Game Notes (PDF)

TIPOFF
The Portland State women's basketball team couldn't have picked a prettier setting to open its 2025-26 season – its first under new head coach Karlie Burris – than Hawai'i. The Vikings open their season Tuesday, Nov. 4 (9 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. HT Tipoff) in Honolulu against the Rainbow Wahine.
 
Whether the aesthetics outside of Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center match the play on the court Tuesday will be up to the Vikings.
 
They certainly played a pretty brand of basketball Thursday in an 88-51 exhibition win over Warner Pacific. The 88 points would have been the most for the Vikings in a game since a 91-68 win over Sacramento State on March 6, 2020, if it had been a counting game. What's more, the Vikings scored 20+ points in three of the four quarters. A year ago, the Vikings only had 11 20-point quarters all season.
 
Burris said she even felt that the Vikings left some points on the court Thursday, despite scoring 88 against the Knights.
 
The Vikings set the tone early in the game, forcing five Warner Pacific turnovers on five steals in the opening quarter without committing a turnover of their own. They were outscoring the Knights 11-0 in points off turnovers after the opening quarter and finished with a 25-8 advantage for the game.
 
Again, if Thursday's exhibition had come during the regular season last year, the Vikings would have set season's bests for turnover margin (+11) and fewest turnovers (6).
 
Burris expects transition offense and defense to be a strength for the Vikings this season. Hawai'i will provide a good opening test of the Vikings' effectiveness in speeding up the game Tuesday. The Rainbow Wahine rode their defense to its second straight and third out of the last four Big West regular-season titles last season. Hawai'i ranked third nationally in field goal percentage defense (.335), as well as seventh in scoring defense, allowing just 53.1 points per game.
 
Both were on display when the Vikings opened last season against the Rainbow Wahine in Portland on Nov. 9, 2024. Hawai'i beat the Vikings 72-50 behind a defense that held them to just 28.8 percent (15-of-52) shooting from the field.
 
The Vikings will hope to get a few more easy looks at the basket this season than last time. They did that against Warner Pacific, outscoring the Knights 52-32 in the paint. The 52 points in the paint were 14 more than the Vikings had in any game last season.
 
Ajae Yoakum led the Vikings in that regard, scoring 22 of her game-high 26 points from the paint on 11-of-16 shooting. Yoakum scored 10 straight points to open the fourth quarter for the Vikings on a perfect 5-for-5 from the field.
 
Yoakum's 11 field goals would have set a new career high for her had it been a counting game. It also would have marked the sixth 20-point game of her career.
 
Last year, Hawai'i outscored the Vikings 34-12 in the paint.
 
Hawai'i comes into this season with expectations on them again after topping the Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll. Imani Perez and Ritorya Tamilo both made the Preseason All-Big West team after earning all-conference honors last season. Perez made the All-Big West second team as well as the All-Defensive Team, while Tamilo was named the Big West Freshman of the Year.
 
Tamilo was one of three Hawai'i players to score in double figures against the Vikings last season, when she had 10 points in only 16 minutes of game time. Perez had three points in 18 minutes while also swiping two steals.
 
The Vikings will try to counter behind Yoakum and their transition offense. Alani Encinas had a breakout game in the team's exhibition against Warner Pacific, scoring 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Sophie Buzzard and Kyleigh Brown both added 14 points for the Vikings.
 
Laynee Torres-Kahapea was on triple-double watch against the Knights. She likely would have gotten it had the outcome been a concern at all, but instead finished with eight points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Both the nine rebounds and eight assists would have been career highs for Torres-Kahapea had it been a counting game.
 
Tuesday's season opener will be a special one for Torres-Kahapea. She'll be playing in Hawai'i for the first time since being named the 2023 Hawai'i State Gatorade Player of the Year.
 
The game will also mark the official start of the Burris era for the Vikings. And everyone within the program hopes it's as beautiful of an era as the setting it will begin in.
 
GAME #1: PORTLAND STATE (0-0) vs. HAWAI'I (0-0)
GAME DETAILS: Tuesday, Nov. 4, 9 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. HT, Honolulu, Hawaii (Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center)
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
SCOUTING HAWAI'I: The Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine topped the Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll after winning its sixth Big West regular-season title and third in the last four years last season. The Rainbow Wahine brought in eight newcomers to supplement seven returners this season to defend their title. Among the returners, Imani Perez and Ritorya Tamilo were each named to the seven-member All-Big West Preseason Team. Perez was a second-team and all-defensive team selection last season when she averaged 7.9 points per game while anchoring a Hawai'i defense that ranked third nationally in field goal percentage defense (.335) and seventh in scoring defense (53.1 points allowed per game). Tamilo, meanwhile, was named the Big West Freshman of the Year last season after setting a program freshman record for blocks with 41, averaging 1.3 blocks per game. The Rainbow Wahine dominated two exhibitions against fellow island schools Chaminade, 90-33, and Hawai'i Pacific, 74-34, on Oct. 21 and 28, respectively. Five different players scored in double figures for the Rainbow Wahine in the win over Chaminade. Kira-May Filemu led them with 16 points off the bench, while Rebecca Moors (14), Saniyah Neverson (14), Bailey Flavell (11) and Danijela Kujovic (10) followed. Perez, who didn't play against Chaminade, led the Rainbow Wahine with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting to go with seven rebounds against Hawai'i Pacific. Neverson and Flavell joined her in double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Hawai'i shot 59.3 percent (32-of-54) from the field against Hawai'i Pacific. This will be the second straight season that the Vikings open their season against the Rainbow Wahine. Hawai'i beat the Vikings 72-50 in Portland on Nov. 9 last season, a game in which they held the Vikings to just 28.8 percent (15-of-52) shooting and outscored them 34-12 in the paint.
ALL-TIME SERIES: The Rainbow Wahine lead the all-time series between them and the Vikings, 6-4. Hawai'i has won both recent games between the two teams between a 71-68 victory in Hawai'i on Nov. 21, 2021, and a 72-50 win in Portland on Nov. 9, 2024. The Vikings' last win over the Rainbow Wahine came 77-66 in Portland on Dec. 2, 2010.
 
QUICK HITTERS

• The Vikings beat Warner Pacific 88-51 in an exhibition Thursday. The 88 points would have been the Vikings' most in a game since March 6, 2020 – a 91-68 PSU win at Sacramento State – if it had been a counting game.
• The Vikings won the turnovers battle 17-6 Thursday. Both the margin (+11) and PSU's turnovers (6) would have marked season's bests last season. The Vikings turned that into a 25-8 advantage in points off turnovers.
• Ajae Yoakum led the Vikings with 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field in Thursday's exhibition win. Her 11 made field goals would have marked a new career high for Yoakum if it had been a counting game. It also would have been her sixth 20-point game of her career.
• Alani Encinas scored 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting Thursday. The total was nearly triple her career total at Portland State, as she goes into her senior year with only six career points.
• The Vikings outscored Warner Pacific 52-32 in the paint Thursday. The 52 points in the paint were 14 more than the Vikings had in any game last season.
• The Vikings shot 50.7 percent (34-of-67) from the field in Thursday's exhibition win. That would have been a season high a year ago when the Vikings' best mark from the field was 49.1 percent against Seattle U on Nov. 16, 2024.
• The Vikings only had nine of their 14 players dressed in Thursday's exhibition win over Warner Pacific. Jamia Carter, Cici Ellington, Kailee Field, Ryme Jaekel and Taylor Moffat were all out due to injury or other reasons.
• Ajae Yoakum – an all-conference honorable mention while at FIU in 2023-24 – needs 41 points to reach 1,000 in her collegiate career (including non-D1).
• Laynee Torres-Kahapea will be playing her first collegiate game in her native Hawai'i Tuesday. She was the 2023 Gatorade Player of the Year in the state. Torres-Kahapea nearly had a triple-double in Thursday's exhibition, finishing with eight points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Both her nine rebounds and eight assists would have been career highs had it been a counting game.
• Tuesday's game at Hawai'i will be the first counting game for Karlie Burris as Portland State head coach. She's a first-time head coach. She spent the past four years as an assistant coach at UNLV where she helped the Lady Rebels win four straight Mountain West Conference regular-season titles (2022-25), as well as three Mountain West Conference tournament titles (2022-24).
• Kyleigh Brown will be the team's leading returning scorer and rebounder from last season, after averaging 9.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per game as a freshman. She ended her freshman season by scoring in double figures in six straight games.
• The Vikings returned nine letterwinners and had four incoming freshmen already committed to the roster when Karlie Burris was named head coach. Burris' one addition to the 2025-26 roster was Ajae Yoakum, who signed with the Vikings in April.
• The Vikings were picked to finish tied for ninth and 10th in the Big Sky Conference in the preseason coaches and media polls, respectively. The Vikings have finished 10th in the conference three of the past four seasons.
• The Vikings feature only one player listed as taller than six feet in Katelyn Best, who stands 6-3. However, the Vikings have five players listed at six feet exactly in Hannah Chicken, Cici Ellington, Kirstine Munk, Brooklyn Strandy and Ajae Yoakum.
• The Vikings have three players who won Oregon state titles in high school. Cici Ellington and Ajae Yoakum won the 2019 OSAA 6A state title with Benson Polytechnic High School. Ellington was named the OSAA 6A State Co-Player of the Year that year alongside current WNBA player Cameron Brink. Kyleigh Brown, meanwhile, won the 5A state title with Silverton High School in 2024 when she was also named the OSAA 5A State Player of the Year.
• Karlie Burris outlined three areas of focus for the Vikings: 1) Transition offense and defense; 2) Rebounding; and 3) Execution. Execution is an umbrella term for winning the turnover battle, executing the scouting report, and holding the opposing team's best player to under 17 points.
• Karlie Burris said of the lack of expectations on her team this year: "We're going to be the hunters this year at Portland State. We're super excited about that. No one has any expectations for us, other than ourselves. And we're excited to be the hunters. That's a good spot to be. You get to play really hard with reckless abandon and really not worry about the result because all the expectations are on the other team. It's a fun place to be. It's hunting season."