BOISE, Idaho — The opening 10 minutes of the Portland State women's basketball team's Big Sky first-round game against Weber State went about as good as the Vikings could have asked.
 
They led 16-4 while holding the Wildcats (8-24) without a field goal in the first quarter. But things shifted from there. After shooting 0-of-15 in the first quarter, the Wildcats responded by going 10-of-13 (.769) in the second when they outscored the Vikings 26-6.
 
The Vikings (8-23) tried to mount a comeback in the second half, even cutting it down to a two-point game with 7:29 left in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough in the end. The Wildcats never relinquished the lead after taking it in the second quarter, beating the Vikings 62-53 Saturday at Idaho Central Arena. The loss ends the season for the Vikings.
 
"I really liked the first quarter," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg joked after the game. "But no, we talked about how, no matter the record, it's March. Can we make a run? At times, I thought we were going to do that, but unfortunately that wasn't in the cards today.
 
"Kudos to Weber State and coach [Jenteal] Jackson. They play hard. They were physical with us and at times we weren't able to match that. But we'll be back. We'll take some time off and then get back to work and be better next year."
 
Rhema Ogele provided a bright spot for the Vikings despite the loss. She set a career high with 27 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. Her 12 free throws were also a career high, while she hit the first three-pointer of her career during the Vikings' big opening quarter.
 
"When we found out we were playing Weber State last week, coach was saying, 'this is a winnable game. Just go in the post and we know you can do it,'" Ogele said of her career high. "I think my teammates did a great job finding me and trusting me to take the shot, knowing that I was going to either get a bucket or get fouled. It was all thanks to my teammates and my coaches believing in me today."
 
No other Viking went into double figures. Alaya Fitzgerald connected on her first two three-pointers to help spark the Vikings early, but then missed her final five shots to finish with eight points. Lana Wenger added seven points, all in the third quarter, to go with five rebounds. Mia 'Uhila chipped in six points and a team-high six rebounds.
 
Ogele and Fitzgerald led the Vikings early, combining for 14 of the team's 16 points in the opening quarter. Fitzgerald's two three-pointers gave the Vikings an opening 8-0 lead, while Ogele scored the final six points of the quarter.
 
The four points were the fewest the Vikings allowed to any opponent in any quarter this season.
 
But things flipped in the second quarter. Ogele was the only Viking to score in the period while Weber State got hot while working the ball inside. The Wildcats ended up outscoring the Vikings 38-16 in the paint with all 38 of those points coming in the final three quarters of the game.
 
Six different players scored for the Wildcats during their run in the second quarter as they worked the ball around.
 
The Wildcats then matched every run the Vikings made in the second half, staying ahead the entire time. When Wenger hit a three-pointer to make it 38-33 with 3:25 remaining in the third quarter, the Wildcats responded with a 6-0 run to push their lead to 11. Then after the Vikings opened the fourth quarter with seven straight points to get within two at 46-44, the Wildcats responded with an 8-1 run to go back up by nine. The Vikings didn't get closer than seven points after that.
 
"I think we played with a lot of emotion. You can see it on our faces. We wanted this one," Fitzgerald said after the game. "We really wanted to come in and be that Cinderella story and knock everybody off and get to the top."
 
The Vikings couldn't find their stroke from three-point range at any point during the game. After Fitzgerald connected on the Vikings' first two attempts from deep, they went just 3-of-23 collectively over the rest of the game.
 
That had been a key part of the Vikings' recent resurgence. They shot 40.3 percent from the outside while making 8.67 three-pointers per game from Feb. 10 to March 2, a stretch that included all three of the team's wins in conference play.
 
The Wildcats held Big Sky leading scorer Esmeralda Morales – named to the All-Big Sky first team on Thursday – to just two points on 1-of-12 shooting. Morales had scored 20 or more points in four straight games between Feb. 17 and March 2, but scored six in last Monday's regular-season finale against Idaho and then two Saturday against the Wildcats.
 
"In reality, it was an up-and-down year for us. It wasn't something we envisioned coming into the year, coming off our run [at last year's Big Sky tournament where they made the semifinals]," Gregg said. "As a learning experience, we have to take it and understand how hard it is to win games in this conference. And let that motivate us for next year."
 
Game Notes: The Vikings fell to 31-34 all-time against the Wildcats…They're 0-3 against the Wildcats at the Big Sky tournament after Saturday's loss…Ogele's 27-point game is just the third 20-point game of her career…Morales entered Saturday's game needing just two three-pointers to tie the single-season program record for three-pointers made, but instead will finish in second place with 87 makes this season.
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