SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The message from Portland State head women's basketball coach Chelsey Gregg this week ahead of the Big Sky tournament will be clear.
 
Rebound.
 
The Vikings have struggled on the glass in their final five games of the regular season. That extended to Monday, as Sacramento State outrebounded the Vikings by 14 in an 80-54 win over the Vikings at The Nest. It was the fourth time out of the Vikings' last five games that they've been outrebounded by 10 or more, and the Vikings have lost all four of those games.
 
"Literally rebounding and getting back to making shot," Gregg said of what her message would be in the leadup to the Big Sky tournament. "Fortunately, the tournament schedule this year means we get to come home and work on some things ahead of the tournament."
 
It wasn't just the rebounding advantage Monday, however. The Hornets (22-7, 13-5 Big Sky) shot 54.4 percent from the field (31-of-57), the second-highest percentage by a Viking opponent this season. The Hornets also tied a season high for a Viking opponent with 13 three-pointers on 48.1 percent from the outside.
 
Additionally, the 80 points the Hornets scored were the second most by a Viking opponent this season.
 
The Hornets' shot making erased an early Viking lead. The Vikings jumped out to a 7-3 advantage as the Hornets made just one of their first five shots. But that ended quickly as the Hornets made 10 of their next 13 while building a 29-18 lead.
 
The Hornets extended their lead to 20 points with a 7-0 run out of halftime, and the Vikings never got closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
 
Alaya Fitzgerald provided a bright spot for the Vikings with 15 points, the seventh time out of the Vikings' last nine games that she's scored at least 15 points. Fitzgerald went 3-of-5 from three-point range while scoring her 15 points, the fourth time out of the past nine games that she's hit three shots from deep.
 
Jada Lewis and Esmeralda Morales added 11 points each, while both players also chipped in three assists. Lewis scored her 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting from three-point range. She's now three shots away from tying former teammate Kylie Jimenez (2017-21) for third all time with 198 made three-pointers in her career.
 
Besides giving the Vikings a clear agenda for their practices leading up to the Big Sky tournament, Monday's game also clarified the path ahead for the Vikings. The Vikings finished the regular season seventh in the Big Sky, meaning they'll open the tournament on Saturday, March 4, against eighth-seeded Idaho State. The winner of that game will then face second-seeded Montana State Sunday.
 
Saturday's tournament opener will tipoff at 1:30 p.m. PT / 2:30 p.m. MT.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings still lead the all-time series between them and the Hornets, 33-23, despite the loss…Lewis and Morales need only one and two more three-pointers, respectively, to become just the fourth or fifth Viking ever to hit 70 three-pointers in a single season…The Vikings finished the regular season with eight more conference wins than they had last season, the best year-to-year turnaround in program history and tied for the second-best in Big Sky Conference history.