BOISE, Idaho – The Portland State women's basketball team's Cinderella run at the Big Sky tournament that saw the Vikings advance to the Big Sky semifinals as the seventh seed ended right there as Sacramento State beat them 60-42 Tuesday at Idaho Central Arena.
 
The loss ends a season of improvement for the Vikings after they went winless in conference play last season. At 8-10 in Big Sky play during the regular season, the Vikings set a school record with a +8 improvement in conference wins, a mark that also ranked as the second-best year-to-year improvement in Big Sky Conference history. Additionally, the Vikings increased their overall win total by 10 this season – from 5-24 to 15-16 – while making their first semifinal appearance since 2019.
 
"There's a lot of emotions right now. We're really proud of the team and the effort they gave," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said afterwards. "It wasn't enough today, but really proud of this team, their effort, this run, and the way they stuck together. They believed in each other. They bought into what we're doing, and we've seen progress because of that."
 
Any chance at extending the Cinderella run got extinguished in the third quarter. Sacramento State (24-7, 13-5 Big Sky) fed its All-Big Sky first-team center Isnelle Natabou repeatedly coming out of halftime. The Vikings had held Natabou to just 1-of-5 shooting in the first half, but she responded by going 6-of-6 from the field for 12 points in the third quarter. Natabou accounted for 12 of the Hornets' first 15 points in the third quarter, as the Hornets turned what had been a three-point game at the break into a 15-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Natabou scored the first four points of a 12-0 run for the Hornets to finish the third. Her presence inside then opened things up on the outside for the Hornets, as Kahlaijah Dean – the Big Sky MVP and Top Newcomer – and Katie Peneueta capped the quarter with back-to-back three-pointers.
 
"We scouted her and I took a lot of time this morning to watch the scout, but she's good. She's strong," senior Syd Schultz said of defending Natabou. "I just did all that I could. I tried to make her feel uncomfortable with the ball and see what she would do with it.
 
The Vikings tried to mount a comeback with a three-pointer from Esmeralda Morales and a three-point play from Alaya Fitzgerald on back-to-back possessions. That cut it to a 12-point deficit at 51-39 with 5:49 remaining in the fourth, but that'd be as close as they'd come the rest of the way.
 
The three-point shooting that had been a key part of the Vikings' run to the semifinals wasn't there against the Hornets. The Vikings came into the game having shot 46.2 percent from three-point range while making 12.0 shots per game from the outside through their first two games at the tournament. That included a school record-tying 15 three-pointers Sunday in the Vikings' 77-65 upset win over Montana State, the defending tournament champions. But Tuesday, the Hornets held the Vikings to just 3-of-14 shooting (.214) from beyond the arc.
 
"I think they were just pushing us off of our line," Fitzgerald said of how the Hornets limited the team's three-point shooting. "We had some trouble getting open. I think you could feel the momentum fall once our shots didn't start falling. Like we were second-guessing shooting the next one. But, they just weren't falling, honestly, and that's a big part of our game plan."
 
Fitzgerald provided some bright spots for the Vikings with a team-high 11 points. She scored in double figures in all three games at the tournament, including 16 points in Sunday's upset of the Bobcats.
 
Cinco McCartney added six points and six rebounds, while Rhema Ogele and Schultz matched her with six points each. Esmeralda Morales and Jada Lewis, who had averaged 22.0 and 17.0 points per game, respectively, through the team's first two tournament games were held to a combined 3-of-19 from the field.
 
Natabou led all scorers with 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting to go with 11 rebounds for the Hornets. Dean added 17 points and seven rebounds.
 
Tuesday's disappointment aside, the tournament run could be a harbinger of things to come for the Vikings. The team played all season with only three seniors, while 10 of the team's 15 players were either freshmen or sophomores (including redshirts).
 
"We have a great group. We have the playing experience now, but now how do we grow to be more consistent? I think we've done a great job, but how can we become better?," Gregg said of what the team's focus will be ahead of next season.
 
"I'm so proud of our responses [this season] where we'd have a down game and then we'd respond. Montana State, we went from shooting 18 percent and not being in the game in the second half [on Feb. 25], to then getting them here. I'm so proud of those responses, but now, how can we become more consistent where every night we're giving ourselves an opportunity to be in those games."
 
Game Notes: The Vikings still lead the all-time series between them and the Hornets, 33-24, despite Tuesday's loss…The Vikings were making their second semifinal appearance as a seventh seed, as they also made a similar run in 2016…The 42 points the Vikings scored goes down as their second-lowest scoring output in a game this season.