PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State women's basketball team went into its holiday break with a 69-40 loss to Air Force Friday, as the Vikings closed out non-conference play at Viking Pavilion. The break comes at a good time for the Vikings (3-6) who will look to reset in the new year.
 
Turnovers, injuries and poor stretches offensively have plagued the Vikings during their current four-game losing stretch. All three played a factor in Friday's loss to the Falcons (10-2). The Vikings were without Kyleigh Brown, Taylor Moffat and Lana Wenger Friday, all three of whom would be in the Vikings' top six or seven players if healthy. That limited the Vikings' offense, which endured a scoreless stretch of more than 12 minutes of game time between the second and third quarters.
 
No Viking other than Rhema Ogele scored from the 8:21 mark in the first quarter to the 6:47 mark of the third quarter – over 21 minutes of game time – during which time the Falcons built a 40-12 lead.
 
"It was one of the most physical games that we've played in, and unfortunately we didn't match their physicality," Gregg said. "Turnovers, which were once a strength, have now become an Achilles heel. Injuries have something to do with it, but we also have to have a next-person-up mentality and have someone step up. We're asking Laynee [Torres-Kahapea] to do a lot. I was proud of how Rhema battled when we did get her the ball, but we needed others to step up."
 
The Vikings committed 28 turnovers Friday, which Air Force turned into a 36-4 advantage in points off of them. The Vikings started the year leading the Big Sky with only 14.0 turnovers committed per game through their first five games. But since, then Vikings are averaging 25.0 giveaways a game over four-game losing streak.
 
Nine of the Vikings' 28 turnovers came amid a nightmare second quarter that put the game out of reach. Ogele scored with 9:08 remaining in the second quarter, giving her 10 of the team's 12 points to that point of the game, but the Falcons held the Vikings scoreless for the rest of the period. The Vikings missed eight straight shots to finish the quarter and finished the period with only nine shot attempts thanks in part to their nine turnovers in the quarter. Air Force, meanwhile, closed the quarter on a 15-0 run to take a 36-12 lead into the break.
 
The Vikings actually didn't shoot poorly outside of the second quarter. They shot better than 45 percent or better in two of the other three quarters, including 17 points on 58.3 percent (7-of-12) shooting in the third. But the Falcons matched the Vikings in the second half as they maintained at least a 20-point lead for all but a couple minutes in the second half.
 
A bright spot for the Vikings came on the glass where they out-rebounded the Falcons, 33-to-30. It's the second straight game in which the Vikings have out-rebounded their opponent. Ogele led the Vikings with seven rebounds, six of which came on the offensive end. The seven rebounds came along with a team-high 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field to go with three steals for the senior.
 
Laynee Torres-Kahapea got hot for the Vikings in the second half, scoring 10 of her 12 points after the break including a pair of three-pointers. Some of the Vikings' bench players provided energy in the second half, too. Courtney Turner totaled four points, four rebounds and three blocks, all of which came in the second half. Kirstine Munk, meanwhile, snapped the Vikings' cold spell in the third quarter with a bucket while finishing with four points and two rebounds.
 
"They definitely gave us a little bit of a spark," Gregg said of Turner, Munk and the others who came off the bench. "What we've been talking about is, are we getting better? Are we utilizing those opportunities to gain experience and gain depth so when we do have players back and in the correct positions, we'll be that much better and stronger and deeper?"
 
The Vikings have 15 days off from competition now before they open Big Sky play against Sacramento State on Jan. 4. The Vikings host the Hornets at 2 p.m. that day.
 
"We definitely have to continue the work," Gregg said of the break. "We have an opportunity to reset. Everybody's 0-0 when you go into conference play. It doesn't really matter the record before. It's what you can do now."
 
Game Notes: The Vikings fell to 0-2 all-time against the Falcons with Friday's loss…The Vikings' two points in the second quarter tied the program's lowest-ever output in a single quarter…The Vikings hadn't scored just two points in a quarter since March 1, 2017, in the third quarter of a game against Northern Colorado.
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