rebounds, an assist and a steal in the game.
 
 'Uhila and Rhema Ogele helped shift the tone in the first quarter after Gregg's smashed clipboard. 'Uhila came off the bench and immediately made an impact, scoring four points in the Vikings' 8-0 run to finish the first quarter. She'd go on to post six points, eight rebounds and two steals for the Vikings.
 
Ogele, meanwhile, put together one of her best games yet as a Viking. It shouldn't come as a surprise given the opponent. Ogele set her career high with 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting to go with nine rebounds against the Vandals in the first round of the Big Sky tournament on March 7 last season. Saturday, she tied her career high with 13 rebounds (four on the offensive glass), while adding two steals and finishing with eight points.
 
Ogele tipped a lot of balls, too – either on rebounds or entry passes – that either went to teammates for a rebound or a steal, or slowed down the Vandal offense. She wouldn't have gotten credit for those in the box score, but it led to key advantages for the Vikings on the glass (43-to-39) and in the paint (32-to-18).
 
"She likes to play against Idaho. She likes to play against Idaho," Gregg said of Ogele. "I don't know, it's kind of been the thing, though. She's had some of her very best games against Idaho in her young career. And I just really felt like she was poised. She gave us a great defensive presence, and man, her rebounding tonight was outstanding. She was going to get 'em. She was really in control of the middle."
 
The rebounding advantage is another promising sign for what's still a young Viking team. Despite losing, the Vikings out-rebounded Eastern Washington, 34-to-33, Thursday night for their first rebounding win over a Division I opponent in nearly six weeks. By winning the rebounding battle again Saturday, the Vikings now have the start of a trend on their hands in an area of need.
 
Keep rebounding like they did Saturday, and it won't be the Vikings' only conference win of the season.
 
After all, why stop now? Gregg is more than happy to smash a few more clipboards if that's what's needed.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 15-33 all time against the Vandals with Saturday's win…Saturday marked just the third time the Vikings have beaten the Vandals in their last 20 games against them…The Vikings won despite not having their best shooting game, finishing 22-of-60 (.367) overall from the floor and just 2-of-15 (.133) from three-point range…Saturday also marked the first conference win of Gregg's coaching career.