EUGENE, Ore. — The Portland State women's basketball team made a Pac-12 program sweat Saturday, pushing Oregon deep into the fourth quarter before a late surge saw the Ducks seal the victory, 65-54, at Matthew Knight Arena.
 
The Vikings (4-3) trailed by six with just over three minutes left when Esmeralda Morales pulled up for a triple on a fast break. If that had gone, it would have cut the deficit in half and made the home crowd hold their breath for the rest of the game. Instead, it clanged off and the Ducks responded with nine straight points to turn what had been a single-digit game throughout into a comfortable advantage.
 
"The reality is they're a super talented team that's huge," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said of facing the Ducks. "I'm proud of our effort. We showed up. Perhaps a missed opportunity to keep it closer, but really through three, we were right there. Even three and a half, we were right there. At the end, we just weren't able to finish, but we did some really good things."
 
The Vikings led at halftime, 23-22, and came out the aggressors early in the third quarter. Lana Wenger hit a turnaround jumper on the team's first possession to make it 25-22. The Ducks came back to lead 28-27, but the Vikings responded with seven straight to take their largest lead of the game at 34-28 with 5:49 remaining in the third. Mia 'Uhila started the run with one of her three three-pointers in the game. Joy Haltom then added a bucket off a steal from Rhema Ogele, while Esmeralda Morales followed with 2-of-3 from the line.
 
The Ducks (6-3) hadn't gotten things going to that point, leaving the Vikings feeling confident with just over 15 minutes to go in the game.
 
"Let's go," Gregg said of her message to the team as they took the early lead. "I think we did enough in the first half. I think we were disappointed to not get to the foul line in the first half. But we were encouraged. We have a competitive team and a competitive staff. It felt like, perhaps we could come take this one. But the reality is, to be up at half is good, but that's not what we're playing for. We're playing to make sure we're ready for conference and playing our basketball then."
 
The Vikings held the Ducks to just 9-of-29 (.310) shooting in the first half, and they were still just 11-of-34 (.324) from the floor when the Vikings went up 34-28.
 
But that's when things flipped for the Ducks. They responded immediately with 10 straight points to retake the lead, while scoring 14 of the final 18 points in the third quarter. They extended their lead to eight with back-to-back buckets to open the fourth quarter, before Oregon's Chance Gray hit the first of four three-pointers she'd hit in the final period. That gave the Vikings a nine-point lead, and the Vikings couldn't get closer than six the rest of the way.
 
The Ducks' size advantage was a factor throughout Saturday's game. Phillipina Kyei – the tallest player the Vikings had seen all year at 6-8 – was the safety valve for the Ducks, as they dumped it down low to her whenever they needed a bucket. She finished with 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting to go with 18 rebounds, eight of which came on the offensive glass.
 
Kyei led the Ducks to a 50-to-29 advantage on the glass, including a 19-to-6 advantage for the Ducks in second-chance points.
 
"We continue to talk about the rebounding battle," Gregg said of the Ducks' size advantage. "Today was obviously going to be more challenge when you have two 6-7 players on the court, but the reality is that when we give up offensive rebounds, we're going to struggle."
 
The Vikings held Gray and Grace VanSlooten, two of the Ducks' other big three, to quiet first halves. Gray was 1-of-7 from the field with only three points at halftime, while VanSlooten was 0-of-5 with two points. Both came alive in the second half, however, as VanSlooten scored 16 of her 18 points after halftime, while Gray scored 12 of her 15 in the fourth quarter.
 
The Vikings countered with 'Uhila, who produced a career game against what's likely the Vikings' best competition to date this season. 'Uhila scored a career-high 20 points to match Kyei for the Ducks, going 7-of-12 from the field and 3-of-3 from three-point range. 'Uhila added five rebounds and three assists to her scoring output, tying for the team lead in both categories.
 
"She's a physical guard, so she was really able to handle the physicality and athleticism of the game. And the pace that she plays at is just different," Gregg said of 'Uhila. "Kudos to her for being able to play with them and dominate."
 
Lana Wanger also produced her best game yet as a Viking, finishing with a career-high eight points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field to go with four rebounds.
 
Leading scorer Esmeralda Morales had a tough shooting game, going 3-of-15 from the field, including 2-of-11 from three-point range. Once again, the Ducks' length proved a difference maker. Sofia Bell, a 6-1 freshman guard from Portland, Ore., drew the assignment of containing Morales, and her length made things tougher for the Vikings' captain.
 
The Vikings can bounce back quickly, as they head back up to Portland for the first of five straight home games Tuesday (6 p.m. tipoff) against Bushnell. The Beacons will be a lower division opponent for the Vikings before they close out non-conference play against San Francisco (Dec. 16, 2 p.m. tip) and University of Portland (Dec. 20, 2 p.m. tip).
 
Game Notes: The Vikings fell to 10-29 all time against the Ducks after Saturday's loss…The Vikings are now 28-97 against current Pac-12 programs after Saturday…Morales now needs nine points to become the 21st player in program history to score 1,000 points in their Portland State career…The Vikings committed a season-low nine turnovers in the game, and outscored the Ducks 13-to-6 in points off turnovers.
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