PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State women's basketball team withstood a punch to the gut to close out a 74-62 win over Warner Pacific in its home opener Tuesday night at Viking Pavilion.
 
The Vikings (2-1) were cruising through the first 22 minutes of the game before a reckless closeout on a corner three right in front of the Vikings' bench saw junior Alaya Fitzgerald drop to the floor. Fitzgerald hit the three to put the Vikings up 55-25 with 7:12 left in the third quarter. But the Vikings were understandably distracted in the immediate aftermath and Warner Pacific (1-1) showed them no sympathy, outscoring the Vikings 26-7 over the next 10 minutes of game time, including 18 straight points at one point.
 
Freshman Laynee Torres-Kahapea snapped the run with a corner triple off a pass from Mia 'Uhila, putting the Vikings back on the front foot. When junior guard Esmeralda Morales hit a running bank while being fouled, it was a 16-point lead again at 71-55 with 4:12 remaining and the Vikings closed it out from there.
 
"Great first half. Loved the energy. But it's just hard to rally back after having a teammate go down like that. It's just hard to come back from that," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said afterwards.
 
"We want to continue to look at the positives and the takeaways. We'll just continue to find ways to get better, but some really good things in that first half. I loved the pace we played with."
 
The concern for their teammate interrupted what had been a standout performance for the Vikings through the first 22 minutes. The Vikings 58.1 percent (18-of-31) in the first half, including going 9-of-13 as a team in the second quarter alone. The Vikings were 9-of-14 as a team from three-point range in the first half, with Morales going 5-of-7 and Fitzgerald going 2-of-4 individually.
 
The Vikings finished 13-of-24 (.542) from three-point range, with their 13 three-pointers just two off the program's single-game record of 15. It was a nice turnaround for the Vikings after they were just 10-of-44 (.227) combined in their two road games at UC Davis and San Diego last week.
 
"It was nice to get some rhythm back. I always think playing at home helps with that. We're used to playing here so we have some confidence, but those players, after our opening weekend, got in and got shots up. That's a testament to them continuing to work on their craft and their game and shooting with confidence," Gregg said about the three-point shooting.
 
The Vikings also swiped 17 steals in the game, 11 of which came in the first half when the Vikings scored 17 points off of 14 Warner Pacific turnovers. Fitzgerald had four of the Vikings' 11 steals in the first half, while she finished with a career high of five before going down early in the third quarter.
 
Freshman Joy Haltom grabbed four steals herself, while Cinco McCartney and Paige Winter had two each.
 
"I love the deflections we had in the first half. We were stating that. Steals and getting in the passing lanes has been a real point of emphasis," Gregg said.
 
The Vikings built their lead behind a 17-2 run in the second quarter. That turned what was an eight-point game into a 45-22 Viking lead with 2:54 remaining in the half. Morales hit a pair of triples during the run, while Fitzgerald added another. Sofía Llanos hit one herself after the run, as the Vikings took a 50-24 lead into the break.
 
The Vikings pushed their advantage to as many as 31 points in the second half, but the killer instinct was gone after Fitzgerald went down.
 
Morales led all scorers with 23 points in the game, 18 of which she scored in the first half. She finished with five makes from the outside while adding four assists and two rebounds. 'Uhila filled the stat sheet again with 12 points, six rebounds and five assists. Fitzgerald was doing the same before she went down as she had 11 points, a career-high five steals, two rebounds and an assist, all while going 3-of-5 from three-point range.
 
The big lead meant the Vikings got to play much of their bench. Llanos, Winter and Torres-Kahapea all added six points off the bench. Torres-Kahapea added five assists and a steal to her six points. Winter was a +19 in her plus/minus as she gave the team good minutes down low defensively.
 
Lana Wenger set a career high with eight rebounds in the game, though the Knights ended up outrebounding the Vikings 32-30.
 
The Vikings hit the road again for a game at New Mexico State Saturday at 1 p.m. PT / 2 p.m. MT. It'll be another tough road test for the Vikings, who have suddenly had multiple challenges thrown at them in a hurry at the start of the season.
 
But teams that can survive a gut punch early in the season, only get stronger later in the year. Tuesday night's game was a microcosm of just that.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 6-1 all time against the Knights…The 16 steals were the most by the Vikings since they had 22 in last year's season opener against Warner Pacific…The Vikings assisted on 17 of their 25 field goals Tuesday for their best assist percentage out of their three games this season.
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