TIPOFF
The Portland State women's basketball team will get a peek at a future Big Sky Conference member Saturday, when the Vikings travel to Utah Tech for a game at 6 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. MT in the Trailblazers' Burns Arena.
 
Utah Tech will join the Big Sky Conference as a full member next season. Until then, Saturday's game counts as a non-conference game between two teams that will get to know each other soon enough.
 
For the Vikings, they'll be looking to get in the win column against a Division I opponent. While the Vikings recorded their first win of the season, 89-52, over Willamette on Nov. 11, the Vikings are 0-3 against Division I opponents this season. That includes two losses in Colorado earlier this week. The Vikings dropped a 77-45 game at Colorado Sunday. They were much more competitive against Air Force Tuesday but still lost 65-55 to the Falcons.
 
The Vikings out-shot (.432-to-.406) and out-rebounded (33-to-31) the Falcons Tuesday, while also making 11 more free throws (16-to-5) and winning the second half (29-24). But the Falcons still led for 39 of the 40 minutes thanks to earning more possessions and a significant three-point advantage.
 
The Falcons shot 20 more field goals than the Vikings Tuesday (64-to-44) thanks to winning the turnover battle (+9 for Air Force) and grabbing more offensive rebounds (+5 for Air Force). Despite shooting 20 more field goals, the Falcons only had made seven more than the Vikings Tuesday. But those seven extra field goals were all from three-point range as the Falcons made eight shots from the outside compared to just one for the Vikings. That's a 21-point swing just from three-point shooting.
 
The Vikings will look to clean that up, as well as the turnovers that plagued them against both Colorado and Air Force, going into their game against Utah Tech.
 
Kyleigh Brown can help level the playing field for the Vikings from three-point range. She was held without a three-pointer Tuesday, going 0-for-1 from distance against Air Force, but is still 9-for-18 (.500) from three-point range this season. She ranks tied for fifth in the Big Sky and 51st nationally in three-point percentage (.500), while her 2.25 makes per game also rank her tied for sixth in the conference.
 
The Vikings need others besides Brown to step up, however. While Brown is 9-for-18 from three-point range, the rest of the Vikings are a combined 6-for-36 (.167). There are positives within that still. Laynee Torres-Kahapea is 3-for-7 (.429) from three-point range this season while Hannah Chicken is 2-for-5 (.400). If either becomes a more reliable threat from the outside, that should open things up for the Vikings.
 
Chicken made the Vikings' lone three-pointer Tuesday. It came as part of a second straight game in double figures for the freshman from Australia. Chicken finished with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field, two days after scoring 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting against Colorado. Chicken also tied her career high with eight rebounds against the Falcons, and now leads the Vikings with 6.0 rebounds per game.
 
Kirstine Munk was a surprise other player in double figures for the Vikings Tuesday. Munk set PSU career highs for points (11), rebounds (6), assists (2) and steals (2) while going 5-for-5 from the free throw line against the Falcons. Brown also went into double figures with 10 points, the 10th straight game she's scored 10+ points going back to last season.
 
All of the Vikings could have done a better job taking care of the ball against the Falcons, however. The Vikings committed 20+ turnovers for the second straight game, following up their 27 giveaways at Colorado Sunday with 20 more against the Falcons. They stabilized a bit in the second half, when the turnover battle was just 7-to-6 in favor of the Falcons, but the Vikings need to be better from the start of Saturday's game.
 
Ball control has been a strength so far for a Utah Tech team that comes into Saturday with a +4.67 turnover margin. The Trailblazers' bigger strength has been their interior defense, as they rank second in the WAC and 15th nationally with 6.7 blocks per game as a team. Lauren Crocker ranks second in the WAC and sixth nationally with 3.33 blocks per game individually.
 
The Vikings can avoid some of those blocks if they can open up the court with some three-point shooting Saturday. And they'll be able to get into those open looks if they can take care of the ball.
 
It's all part of the equation that the Vikings still need to figure out against Division I competition. There's no better team to figure it out against than one you're going to see a lot of in the coming years.
 
GAME #5: PORTLAND STATE (1-3) vs. UTAH TECH (2-1)
GAME DETAILS: Saturday, Nov. 22, 6 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. MT, St. George, Utah. (Burns Arena)
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
SCOUTING UTAH TECH: The Utah Tech Trailblazers have played two Big Sky Conference teams already, splitting their games against Northern Arizona and Weber State. The Trailblazers beat NAU, 78-73, at home on Nov. 8, while they lost 82-76 on the road against Weber State this past Saturday. The Trailblazers also beat Omaha out of The Summit League, 62-56, at home on Nov. 12. The Trailblazers came into the season picked to finish sixth in the seven-team Western Athletic Conference (WAC). They returned four starters off a 2024-25 team that went 6-25 overall and 1-15 in the WAC. Paige Cofer, Brie Crittendon, Chardonnay Hartley and Ellie Taylor represented the four returning starters. Kaylee Borden, a redshirt senior transfer after four years at Nevada, leads both Utah Tech and the WAC with 18.3 points per game. Maddie Warren, who missed all of last season with an injury but was an All-WAC second-team selection for Utah Tech in 2023-24, ranks second on the team with 13.0 points per game. Hartley also averages in double figures with 10.3 points per game, while Crittendon averages 7.7 points and a team-best 7.3 rebounds per game. The strength of the Trailblazers has come from their interior defense. They rank second in the WAC and 15th nationally with 6.7 blocks per game as a team. Lauren Crocker ranks second in the WAC and sixth nationally with 3.33 blocks per game individually, Calyn Dallas, meanwhile, ranks fifth in the WAC with 1.33 blocks per game. Offensively, the Trailblazers rank third in the WAC with 72.0 points per game. They shoot a lot of threes – 27.0 attempts per game, ranking them third in the WAC and 25th nationally – while taking care of the ball. They rank second in the WAC and 56th nationally while only giving up 13.3 turnovers per game. Their turnover margin of +4.67 also ranks them fourth in the WAC and 94th nationally.
ALL-TIME SERIES: The Vikings have won both of their previous meetings against the Trailblazers between a 63-53 road victory on Dec. 16, 2020, and an 80-52 home victory on Nov. 12, 2021.
 
QUICK HITTERS
Recent Results

• The Vikings dropped two games in Colorado earlier this week, losing 77-45 to Colorado on Sunday, and 65-55 to Air Force Tuesday.
• The Vikings committed 20+ turnovers in both games in Colorado. They committed 27 turnovers against the Buffaloes, then followed up with 20 turnovers against Air Force. The Vikings were a combined minus-19 in the turnover battle across both games.
• The Vikings outshot (.432-to-.406) and out-rebounded (33-to-31) Air Force Tuesday, and made more free throws (16-to-5). But the Falcons won thanks to a sizable three-point discrepancy. Air Force made seven more field goals than the Vikings in Tuesday's game, and all seven of those were three-pointers as they out-shot the Vikings 8-to-1 from beyond the arc.
• Air Force earned significantly more possessions than the Vikings Tuesday. The Falcons had 64 field goal attempts in the game compared to 44 for the Vikings. That was due to being +9 in turnovers and +5 in offensive rebounds.
• The Vikings assisted on only seven of their 19 field goals against Air Force Tuesday. They had 20 assists on 38 field goals in their win over Willamette on Nov. 11 but have recorded fewer than 10 assists in their other three games.

 
Players
#12 Kyleigh Brown

• Sophomore guard Kyleigh Brown has scored in double figures in 10 straight games between the first four games of this season and the last six games of last season.
• Brown had her lowest scoring output of the season with 10 points against Air Force Tuesday. Brown's best game this season came against Willamette on Nov. 11 when she set career highs for points (24), field goals (9, tied), three-pointers (4) and assists (4, tied).
• Brown leads the Vikings with 15.5 points per game, an average that ranks her eighth in the Big Sky Conference.
• Brown also ranks in the top 10 of the Big Sky Conference in both three-pointers made and percentage. She ranks tied for fifth in the Big Sky while making 50.0 percent of her shots from three-point range. She stands tied for sixth in the conference with 2.25 three-pointers made per game.
• Brown is 7-for-7 from the free-throw line this season. She has made 18 straight free throws going back to last year.
• Brown accounts for most of the Vikings' three-point shooting this season. While she's 9-for-18 (.500) from three-point range, the rest of the team is a combined 6-for-36 (.167).
• Brown was the OSAA 5A State Player of the Year as a senior at Silverton High School when she led her team to the 5A state title in 2024.

 
#9 Hannah Chicken

• Freshman Hannah Chicken has scored 11 points in each of the last two games, originally setting her career high against Colorado Sunday, then matching it against Air Force Tuesday. Chicken also tied her career high with eight rebounds against the Falcons.
• Chicken is 10-of-14 (.714) from the field over the Vikings' last two games. She went 5-of-6 from the field against Colorado Sunday, then nearly matched that against Air Force, going 5-of-8.
• Chicken leads the Vikings with 6.0 rebounds per game, ranking her tied for eighth in the Big Sky Conference. She also ranks tied for ninth in the conference with 4.25 defensive rebounds per game.
• Chicken is one of three Australians on the Vikings' roster, joining Kailee Field from Brisbane and Taylor Moffat from Mount Barker, Australia. Chicken is from Taree, Australia.

 
#5 Ajae Yoakum

• Ajae Yoakum scored 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field while adding six rebounds and a career-high-tying three blocks in the Vikings' win over Willamette on Nov. 11.
• Against the Vikings' three NCAA Division I opponents, Yoakum is averaging 5.0 points per game on .353 shooting to go with 4.0 rebounds per game.
• Yoakum ranks tied for 10th in the Big Sky with 0.75 blocks per game. She also ranks 12th in the conference while playing 29.8 minutes per game.
• Yoakum is finishing her career in her native Portland after previous stops at Eastern Arizona (2020-22), FIU (2022-24) and Arizona (2024-25). She won an Oregon 6A State title in 2019 with her Portland State teammate Cici Ellington when both were at Benson Polytechnic High School.
• Yoakum needs six more points to reach 1,000 across her entire collegiate career.

 
#11 Laynee Torres-Kahapea

• Laynee Torres-Kahapea – despite being just five-feet, six-inches tall – has recorded at least four rebounds in each of the first four games of the season. Torres-Kahapea tied her career high with six rebounds in the Vikings' season opener at Hawai'i, then reset it with seven rebounds against Willamette on Nov. 11.
• Torres-Kahapea ranks 11th in the Big Sky Conference with 5.75 rebounds per game. She also ranks fifth in the conference with 5.00 defensive rebounds per game.
• Torres-Kahapea ranks seventh in the conference in free throw percentage (.813). She's 13-for-16 from the line this season, after going 8-for-10 against Hawai'i on Nov. 4, and then 5-for-6 against Air Force Tuesday.
• In her first game back in her native Hawai'i, Torres-Kahapea – the 2023 Hawai'i State Gatorade Player of the Year – scored a career-high 22 points while also setting career highs for field goals (6), field goal percentage (.750), free throws (8) and rebounds (6, since broken). She hasn't scored more than seven points in any of the other three games for the Vikings, however.
• Torres-Kahapea ranks seventh in the Big Sky with 31.9 minutes played per game. That's actually down from last season when she led the conference with 35.8 minutes per game.

 
#4 Sophie Buzzard

• Freshman Sophie Buzzard scored 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting in her collegiate debut against Hawai'i on Nov. 4. Her 20 points were the most by a Viking freshman in their first collegiate game since Esmeralda Morales opened with 32 points against Warner Pacific on Nov. 9, 2022.
• She hasn't scored in double figures in any game since the season opener. She's 4-of-14 (.286) from the field over the team's last three games when she's averaging 5.33 points per game.
• Buzzard has the most free throw attempts of anyone on the team. She's 13-of-19 from the line this season, giving her an average of 4.75 attempts per game.

 
#8 Cici Ellington

• After initially being denied an extra year of eligibility, Cici Ellington won her appeal and made her season debut against Willamette on Nov. 11.
• While Ellington has yet to go off scoring wise – averaging just 4.0 points on 33.3 percent shooting from the field – she's filled the stat sheet in other ways. She's averaging 4.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks per game this season.
• Ellington played for the Vikings last year, marking her return from a two-year injury absence that plagued her at Grambling State (2021-24). Ellington also played two years at Loyola Marymount (2019-21).
• Ellington was a West Coast Conference All-Freshman Team selection at Loyola Marymount following the 2019-20 season.
• Ellington was named the OSAA 6A State Co-Player of the Year in 2019, sharing the award with future NCAA national champion and Los Angeles Sparks player Cameron Brink. Ellington and her Benson Polytechnic High School team – that included fellow Viking Ajae Yoakum – beat Brink and two-time defending champion Southridge in the 2019 state championship game.

 
#10 Kirstine Munk

• Kirstine Munk set PSU/Division I career highs for points (11), rebounds (6), assists (2), and steals (2) in the Vikings' loss to Air Force Tuesday. She was 3-for-5 from the field against the Falcons, and 5-for-5 from the free throw line.
• Munk has started the first four games of the season for the Vikings, recording the first four Division I starts of her career. Munk started 26 of 28 games while at Central Arizona, a junior college, during the 2023-24 season.

 
#23 Taylor Moffat

• Taylor Moffat returned from an 11-month injury absence to play 14 minutes in the Vikings' season opener at Hawai'i on Nov. 4. She returned to the scoring column against Willamette on Nov. 11, finishing with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting to go with two rebounds and three assists.
• Moffat leads the Vikings with 2.0 assists per game.
• Moffat had been out since tearing her ACL in the Vikings' game against Denver on Dec. 7, 2024.

 
Additional Players

• Katelyn Best scored a career-high 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field against Willamette last Tuesday. Best was scoreless against Hawai'i and Colorado, however.
• The Vikings only had 10 players dressed for their season opener at Hawai'i on Nov. 4. They're had 11 players dress in their three games since then, but they're still without Jamia Carter, Kailee Field and Ryme Jaekel due to injury.

 
Team Tendencies/Stats

• The Vikings rank third in the Big Sky and 109th nationally with a .441 field goal percentage. They shot 55.9 percent (38-of-68) against Willamette on Nov. 11, the team's best shooting percentage since Feb. 4, 2023, when they shot 60.4 percent against Eastern Washington. The Vikings shot 43.2 percent (19-of-44) against Air Force Tuesday, their best mark against an NCAA Division I opponent so far this season.
• The Vikings out-scored Air Force 32-28 in the paint Tuesday. They're averaging 36.5 points per game this season, which amounts to 57.9 percent of the Vikings' total scoring average of 63.0 points per game. Comparatively, the Vikings averaged only 25.6 points per game in the paint last season, which was 45.9 percent of the team's total points per game.
• The Vikings have won the rebounding battle in two of their four games this season, while they finished tied in one of the other two. That's a significant improvement over last season, when the Vikings were out-rebounded in all but six games. The Vikings rank seventh in the Big Sky in rebounding margin (+0.75), after ranking last in the Big Sky a year ago (-6.33). The Vikings haven't finished a season with a positive rebounding margin since 2018-19.
• Six of the 11 players who have appeared in a game for the Vikings this season average at least 3.0 rebounds per game. That list includes Hannah Chicken (6.0 rebounds per game), Laynee Torres-Kahapea (5.8), Ajae Yoakum (4.5), Kyleigh Brown (3.8), Kirstine Munk (3.3) and Cici Ellington (3.0).
• The Vikings rank last in the Big Sky in three-pointers made per game (3.75), while they rank ninth in the conference in percentage (.278). Opponents have made more three-pointers than the Vikings in all four games so far this season.
• The back-to-back games with 20+ turnovers in Colorado earlier in the week dropped the Vikings to last in the Big Sky in turnover margin (-4.75). The Vikings have lost the turnover battle in all but their game against Willamette on Nov. 11. In their three games against NCAA Division I opponents, the Vikings have an average turnover margin of minus-8.33.
• The Vikings rank fourth in the Big Sky while making 73.9 percent of their shots from the foul line. The Vikings are averaging 17.25 free throw attempts per game, four more than they averaged last season (13.2).

 
Coaching Staff

• Karlie Burris earned the first win of her head coaching career in last Tuesday's 89-52 victory over Willamette.
• Burris is 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).
• Burris outlined three areas of focus for the Vikings this season: 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.
• 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."
• Assistant coach Raina Perez is a former finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award, which honors the nation's best point guard. She made the finalist list while at NC State where she was part of runs to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

 
General/Preseason Info

• 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. Ellington and 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.
• The Vikings signed a five-player recruiting class last week that features the 2025 Hawai'i State Gatorade Player of the Year in Nihoa Dunn. She'll join Torres-Kahapea, who won the award in 2023, in giving the Vikings two Hawai'i State Gatorade Players of the Year on the roster next season. Dunn is also one of two state champions in the Vikings' recruiting class along with Alex Padilla, who won an Oregon 6A state title with Tualatin High School. Emma Zuniga represents a second Oregon product in the recruiting class, while Liv Collins and Aspen McClees will join the Vikings from Sumner, Wash., and Gilbert, Ariz., respectively.