Portland State University Athletics

PORTLAND, Ore. — It was a bubbly feeling in Viking Pavilion Tuesday, as the Vikings played their first home game under new head coach Karlie Burris. The Vikings rewarded their new coach with an 89-52 win over Willamette, gifting Burris the first victory in her head coaching career.
 
Burris and her fellow coaches celebrated the milestone with a bottle of champagne after the game. The Vikings (1-1) may not come down from those bubbles for a little while. Their 89 points against the Bearcats (1-1) marked their highest scoring output since a 91-68 win over Sacramento State on March 6, 2020. Additionally, the Vikings shot 55.9 percent (38-of-68) from the floor Tuesday for their best mark since shooting 60.4 percent against Eastern Washington on Feb. 4, 2023.
 
"Putting 89 points on the board is nice, but we have a lot to clean up," Burris said in reflecting on her first-career win.
 
"We weren't trying to run any sets tonight. Just running offense and trying to execute. If we didn't get it on the first side, go to the second side. I want them to trust themselves. I say that all the time because that's going to be important. We want to play to their strengths."
 
The biggest strength for the Vikings came in the paint where they scored 64 of their 89 points against the Bearcats. The Vikings outscored the Bearcats by more than 50 in the painted area (64-12), the largest discrepancy in favor of the Vikings in some time. The 64 points in the paint were 26 more than the Vikings' highest total last season.
 
Ajae Yoakum scored 18 of her 20 points in the paint while going 9-of-12 from the field. Sophomore post Katelyn Best also contributed with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, setting career highs for both points and field goals. Yoakum and Best both had a pair of buckets in a 12-3 run to close out the first quarter.
 
That run essentially put the game away. The Vikings led by double digits after the first quarter, by 20 points or more after halftime, and by 30 points or more for most of the fourth.
 
"We tried to go high-and-in. Felt like we didn't do that at Hawai'i. Ajae had a great game for us," Burris said of getting big games from Yoakum and the post players. "It's going to come from all of us. It's scoring in the paint by committee, our forwards and our guards."
 
Sophomore Kyleigh Brown got hot from the outside late but otherwise scored most of her 24 points in the paint as well. The Vikings were just 2-of-12 (.167) from three-point range until Brown hit three straight in the fourth quarter, the last of which capped a 13-0 run that gave the Vikings a 75-40 lead with 6:32 remaining.
 
The 24 points marked a new career high for Brown, who also chipped in seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Her four made three-pointers also marked a new career high.
 
Brown was one of four different Vikings to record at least six rebounds. Besides Brown, Hannah Chicken led the Vikings with eight boards, while Laynee Torres-Kahapea and Yoakum added seven and six rebounds, respectively. The seven rebounds were a new career high for Torres-Kahapea, who had tied her career high with six in the team's season opener against Hawai'i on Nov. 4.
 
The balance led the Vikings to a 42-26 rebounding advantage. The +16 margin marked the best for the Vikings since they out-rebounded Simpson (Calif.) by 17 on Dec. 19, 2021.
 
"Willamette takes a lot of three-point shots, and so it's a lot of long rebounds, which almost makes it harder to rebound in that scenario. But again, that was a huge point of emphasis for us. All five rebound. That's going to be a saying that they hear all year. If we want any chance, we're going to have to do a good job on the boards," Burris said.
 
Besides the Vikings' advantages on the glass and in the paint, they also outscored the Bearcats 39-19 from the bench. Best's 10 points led the Portland State bench. Sophie Buzzard added nine points on 3-of-6 shooting, while Taylor Moffat scored eight points on 3-of-4 shooting from the floor. Chicken and Cici Ellington added six points each.
 
The 39 points from the bench were 11 more than the Vikings had in any game last season.
 
"You look down the bench and it's nice to feel like you have options. It's going to take a little bit of time for us to figure out what combinations make sense for us. But I do feel like we have some pieces and it's up to us to figure out how to use them," Burris said.
 
The Vikings will hit the road for their next three games, starting with a pair of games in Colorado at the start of next week. The Vikings play Colorado at 12 p.m. PT / 1 p.m. MT Sunday, then face Air Force next Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. PT / 6:30 p.m. MT.
 
Game Notes:

• Tuesday's game was the first counting game between the Vikings and Bearcats. It was also the Vikings' first counting game against an NCAA Division III opponent since they beat George Fox, 55-35, on Nov. 9, 2012.
• The Vikings scored 27 points in the fourth quarter Tuesday, more points than they had in any quarter last season.
• Yoakum tied her career high with three blocks to go with her 20 points and six rebounds.
• The Vikings won the turnover battle, 15-to-9, while outscoring the Bearcats 22-10 in points off turnovers.

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