SAN FRANCISCO – The Portland State women's basketball team got off the mat and punched back Tuesday night against San Francisco.
 
Trailing for much of the game, the Vikings fell behind by as many as nine points in the third quarter when the trio of Alaya Fitzgerald, Lana Wenger and Laynee Torres-Kahapea led the Vikings back in front.
 
Fitzgerald and Wenger answered the Dons' nine-point lead with back-to-back three-pointers to get the Vikings back within three. Wenger then scored on back-to-back possessions early in the fourth quarter to give the Vikings their first lead since the early moments of the game. Torres-Kahapea added some flare with a three-point play that put the Vikings up two, 51-49, with 5:59 remaining.
 
But the Dons had an answer for every Portland State bucket down the stretch as they secured a 62-56 win at War Memorial at The Sobrato Center.
 
"Pleased with our effort and our fight tonight on the road," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said after the game. "We'll continue to clean up our execution down the stretch. But we could have gone away when San Francisco went up nine and we battled back.
 
"We still wanted to get this one, but we'll clean up a few things and use it to motivate us for the next one."
 
Eight of the game's nine lead changes occurred in the fourth quarter. And while the Vikings (0-2) only led for 3:11 of the game, they had every bit of a claim to victory as the Dons (2-1) by the end of the game.
 
Taylor Moffat hit a three-pointer to put the Vikings up 54-52 with 5:29 remaining. But the Dons answered right back with a three-pointer of their own from Elle Papahronis. They stretched that to a 58-54 lead before Fitzgerald answered with a step-back jumper that got the Vikings within a possession.
 
A second-chance layup for the Dons stretched it to a four-point lead, again. They then followed a turnover on the Vikings' next possession with the final bucket of the game to go up by six.
 
The loss shouldn't dampen the Vikings' noticeable improvements in Tuesday's game. The Vikings showed better shot-making against the Dons than their season opener three days earlier. The Dons came in holding opponents to only 25.2 percent from the floor, ranking them eighth nationally in the category. Neither of the Dons' first two opponents had scored more than 52 points, either. The Vikings beat both of those numbers, scoring 56 points against the Dons on 32.8 percent (21-of-64) shooting.
 
Both numbers marked improvements over the team's season opener against Hawai'I, when the Vikings shot just 28.8 percent. The Vikings didn't have any of the long dry spells Tuesday night like the Vikings had in that game, either.
 
Wenger and Fitzgerald provided some creativity to the Viking offense. Wenger led the Vikings with 18 points – 11 of which came in the second half – while adding eight rebounds and three blocks. Fitzgerald scored eight of her 15 points in the second half to go with four rebounds and four assists.
 
Torres-Kahapea gave the Vikings a third player in double figures with 10 points to go with five rebounds and two assists.
 
Torres-Kahapea also contributed to a Viking offense that committed only 10 turnovers, as the Vikings took care of the ball better than in their season opener when they had 16 giveaways against Hawai'i.
 
"Both Laynee and Alaya played big minutes for us and both had zero turnovers, so I was super proud of them," Gregg said.
 
The Dons' biggest advantage came in the paint where they outscored the Vikings 36-20. The Dons also made seven more free throws than the Vikings (14-7) while taking 19 more (26-7).
 
The Vikings countered with seven three-pointers to just two for the Dons. Fitzgerald went 3-of-5 from three-point range to lead the Vikings, while Wenger hit 2-of-3 from distance. Torres-Kahapea and Moffat added one three-pointer each.
 
The Vikings continue on the road Saturday, when they'll play at Seattle U at 6 p.m. Tuesday's effort against the Dons should give the Vikings some confidence heading into that game, even if it didn't end in their favor.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings fell to 1-3 all-time against San Francisco after Tuesday's loss…Wenger's 18 points marked a new career high…Torres-Kahapea scored in double figures for only the second time in her career.
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