Complete game notes (PDF)

TIPOFF
As parallels go, this year's Portland State women's basketball team could do a lot worse than its counterparts from the 2018-19 season.
 
First of all, the Vikings are coming off a Big Sky semifinal appearance last season, which was their first since the 2018-19 season. They have four starters returning from last year's semifinal team, as well as nine letterwinners overall.
 
Additionally, the 2018-19 Big Sky tournament MVP, Ashley Bolston, is now an assistant coach for the Vikings, while the Vikings have more upperclassmen (8) than they do underclassmen (7) for the first time since that 2018-19 run to the Big Sky tournament title.
 
The last point might be the most salient connection between the two teams. The Vikings haven't been this mature as a team in a while. They'll rely on that maturity throughout the season, including in what should be a tough opening weekend of the season against UC Davis Thursday and San Diego Saturday.
 
It'd be a difficult opener for anything but a mature team. While the Vikings played two practice games during their trip to Costa Rica in September, plus a couple of closed-door scrimmages, they never got a lights-on exhibition game in front of a home crowd before they're set to open their season Thursday at UC Davis.
 
But that's where maturity should help the Vikings. This group has played together plenty. It's not like they need an exhibition game to know how to ball.
 
Where head coach Chelsey Gregg hopes to see the team's maturity more this weekend is in how the Vikings respond to two tough road environments. While the Vikings made strides last season, they were still much better at home than they were on the road. The Vikings went 10-5 at home last season, but just 3-10 on the road.
 
Gregg also hopes to see greater maturity in how the Vikings defend and rebound this season. The Vikings saw more improvement on the defensive side than they did on the glass last season. The Vikings gave up 10 fewer points per game last year than they did the year before. Whereas in 2021-22, the Vikings gave up 71.9 points per game to their opponents, that number dropped to 62.7 points per game during the 2022-23 season. Additionally, the Vikings went from allowing teams to shoot 43.5 percent against them in 2021-22 to 41.9 percent in 2022-23.
 
The Vikings would love a similar jump in their rebounding numbers this season. A year ago, the Vikings ranked ninth in the Big Sky and 306th nationally in rebounding margin (-4.97). They also ranked 10th in the Big Sky and 335th nationally for total rebounds per game (31.5).
 
UC Davis and San Diego will provide stiff challenges to the Vikings in both respects this weekend.
 
The Aggies were an especially strong rebounding team a year ago, when they went 16-14 overall and 12-7 within the Big West Conference. The Aggies led the Big West in defensive rebounds per game (27.0), while they were third in rebounding margin (+1.9) and total rebounds per game (36.6). They also led the conference in three-pointers made per game (8.0) and ranked second in scoring offense (63.5 ppg).
 
San Diego, meanwhile, represents one of five postseason teams the Vikings will face during their non-conference schedule. The Toreros made the WNIT Super 16 last season after going 19-14 overall and 11-7 within the West Coast Conference. That included a 57-47 win over the Vikings in what was Portland State's second game of the season last year. The Vikings had opportunities in that game, but 25 turnovers that turned into 29 points for the Toreros – more than half of USD's points in the game – stymied any comeback attempt.
 
The Vikings know they'll have to take care of the ball better when they face the Toreros again Saturday.
 
They have to like their chances to do that with Big Sky preseason MVP Esmeralda Morales on the ball as she enters her third year on the Park Blocks. The Vikings also have a few extra ballhandlers to help Morales out this year. Freshman Laynee Torres-Kahapea will make her debut against UC Davis Thursday after being named the Hawai'i State Gatorade Player of the Year as a high school senior. Guards Mia 'Uhila and Alaya Fitzgerald will also shoulder some of the ballhandling duties.
 
The hope is also that with greater maturity, the Vikings will see a more diversified attack. A year ago, the Vikings' post players only combined for just 16.4 points per game, which was only 27 percent of the team's total scoring. The Vikings countered with a three-point shooting barrage that ranked second in the Big Sky in percentage (.350) and fifth in makes (7.5), but the problems came when the Vikings weren't hitting from three-point range.
 
Further development from two-year starter Rhema Ogele, plus the addition of several new pieces, including 6-4 Texas Tech transfer Lana Wenger, promise to give the Vikings a few more scoring options this season.
 
That was another thing the 2018-19 team had that this year's Vikings could match. The ability to score from inside or out.
 
Ultimately, the greatest thing this year's Vikings could share with the 2018-19 team would be to win. The first opportunity to do that comes Thursday.
 
GAME #1: PORTLAND STATE (0-0) vs. UC DAVIS (1-0)
GAME DETAILS: Thursday, Nov. 9, 5 p.m. PT, Davis, Calif. (University Credit Union Center)
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
SCOUTING UC DAVIS: The UC Davis Aggies went 16-14 overall during the 2022-23 season, while placing fourth in the Big West Conference at 12-7 in conference play. They lost to UC Santa Barbara, 70-36, in the quarterfinals of the Big West tournament to end their season. This season, the Aggies picked up three first-place votes in the preseason Big West Coaches Poll. They finished third in the poll, just a few points behind preseason favorites Hawai'i and UC Irvine. Guards Tova Sabel and Evanne Turner were both named to the Big West's preseason coaches' team. Sabel, a senior, enters her second year with the Aggies this season after transferring from Penn State. Sabel was named an All-Big West honorable mention last season when she finished second on the team and 13th in the conference with 11.9 points per game. Turner, meanwhile, was an All-Big West first-team selection last season when she became the first Aggie to lead the Big West Conference in scoring since the 2018-19 season. Turner averaged 15.1 points per game last season while adding 4.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Overall, the Aggies returned four of the five players who started at least 17 games last season, as well two others who started 10 or more. That group includes four of the Vikings' top five scorers, as well as four of their top five rebounders. Four different players averaged at least 4.0 rebounds per game last season, with Megan Norris the top returning rebounder at 5.5 boards a game. As a team, the Aggies ranked in the top three of the Big West Conference in a number of statistical categories. They led the conference in three-pointers made per game (8.0) and defensive rebounds per game (27.0), while they ranked second in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.89), assists per game (13.5), blocks per game (3.4) and scoring offense (63.5). Additionally, they ranked third in the conference in field goal percentage (.410), field goal percentage defense (.376), rebounding margin (+1.9) and total rebounds per game (36.6). The Aggies opened their season with a 102-52 win over Academy of Art Monday. Sabel led the Aggies with 24 points, while Turner and Norris followed with 18 and 17 points, respectively. The Aggies made 15 three-pointers as a team, three each for Sabel and Turner, and two each for Mazatlan Harris, Victoria Baker and Bria Shine.
ALL-TIME SERIES: The Vikings lead the all-time series between them and the Aggies, 11-5. The Vikings have won the two most recent meetings between a 65-50 win at home during the 2018-19 season, as well as a 76-70 road victory the following year. The Aggies' last win over the Vikings came on Nov. 17, 2017, when they won 79-67 on their home floor.
 
GAME #2: PORTLAND STATE (0-0) vs. SAN DIEGO (1-0)
GAME DETAILS: Saturday, Nov. 11, 2 p.m. PT, San Diego, Calif. (Jenny Craig Pavilion)
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
SCOUTING SAN DIEGO: The San Diego Toreros will be the first of five postseason teams the Vikings will face during their non-conference schedule. The Toreros went 19-14 overall last season while making the WNIT Super 16 where they lost to Oregon. The Toreros went 11-7 within the West Coast Conference last season, placing third in the regular season before losing to Pacific (Calif.) in the quarterfinals of the WCC tournament. This season, WCC coaches picked the Toreros to finish fifth in the conference in their preseason poll. The Toreros return only one starter off last year's team in Kasey Neubert. Neubert ranked fourth on the team with 9.2 points per game, while she led the team and ranked fourth in the WCC with 8.2 rebounds per game. The Toreros lost their top three scorers off last year's team, who accounted for 46 percent of the team's scoring a year ago. As a team, the Aggies led the WCC with 13.5 free throws made per game. They also led the WCC with 14.1 offensive rebounds per game, while they were third in scoring defense (61.9), total rebounds per game (38.1), steals per game (8.1) and blocks per game (3.4). The Vikings felt the Toreros' strong defense last season as they dropped a 57-47 game to San Diego at Viking Pavilion in their second game of the year. More than half of the Toreros points in the game came off of PSU turnovers as they turned 25 Viking turnovers into 29 points. Nine of the Vikings' 25 turnovers came in the fourth quarter when the Toreros held the Vikings to just six field goal attempts. The Toreros opened their season with a 93-38 win over Chapman Monday. Six different players scored in double figures, led by Kylie Horstmeyer with 14.
ALL-TIME SERIES: The Toreros lead the all-time series between them and the Vikings, 4-1. The teams hadn't faced each other since the 1998-99 season until meeting at Viking Pavilion last season. The Vikings' lone win in the series came on the road during the 1984-85 season.
 
STORYLINES/STREAKS/RECORDS

• Esmeralda Morales was named preseason MVP of the Big Sky Conference. She earned the honor after ranking in the top 15 of the Big Sky in nine different statistical categories including scoring (4th, 15.8 ppg), assists (10th, 3.03 apg), steals (2nd, 1.97 spg), three-point field goals made (2nd, 2.48 per game) and percentage (2nd, .421).
• Big Sky coaches and media members picked the Vikings to finish fifth in the conference in their respective preseason polls.
• The Vikings set a program record with eight more conference wins last season than they won the previous year. That was one off the best year-to-year turnaround in Big Sky Conference history.
• The Vikings advanced to the Big Sky semifinals last season for the first time since the 2018-19 season. The Vikings beat Idaho State, 73-58, in the first round of last year's tournament, then upset second-seeded and defending-champion Montana State, 77-65, in the quarterfinals.
• The Vikings returned four starters and nine letterwinners off last year's team. That group includes All-Big Sky second-team selection Esmeralda Morales, as well as third-leading scorer Alaya Fitzgerald and leading rebounder Rhema Ogele. Cinco McCartney, who averaged 6.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, while starting 30 of 31 games also returns.
• The Vikings have more upperclassmen (8) than they do underclassmen (7) for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
• The Vikings ranked second in the Big Sky in three-point field goal percentage (.350) and fifth in three-pointers made per game (7.5) last season. Jada Lewis and Esmeralda Morales ranked first and second in the Big Sky with 2.58 and 2.48 three-pointers made per game, respectively. The Vikings will have to replace Lewis' production somehow since she went to San Diego State as a grad transfer.
• The Vikings were 5-0 in Big Sky games decided by five points or less. That included back-to-back one-point wins over Weber State (65-64 on Jan. 19) and Idaho State (48-47 on Jan. 21), and an overtime win over Montana (74-72 on Feb. 23) in which the Vikings forced overtime with a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Cinco McCartney.
• The Vikings went 10-5 at home last season but were just 3-10 on the road.
• Defensively, the Vikings gave up nearly 10 fewer points last season than they did the year before. In 2021-22, the Vikings gave up 71.9 points per game to their opponents. In 2022-23, however, that number dropped to 62.7 points per game. Additionally, the Vikings went from allowing teams to shoot 43.5 percent against them in 2021-22 to 41.9 percent in 2022-23.
• Rebounding has been a sore spot for the Vikings each of the past two seasons. Last year, the Vikings ranked ninth in the Big Sky and 306th nationally in rebounding margin (-4.97). They also ranked 10th in the Big Sky and 335th nationally for total rebounds per game (31.5).
• The Vikings made the program's first international trip with a tour of Costa Rica in September. The Vikings played two exhibitions against members of the Costa Rica National Team during the trip, winning both.

 
YEAR-TO-YEAR IMPROVEMENTS
At 8-10 in Big Sky play last season, the Vikings improved their conference win total by eight after going 0-20 the year before. That's the best year-to-year turnaround in conference wins in program history and tied the second-best turnaround in Big Sky Conference history. The conference record stands at +9, which four different teams have accomplished, most recently North Dakota during the 2013-14 season. The Vikings also improved their overall win total by 10 last season, the second-best year-to-year improvement in overall wins in program history.
 
Best Year-to-Year Improvements in Conference Wins (Big Sky History)
+Total     Team                             Year
+9           Idaho State                   1996-97
+9           Montana State              2000-01
+9           Idaho State                   2003-04
+9           North Dakota                2013-14
+8           Montana State              2019-20
+8           Southern Utah              2021-22
+8           Sacramento State         2021-22
+8           Portland State              2022-23
+7           CSUN                             1997-98
+7           Eastern Washington     2009-10
+7           Montana                       2012-13
 
THE CLOSERS
One of the elements that improved the most for the Vikings in their turnaround season last year was how they finished games. The team's overtime win over Montana on Feb. 23 may have been the best illustration of that. The Vikings trailed by eight with less than four minutes left and made up a four-point deficit with 11.6 seconds remaining. The win left the Vikings 5-0 in Big Sky games decided by five points or less, as well as 7-4 in conference games decided by 10 points or less. Several of those close wins came at home. The last five wins in the Vikings' six-game home winning streak from Jan. 7 to Feb. 23 came by a combined margin of just 13 points. That included the two-point overtime win over Montana on Feb. 23, as well as back-to-back one-point wins over Weber State (65-64 on Jan. 19) and Idaho State (48-47 on Jan. 21). The Vikings' fourth-quarter defense led them to many of their close wins last season. In the Vikings' initial breakthrough against Idaho on Jan. 7, they held the Vandals to 4-of-14 (.286) shooting while outscoring them 17-8 in the fourth quarter. Against Idaho State on Jan. 21, the Vikings held the Bengals scoreless over the final 3:33 of game time. The Vikings held Northern Colorado without a field goal over the final 3:32 of their game on Feb. 9, while they held Northern Arizona to 2-of-13 (.154) shooting in the fourth quarter on Feb. 11. Against Montana on Feb. 23, the Vikings held the Lady Griz to 6-of-23 (.261) shooting between the fourth quarter and overtime.
 
THREE-POINT SHOOTING
The backbone of the Vikings' offense last season was the team's three-point shooting. That was never more apparent than during the team's run to the Big Sky semifinals. The Vikings tied a single-game program record with 15 made three-pointers in their quarterfinal win over second-seeded and defending-champion Montana State. Esmeralda Morales hit six three-pointers in the game, while Jada Lewis matched her total from the first round against Idaho State with five makes. The Vikings were a strong three-point shooting team throughout last year. The Vikings finished the season ranked second in the Big Sky and 38th nationally while making 35.0 percent of their shots from three-point range. That was the third-best single-season three-point field goal percentage for the Vikings during the program's Division I era. Lewis and Morales led the way individually. The pair finished the year ranked first and second in the Big Sky with 2.58 and 2.48 three-pointers made per game, respectively. Morales also ranked second in the conference in percentage, having made 42.1 percent of her shots from three-point range, while Lewis was fourth at 37.9 percent. Of course, the Vikings will have to replace Lewis' production from the outside, after she left as a grad transfer to San Diego State. Alaya Fitzgerald – third on the team with 42 three-pointers last season – would be one candidate to replace Lewis' production. She had a hot February from three-point range last season. Fitzgerald averaged 2.11 three-pointers made per game on 36.5 percent shooting over the team's nine games in February. Cinco McCartney had 15 three-pointers for fourth on the team. No other returner had more than six made three-pointers last season.
 
MORE OF MORALES, PLEASE
The preseason MVP award doesn't mean much once games begin. Still, it proves that the player in question has the respect of their peers. Esmeralda Morales has well-earned that respect as the 2023 preseason Big Sky MVP. She was an All-Big Sky second-team selection a year ago, when she ranked in the top 15 of the Big Sky in nine different statistical categories including scoring (4th, 15.8 ppg), assists (10th, 3.03 apg), steals (2nd, 1.97 spg), three-point field goals made (2nd, 2.48 per game) and percentage (2nd, .421). Beyond stats, though, Morales proved her preseason MVP credentials with how she played during some of the biggest games of the season. She set a new program record for points in a Big Sky tournament game with 28 in the Vikings' quarterfinal win over defending champion Montana State. That tied Morales' season high, while it marked her 10th 20-point game of last season. Morales also hit a pair of big-time shots late in wins this season. Her go-ahead three-pointer with 25.0 seconds remaining in overtime against Montana on Feb. 23 put the Vikings up for good. She also hit a game-winning three-pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining against Weber State on Jan. 19. Additionally, she put up 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting overall and 5-of-9 from three-point range in the Vikings' 78-66 win at Northern Arizona, one of the eventual Big Sky regular season co-champions last year. From a career perspective, Morales heads into her third year on the Park Blocks needing only 147 points to become the 21st player in program history to score 1,000 points.