PORTLAND, Ore. — It's never too early in the year for sports to break your heart.
 
For much of Saturday's game, the Portland State women's basketball team looked like a new team ready for the start of Big Sky Conference play. Just four days into 2025, the Vikings looked poised to start the new year 1-0. But Sacramento State erased a 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime, then won it 76-74 on a pair of free throws with 19 seconds remaining in the extra period.
 
The Vikings (3-7, 0-1 Big Sky) had a look to win it, but a long three-pointer from Alaya Fitzgerald with six seconds remaining went off the rim and the Hornets (8-6, 1-0 Big Sky) ran out the clock.
 
The Vikings had a better look to win it in regulation. Lana Wenger – playing in her first game since Nov. 24 – got loose for a 10-foot jumper that went halfway down before bouncing out.
 
"Make your free throws. If we make our free throws, then we're not in [overtime]," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said afterwards as her team went 12-of-19 (.632) from the line. "Proud of some moments of execution, but when we felt the pressure we started turning the ball over again. So we've got to take care of the ball and got to keep them off the line."
 
The heartbreaking loss overshadowed a breakout game for the Viking offense. Wenger and Kyleigh Brown both returned to the Vikings' lineup, and their return helped spark others.
 
Fitzgerald responded with a career-high 27 points to go with five assists and five rebounds. She showed aggression early in Saturday's game, scoring 12 points in the first half including two momentum-building three-point plays. Fitzgerald added two three-pointers in the second half and accounted for six of the Vikings' 10 points in overtime.
 
Wenger and Rhema Ogele chipped in 14 points each despite battling foul trouble. Ogele went 6-of-8 from the field in scoring her 14 points while adding seven rebounds and two steals. Brown, meanwhile, added nine points to go with four rebounds and four assists in her return from a concussion.
 
"It was nice to have players back. Lay stepped up in a big way," Gregg said of the offense. "But ultimately we didn't get the W, so back to work."
 
As a team, the Vikings' 74 points marked a new season high. They shot 46.0 percent (29-of-63) from the field for their second-best field goal percentage this season by some distance. The Vikings had only topped 40 percent in three of their nine non-conference games, so Saturday's 46.0 percent showing marked an especially strong performance.
 
What's more, the Vikings showed improvements on the ball. After being outscored 41-14 and 36-4 in points off turnovers in their last two non-conference games against Portland and Air Force, respectively, the Vikings limited the damage Saturday. While the Hornets got the better of them in the turnover battle, their wins were marginal in turnovers (PSU 18, SAC 15) and points off turnovers (SAC 19, PSU 18).
 
They started to slip in the fourth quarter, however, when they committed five of their 18 turnovers.
 
The turnovers helped spark a Sacramento State offense that had been stagnant at times Saturday but then went 9-of-13 (.692) from the field in the fourth quarter. All but one of the Hornets' nine field goals came in the paint, as they started to find shots close to the basket.
 
A 7-0 Sacramento State run at the start of the quarter cut an 11-point PSU lead down to four at 52-48 with 8:09 remaining.
 
The Vikings got a couple of momentum buckets after that. Courtney Turner finished a layup through contact to make it 54-48, while Fitzgerald hit a corner jumper as the shot clock expired to give the Vikings a seven-point lead with 6:59 remaining.
 
But the Hornets would never go away. Three different times they got the game back within a single possession. Katie Peneueta finally tied the game with a three-pointer that made it 62-all with 1:45 left.
 
The teams traded layups from there before coming up empty in the final minute with a chance to win in regulation.
 
Neither team led by more than two points during the overtime period. Free-throw shooting proved the difference as the Hornets went 8-for-8 from the line while the Vikings were 4-for-4.
 
The Hornets held the advantage from the line throughout Saturday's game. They finished 25-of-29 (.862) from the line, while the Vikings were 12-of-19 (.632). Fatoumata Jaiteh led the Hornets' march to the line, as she scored 16 of her game-high 28 points form the charity stripe on 16-of-19 (.842) shooting. Twelve of her 16 makes from the line came in the second half and overtime, when she scored 24 of her 28 points.
 
The Vikings hit the road next week for games at Eastern Washington Thursday and Idaho Saturday. They'll look to complete the job then for a heartwarming sports moment to make up for Saturday's heartbreak.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings still lead the all-time series between them and the Hornets, 34-26, despite Saturday's loss…The Hornets became just the third team to shoot better than 45 percent against the Vikings this season, going 24-of-53 (.453) from the field…The Vikings led for more than 35 minutes of Saturday's game.
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