DENVER, Colo. — When it rains, it pours. Not only in terms of the weather in Portland Saturday, but also for the Portland State women's basketball team in their Big Sky-Summit Challenge game against Denver.
 
Already without two regular starters going into the game between Alaya Fitzgerald and Lana Wenger, the Vikings lost a third in Taylor Moffat when she went down late in the second quarter. Rhema Ogele even sat for a bit after she hit her head early in the game. Ogele came back and nearly posted a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds, but all the absences proved too much as the Vikings fell to the Pioneers, 57-41, at Hamilton Gymnasium.
 
"We've just got to continue to fight through this," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said of the team's absences. "It's an opportunity to get others some experience and we can grow as a team."
 
Despite the adversity, the Vikings (3-4) led after the first quarter. A 7-0 finish in which Kyleigh Brown scored five of the seven points gave the Vikings a 13-12 lead going into the second quarter. Ogele added two free throws on the Vikings' opening possession of the second period to make it a 9-0 run and a 15-12 lead.
 
But that's where the adversity caught up to the Vikings. The Pioneers (4-4) closed the second half on an 18-2 run and led by as many as seven points the rest of the way. The Pioneers held the Vikings to just 1-of-16 (.063) shooting in the second quarter, after the Vikings had gone 6-of-9 (.667) from the field in the first quarter.
 
The offensive end was where the Vikings missed Fitzgerald and Wenger – two of the Vikings' three leading scorers – the most. The Vikings shot just 32.7 percent (16-of-49) for the game, their lowest shooting percentage since their first two games of the season.
 
The Pioneers, meanwhile, punished the Vikings on the offensive glass, particularly early in the game. They had 11 offensive rebounds by the early part of the second quarter, while 10 of their first 17 points came on second-chance opportunities. The Pioneers finished with a 44-to-27 rebounding advantage. They out-paced the Vikings 22-to-11 on the offensive glass, which led to a 19-6 advantage in second-chance points.
 
Jordan Jones – a preseason All-Summit League first-team selection for the Pioneers – got hot during her team's closing run in the first half. She accounted for eight of the Pioneers' last 13 points in the second quarter, and assisted on one of the team's other two baskets during the run.
 
The Vikings got as close as seven points in the second half when Brown and Jamia Carter strung together a three-point play and a three-pointer back-to-back. That made it 30-23 with 8:13 remaining in the third quarter, but the Pioneers answered with a 9-0 run and then led by at least 11 points the rest of the way.
 
Jones finished with 23 points to lead all scorers in the game. Emma Smith recorded nine points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Pioneers.
 
For the Vikings, Brown went into double figures for the third straight game as she led the Vikings with 11 points to go with five rebounds. Besides her and Ogele, Jamia Carter finished with seven points, while Sofía Llanos added five points and three assists as she started in place of Fitzgerald.
 
The Vikings will now hope to get healthy in a hurry as they close out non-conference play with games against two quality opponents in the University of Portland and Air Force on Dec. 13 and 20, respectively. The Vikings will play at Portland at 6 p.m. on the 13th, while they'll host Air Force at 1 p.m. on the 20th.
 
Playing in Portland should help the Vikings rest up and get better. Even if it's raining outside.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings had been 5-0 against Denver before Saturday's loss…The Vikings remain winless in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge as they're 0-4 after losing both games last season, and then Wednesday's game against Omaha (65-57) in addition to Saturday…Ogele has recorded 10+ rebounds in three of the team's last five games.
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