GREELEY, Colo. — Through a quarter and a half, it looked like the Portland State women's basketball team might follow up its first Big Sky Conference win with another Thursday night at Bank of Colorado Arena. But cold shooting caught up to the Vikings, as Northern Colorado ran away with a 65-48 victory.
 
Lana Wenger hit a three-pointer to bring the Vikings (6-19, 1-12) back within three at 30-27 with 6:13 remaining in the second quarter. The Vikings were 5-of-7 (.714) from three-point range at that point in the game and 10-of-19 (.526) from the floor overall.
 
But the Vikings made just four of their next 26 shots – a cold spell that stretched into the waning moments of the fourth quarter – as the Bears (11-12, 6-6) took control of the game.
 
"We continue to talk about rebounding being the key and we didn't take care of that tonight," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said after her team was out-rebounded 40-to-25 by the Bears amid their tough shooting night. "When you don't rebound, we don't gain confidence or momentum on the offensive end. Back to work tomorrow."
 
The cold shooting came in contrast to the Vikings' showing in their last game, when they snapped a 15-game losing streak with a 59-53 win over Idaho State. The Vikings set a conference season high while shooting 44.9 percent (22-of-49) from the floor in that game, but finished well below that mark at 32.7 percent (16-of-49) Thursday.
 
The Vikings had also made strides in the turnover battle of late. After last Saturday's win over Idaho State, the Vikings were a combined plus-six in the turnover margin over their last four games. Thursday night, however, while the teams were even in total turnovers (15-to-15), the Bears outscored the Vikings 19-4 off those 15 turnovers.
 
The majority of those points off turnovers came in the first half. The Bears led by only five points at halftime, 34-29, but were outscoring the Vikings 13-2 off turnovers at that point.
 
Turnovers helped key the Bears' hot start to the game. After the Vikings scored the night's first four points, the Bears turned back-to-back turnovers into the first five points of a 14-0 run.
 
The Vikings shot their way back into the game from there, starting with back-to-back three-pointers from Sofía Llanos and Esmeralda Morales. They hit three straight three-pointers on their first three field goals of the second quarter, getting back within three points off three-pointers from Morales, 'Uhila and Wenger.
 
But Wenger's three-pointer marked the start of the Vikings' cold spell. The Vikings tried to mount a comeback as Llanos hit a fast-break three that made it 42-34 with 4:06 remaining in the third quarter. However, the Bears answered with their second 14-0 run of the game, putting them up by 22 at the start of the fourth quarter.
 
While the Vikings struggled from the field, they still assisted on 12 of their 16 field goals in the game. Morales dished out five assists while finishing with 10 points and four rebounds. Mia 'Uhila added three assists herself to go with five points, four rebounds and three steals.
 
Wenger led the Vikings with 12 points. Rhema Ogele added eight points, eight rebounds and a career-high five steals.
 
The Vikings can get back in the win column Saturday as they head over to Northern Arizona for a 1 p.m. PT / 2 p.m. MT tipoff.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings fell to 11-25 all-time against the Bears following Thursday's loss…The Bears outscored the Vikings 30-14 in the paint, becoming the 14th team this season to do so by at least 10 points…The Vikings finished with a conference season-high 10 steals as a team but turned those into just four points off turnovers.
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