BOISE, Idaho — Down 47-41 with less than four minutes remaining in its Big Sky tournament first-round game against Northern Colorado, the Portland State women's basketball team got a three-pointer from Laynee Torres-Kahapea followed immediately by a steal-and-score from Cici Ellington.
 
That cut the deficit to one. The Vikings would get back within one two other times in the final moments, but couldn't get ever go in front, eventually losing 53-50 to the Bears Saturday at Idaho Central Arena. The loss ends the Vikings' 2024-25 season.
 
"Not the outcome we had hoped for or that we believed could happen. I thought we played well enough to have that game. Just some key moments where we weren't able to convert or get the stops that we needed to," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said after the game.
 
"I'm really proud of this team for the fight that they showed. We could have come in and not fought at all and just wanted the season to be over, and I don't think that was the case."
 
Kyleigh Brown hit an elbow jumper to cut the deficit to one with 35.7 seconds remaining. The Vikings (4-24) opted not to foul the Bears (14-16), instead forcing a missed three-pointer to give them the ball back with 11 seconds and a chance to go ahead.
 
A costly turnover on a deep lob into the paint gave the ball back to the Bears, who hit two clutch free throws to go up by three. The Vikings got the ball up the court quickly and had a look at a corner three from Lana Wenger at the buzzer, but it went long.
 
"We were looking to get Rhema [Ogele] open and it was just a tough pass," Gregg said of the late turnover. "We know it doesn't come down to one possession or one play. We could have made a shot earlier or in the third quarter, or could have stopped a run a little bit earlier.
 
"We got a great look at the end [Lana's three], especially for not having a timeout. I thought our players executed well. It just didn't go in."
 
A 9-0 run for the Bears earlier in the fourth quarter put them in the driver's seat late. The Vikings led 41-38 after Rhema Ogele hit a second-chance layup with 8:53 remaining in the game. But the Bears answered with nine straight points while holding the Vikings scoreless for over five minutes.
 
Northern Colorado's Gabi Fields hit a three-pointer with 6:22 remaining that gave the Bears a 47-41 lead. That was the Bear's fourth three-pointer out of their previous five attempts. The Vikings held the Bears to just 2-of-16 outside of that stretch, but it was critical enough to make a difference.
 
The Vikings countered with a number of second-chance opportunities late. That was a credit to Ogele, who recorded four of her six offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter. Ogele finished with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting to go with nine rebounds in what will be her last game as a Viking.
 
"Playing with a sense of urgency, knowing that whatever I do, this could be my last one, so going hard was my mentality every time I stepped onto the court," Ogele said of her final game.
 
Brown and Ogele had the hot hand for the Vikings early. When Ogele hit a layup on the Vikings' opening possession of the second quarter, the Vikings led 18-11 and both Brown (4-for-4) and Ogele (3-for-3) were perfect from the floor.
 
The Bears responded with an 11-1 run to go in front 22-19. Both teams went cold from there, making just three field goals combined over the final five minutes of the first half. Six lead changes in the third quarter then set up the tight finish.
 
Turnovers limited both teams' offense at times. The Vikings won the turnover battle 19-17, with UNC's 19 turnovers one off the most by a PSU opponent this season. Eleven of the Bears' 19 turnovers came in the second half, including a couple shot-clock violations in the fourth quarter that helped spur the Vikings' late comeback.
 
Brown finished with a game-high 14 points to go with three rebounds and three steals. Ellington scored eight of her 12 points in the second half to match Ogele for second on the team. She finished 5-of-7 from the field.
 
Torres-Kahapea had a low scoring game with three points, but tied her career high with five assists to go with six rebounds. Wenger rounded out the Vikings' scoring with nine points.
 
The Vikings now head into the offseason looking to ensure Saturday's painful end doesn't happen next season.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings fell to 12-27 all-time against the Bears with Saturday's loss…This was only the second time the teams had faced each other in the Big Sky tournament, with the teams now 1-1 against each other at the tournament…The Vikings outshot the Bears .407-to-.391, but were outscored from three-point range (6-to-2) and from the free throw line (11-to-4).
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