ST. GEORGE, Utah — The Portland State women's basketball outscored Utah Tech by 10 points over the final three quarters Saturday, but a poor first quarter proved the difference as the Trailblazers beat the Vikings 71-63 at Burns Arena.
 
The Trailblazers (3-1) led 28-10 after the opening quarter at which point they were outshooting the Vikings (1-4) .647-to-.222.
 
But the Vikings turned it around from there, winning the second quarter by eight, then getting as close as three points down in the third quarter. Kyleigh Brown scored 23 of her career-high 26 points after the opening 10 minutes. Hannah Chicken finished with her own career high of 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while Cici Ellington went into double figures for the first time this season with 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting.
 
"It took a little too long to settle in. In that first quarter, I didn't think we were executing the scouting report against shooters, giving them way too many at the three-point line. Spotting them 18 points was hard to come back from," Portland State head coach Karlie Burris said afterwards.
 
"In between the first and second quarters, we just reemphasized the scouting report and what they needed to do to adjust. We know they wanted to shoot, and we needed to close out better. Go back to our principles and do what the scout said."
 
Burris will lament the slow start against the Trailblazers. It's been a common theme for the Vikings, who have trailed after the opening quarter in all four of their games against Division I opponents this season.
 
A better start against the Trailblazers Saturday and it's likely a different game over the final three quarters.
 
"We talked about how we needed a fast start tonight. Clearly that didn't happen. We'll make some adjustments and see how we can get the team going. But the message is, it starts on the defensive end, and we can't give up that many points to start a game," Burris said of the Vikings' slow start.
 
To the Vikings' credit, they got themselves back in the game with possibly their best quarter of the season in the second. After shooting just 22.2 percent in the first quarter, the Vikings shot 60.0 percent (9-of-15) from the field in the second. Brown got going with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting in the period. Chicken scored six points on 3-of-4 shooting, while Ellington scored seven of her 10 points in the second quarter while also contributing two rebounds and two steals.
 
Defensively, the Vikings also held the Trailblazers to 27.8 percent (5-of-18) from the field in the second quarter.
 
Brown continued her hot streak out of halftime, scoring 10 of the Vikings' 18 points in the period. Eight of the Vikings' points in the third quarter also came from the free throw line. Brown made two free throws while Laynee Torres-Kahapea went 6-for-6 from the line in the period.
 
Torres-Kahapea's free throws with 6:28 remaining got the Vikings back within three at 44-41. The Vikings followed with a stop to give themselves a possession in which they could have tied the game. But a turnover gave the ball back to the Trailblazers and the Vikings wouldn't get any closer than five points the rest of the way.
 
The Trailblazers hit some timely three-pointers to stay in front of the Vikings, including one after the Vikings cut it to a three-point game. They hit another to stretch a six-point lead to nine with 3:29 remaining in the third quarter, then a third that put them up double digits again at 67-55 with 5:16 remaining in the fourth.
 
The Vikings held the Trailblazers to 28.6 percent (8-for-28) from three-point range, but their eight makes meant the Trailblazers were +18 from three-point range as the Vikings only made two three-pointers.
 
The Vikings countered with Brown, whose 26 points surpassed the career high she set against Willamette on Nov. 11 earlier this season. Brown has now scored in double figures in all five games this season, as well as 11 straight overall going back to last season.
 
Brown's 26 points came on 11-of-22 shooting from the field, while she added six rebounds as well.
 
"I can't say enough about Kyleigh. She's continued to mature and grow in her role. I still don't think she knows how good she can be. She can score at will. She gets fouled a lot but has such body control that it doesn't get called a lot. We've talked about playing through stuff and what we can control. But she's just going to continue to get better and she's going to need to be big for us," Burris said of Brown.
 
Chicken has now scored in double figures in three straight games. She had 11 points against Colorado and Air Force, but surpassed both of those with her total Saturday.
 
"Hannah's still learning our style and system. She's just going to continue to get better. We'll look for ways for her to be effective because she can score in different areas of the court. We're excited about Hannah and that she's giving us some consistency," Burris said.
 
Torres-Kahapea set a career high with nine rebounds while Ajae Yoakum set a season high with seven.
 
The Vikings will return to Viking Pavilion for their next three games, starting with two over Thanksgiving weekend. The Vikings will host San Jose State Friday (5 p.m.) and UC San Diego Sunday (2 p.m.).
 
And if the Vikings carry over their final three quarters against the Trailblazers, then it could be a happy Thanksgiving.
 
"We're getting better. Maybe not as fast as we'd like, but we're improving. Execution has to be huge for us. That starts with the scouting report. We talked about putting four quarters together and starting better. We just built ourselves too big of a hole today. We just need more consistent effort," Burris said.
 
Game Notes:

• Saturday's loss to Utah Tech was the Vikings' first in three meetings with the Trailblazers. Utah Tech will join the Big Sky Conference as a full member beginning with the 2026-27 season.
• The Vikings were minus-2 (19-17) in the turnover battle with the Trailblazers, who outscored the Vikings 22-14 in points off turnovers.
• The Trailblazers won the rebounding battle, 38-37, though the Vikings had a 9-7 advantage in second-chance points.

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