Vikings Look for Better Start Saturday against Northern Arizona to Close Out Road Trip

TIPOFF
Whether by chugging coffee or eating a bigger breakfast, the Portland State women's basketball team will look for a better start Saturday as the Vikings hope to return to the win column when they tip off at 1 p.m. PT / 2 p.m. MT against Northern Arizona.

A slow start – a familiar thorn in the Vikings' side this season – cost the Vikings in an 80-60 loss to Northern Colorado Thursday. The Bears led 23-7 after the opening quarter due to earning a batch of extra possession thanks to eight offensive rebounds and six PSU turnovers all in the first quarter.

It was the fifth time this season that the Vikings have trailed by 10 or more points after the opening quarter. The Vikings head into Saturday's game having been outscored by 5.1 points per game over the opening quarter of games this season. The problem has been more pronounced on the road where opponents are scoring 8.4 more points per game than the Vikings in the first quarter.

The Vikings will need a better start against a Northern Arizona offense that features the Big Sky's top scorer in Naomi White. The redshirt freshman leads the conference and ranks eighth nationally with 22.4 points per game. She also tops the conference in both three-pointers per game (3.22) and three-point percentage (.403). Her 3.22 three-pointers per game rank her fifth nationally.

All of that helps fuel an NAU offense that ranks fourth in the conference in scoring with 71.2 points per game.

The Vikings can't afford to fall behind early against the Lumberjacks, then. Protecting the basketball will be key in that regard. That was an issue early and throughout Thursday's game against Northern Colorado. The Vikings finished minus-12 (24-to-12) in the turnover battle Thursday, which led to a 31-7 advantage in points off turnovers for Northern Colorado.

The Lumberjacks come into Saturday ranked third in the Big Sky with 10.0 steals per game while also ranking fourth with 19.0 turnovers forced per game.

The Vikings will need to be even or ahead in terms of possessions Saturday. That's been a struggle of late. Sacramento State had 16 more field goal attempts than the Vikings last Saturday, a key advantage in what was a close, 68-64 victory for the Hornets. Thursday, the Bears finished with 18 more field goal attempts than the Vikings.

Overall this season, opponents are averaging 6.0 more field goal attempts than the Vikings this season. Portland State is 4-0 when they have more field goal attempts than their opponents but are 1-11 when they finish with the same or fewer attempts.

The deficit in terms of possessions has helped neutralize one of the Vikings' biggest recent improvements, which has been their shooting numbers. The Vikings rank third in the Big Sky with a .413 field goal percentage in Big Sky play. They've outshot all four Big Sky opponents so far during the conference season, while they've shot better than 40 percent in three of their four conference games. But despite that improvement, the Vikings are just 1-3 in Big Sky play heading into Saturday.

Fortunately, Saturday's game figures to have a lot of possessions. While the Lumberjacks represent a high-scoring offense, they also give up a lot of points. They rank last in the Big Sky with 73.6 points per game allowed. That's good news for the Vikings who are 4-0 this season when they score at least 70 points versus 1-11 when they fail to score at least 70 points.

Individually, Kyleigh Brown continues to lead the Vikings with 18.1 points per game. Northern Colorado held her to a season-low 10 points Thursday. Hannah Chicken, the Vikings' second-leading scorer with 11.1 points per game, also struggled her way to 10 points Thursday.

Ajae Yoakum nearly posted a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds Thursday, while also leading the Vikings with three assists. She has recorded 10+ rebounds in two straight games and four of the last eight games during which time she's averaging 9.9 rebounds per game.

Jamia Carter led the Vikings' second unit Thursday, setting season highs for points (9), rebounds (4) and minutes (22). Taylor Moffat also tied her season highs for points (9) and rebounds (4) Thursday.

The Vikings will look to those players to give them a spark Saturday. Call them the Vikings' fire starters, as the Vikings look to get their campfire lit a little faster than they did Thursday.

GAME #16: PORTLAND STATE (5-11, 1-3) vs. NORTHERN ARIZONA (6-12, 2-3)
GAME DETAILS: Saturday, Jan. 17, 1 p.m. PT / 2 p.m. MT, Flagstaff, Ariz., (Findlay Toyota Court)
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
SCOUTING NORTHERN ARIZONA: The Northern Arizona Lumberjacks opened Big Sky play with an 81-72 win over Montana on Jan. 1, extending what was a four-game win streak at the time for the Lumberjacks. That included a 71-68 road win over a UC San Diego team that beat the Vikings at home on Nov. 30. The Lumberjacks added a second conference win with a 71-58 road victory at Weber State on Jan. 8. They've dropped two in a row since then, however, losing at Idaho State, 59-46, last Saturday, and then at home against Sacramento State, 78-59, Thursday. The Lumberjacks have largely a brand-new team this season under first-year head coach Laura Dinkins. The Lumberjacks have been one of the top offenses within the Big Sky Conference this season. They rank fourth in the conference in scoring offense with 71.2 points per game. They lead the conference and rank 65th nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.342) while they rank fourth in the Big Sky in three-pointers per game (7.1). Individually, Naomi White fuels the Lumberjacks' offense. The redshirt freshman, who followed Dinkins over from Grand Canyon, leads the Big Sky Conference and ranks eighth nationally with 22.4 points per game. She also tops the conference in both three-pointers per game (3.22) and three-point percentage (.403). Her 3.22 three-pointers per game rank her fifth nationally. Additionally, White and Audrey Taylor have heled the Lumberjacks rank third in the conference with 10.0 steals per game as a team. White and Taylor rank eighth and 10th in the conference individually with 2.11 and 2.06 steals per game, respectively. No Lumberjack averages in double figures outside of White. Madison Watts ranks second on the team with 8.6 points per game, while Taylor ranks third at 8.1. Watts leads the Lumberjacks with 6.4 rebounds per game.
ALL-TIME SERIES: The Vikings lead the all-time series between them and the Lumberjacks, 32-29. The Lumberjacks have won four in a row in the series as well as six of the last eight. The Vikings' last win in the series came when they swept the season series during the 2022-23 season. That included a 78-66 win in Flagstaff on Jan. 12, 2023.

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The Vikings fell 80-60 at Northern Colorado Thursday. It was their third straight loss after opening Big Sky play with a 68-58 win over Weber State on Jan. 1.
Northern Colorado led 23-7 after the first quarter Thursday. It was the fifth time this season that the Vikings have trailed by 10 or more points after the opening quarter. The Vikings never got closer than 15 points down the rest of the way.
Northern Colorado had 13 more field goal attempts than the Vikings in the first quarter Thursday. That was due to eight offensive rebounds for the Bears and six PSU turnovers.
Northern Colorado outshot the Vikings 11-to-0 from three-point range Thursday. The Bears went 11-for-28 (.393) from three-point range while the Vikings were 0-for-12 (.000).
The Vikings outshot the Bears .440-to-.412 despite the loss. The Vikings have outshot all four of their Big Sky opponents so far, even though three of those four games were losses.
The Vikings finished Thursday's game minus-12 in the turnover battle (24-to-12). As a result, the Bears outscored the Vikings 31-7 in points off turnovers, the biggest discrepancy against the Vikings this season.
The Vikings out-rebounded the Bears 39-to-35 despite being minus-eight at the end of the first quarter. They out-rebounded them 33-to-21 after the opening quarter.
Kyleigh Brown and Hannah Chicken both extended their double-digit scoring streaks by the skin of their teeth, scoring 10 points each Thursday at Northern Colorado. Brown has now scored in double figures in 22 straight games while Chicken has done so in eight straight.
Ajae Yoakum led the Vikings in rebounds (10) and assists (3) Thursday while scoring eight points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field Thursday. She's recorded 10+ rebounds in two straight games and four of the last eight. She's averaging 9.9 rebounds per game over the team's last eight games.

Team Tendencies/Miscellany

Opponents are averaging 6.0 more field goal attempts per game than the Vikings. The Vikings are 4-0 when they record more field goal attempts than their opponent this season versus 1-11 when they finish with the same or fewer attempts.
The Vikings go into Saturday's game at Northern Arizona having lost 23 straight Big Sky road games. The Vikings' last conference road victory came at Eastern Washington, 80-71, on Feb. 4, 2023.
The Vikings are outscoring opponents by 2.3 points per game in the fourth quarter this season. That includes a pair of fourth-quarter comebacks as the Vikings erased six-point and eight-point deficits in wins over Kansas City (Dec. 6) and Weber State (Jan. 1), respectively. The Vikings have been outscored in all other quarters.
The Vikings lead the Big Sky Conference in both free throws made (15.7) and attempted (21.7) per game this season. Their 21.7 attempts per game are 5.1 more per game than their opponents.
The Vikings have been outscored by an average of 5.1 points per game in the opening quarter this season. It's even more pronounced on the road where the Vikings have been outscored by 8.4 points per game in the opening quarter. The Vikings are 4-1 when leading after the first quarter this season versus 1-10 when they're trailing.
Opponents are outscoring the Vikings by an average of 8.25 points per game in the first half this season.
The Vikings are outshooting their opponents within Big Sky play, .413-to-.384. They've topped 40 percent in their last three games after only doing so five times within non-conference play. The Vikings rank third in the Big Sky for field goal percentage in Big Sky play. They ranked eighth through non-conference play.
The Vikings have only outshot their opponent from three-point range three times this season. They're 2-1 in those three games. The Vikings rank last in the Big Sky with 4.38 three-pointers per game this season.
The Vikings have attempted at least 20 free throws in 10 of 16 games this season, including a season-high 40 against Kansas City on Dec. 6. For comparison's sake, the Vikings only had four games with 20+ free throws last season.
The Vikings have won the rebounding battle in eight of 16 games this season, while they finished tied with their opponent four other times. That's a significant improvement over last season, when the Vikings were out-rebounded in all but six games.
The Vikings rank sixth in the Big Sky in total rebounds per game (38.2) as well as sixth in rebounding margin (+0.94). The Vikings haven't finished a season with a positive rebounding margin since they finished the 2018-19 season at +1.0.
The Vikings are 4-0 when they score 70 points or more this season versus 1-11 when they fail to score 70 points.
The Vikings are 4-1 when winning the turnover battle versus 1-10 when they lose it. The Vikings rank eighth in the Big Sky in turnovers per game (17.8), ninth in turnovers forced per game (13.7) and 10th in turnover margin (-4.06).
The Vikings are still 5-1 when holding their opponent below 40 percent versus 0-10 when their opponent shoots over 40 percent.
Five different players average at least 4.0 rebounds per game for the Vikings this season. That list includes Ajae Yoakum (7.0), Cici Ellington (5.9), Hannah Chicken (5.9), Kyleigh Brown (4.1) and Laynee Torres-Kahapea (4.1).
The Vikings' five wins this season have all come on different days of the week. The Vikings are 1-2 on Tuesday, 1-1 on Wednesday, 1-1 on Thursday, 1-0 on Friday, 1-4 on Saturday and 0-3 on Sunday.

Players
#12 Kyleigh Brown

Sophomore guard Kyleigh Brown has scored in double figures in 22 straight games, the longest such streak by any player over the last 20 seasons at Portland State. She's scored 20+ six times this season.
Brown leads the Vikings with 18.1 points per game this season, ranking her third in the Big Sky and 50th nationally. She has the potential to become the first Viking to average more than 20 points per game since Stacey Liebl during the 1986-87 season.
Brown leads the Big Sky and ranks ninth nationally with a .908 (69-for-76) free throw percentage. That's just off the single-season program record that Esmeralda Morales set at .913 during the 2021-22 season.
Brown ranks 14th in the conference with 1.38 three-pointers made per game. She's shooting 41.5 percent (22-for-53) from three-point range this season.
Brown ranks sixth in the Big Sky in field goal percentage (.440).
Brown is averaging a career-best 4.1 rebounds per game, nearly one more per game than she averaged as a freshman.
Brown leads the Vikings while ranking 10th in the Big Sky with 31.3 minutes played per game.
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.

#8 Cici Ellington

Cici Ellington has two double-doubles in the team's last six games. She recorded 14 points and 11 rebounds against Idaho State on Jan. 3. Her first double-double came against Seattle U on Dec. 17, when she led the Vikings with 18 points and 14 rebounds. That was her first double-double since Jan. 8, 2022, when she was playing at Grambling State.
Ellington had scored 10+ points in three of the Vikings' last five games before being held to two points on 1-for-8 shooting at Northern Colorado Thursday.
Ellington set a career high with 16 rebounds against Weber State on Jan. 1, recording the most rebounds by a Viking since Pia Jurhar had 16 against Multnomah on Nov. 25, 2017.
Ellington ranks 15th in the Big Sky Conference with 5.93 rebounds per game. She also ranks 15th in offensive rebounds per game (1.73).
Ellington's average of 9.1 points per game this season is her best since her true sophomore season at Loyola Marymount when she averaged 9.3 points per game.
Ellington is 10 points away from reaching 1,000 points over her entire collegiate career. She is also 21 rebounds away from reaching 500 in her career.
Ellington ranks tied for 10th in the Big Sky with 0.80 blocks per game.
Ellington played her first two years at Loyola Marymount (2019-21) before transferring to Grambling State (2021-24). She played 19 games at Grambling during the 2021-22 season but then missed all but one game over the next two years due to injury. She returned from the injury absence while playing for the Vikings last season, when she averaged 6.7 points per game. She was granted a rare seventh year for COVID and medical hardship.
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.

#9 Hannah Chicken

Freshman Hannah Chicken scored in double figures for the eighth straight game and 12th out of the last 14 with 10 points against Northern Colorado Thursday.
Chicken ranks second on the team with 11.1 points per game. That would be the best average by a PSU freshman since Esmeralda Morales averaged 12.5 points per game during the 2021-22 season.
Chicken leads the Vikings with a .500 field goal percentage this season. She's shot 60.0 percent or better in seven games this season.
Chicken ranks second on the team in free throw percentage while shooting 82.2 percent (37-for-45) from the line. She doesn't meet the minimum requirements of 2.5 makes per game in order to be ranked statistically, however.
Chicken ranks tied for 10th in the Big Sky with 2.13 offensive rebounds per game.
Chicken is 4-for-5 (.800) from three-point range over the Vikings' last three games. She went 3-for-4 from distance against Idaho State on Jan. 3, then went 1-for-1 against Sacramento State last Saturday. She didn't have an attempt Thursday at Northern Colorado.
Chicken recorded the first double-double of her career with 15 points and 10 rebounds against Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 13. She nearly had a second with 17 points and nine rebounds against Weber State on Jan. 1.
Head coach Karlie Burris said of Chicken after a game during the first month of the season: "She's at the beginning of how good she's going to be."
Chicken and fellow freshman Sophie Buzzard are roommates, making for a very bird-friendly dorm room at Portland State University.
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 led the Vikings in rebounds (10) and assists (3) Thursday at Northern Colorado, while also chipping in eight points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field.
Yoakum recorded 10+ rebounds four times this season, all of which have come in the last eight games when she's averaging 9.9 rebounds per game.
Yoakum has two double-doubles this season. The first came with 11 points and 14 rebounds (tying a career high) against Kansas City on Dec. 6. The second came with 10 points and 12 rebounds against Seattle U on Dec. 17. Both double-doubles came in Portland State wins.
Yoakum leads the Vikings while ranking 10th in the Big Sky Conference with 7.00 rebounds per game. She also ranks eighth in offensive (2.71) and 12th in defensive (4.29) rebounds per game.
Yoakum ranks tied for second on the team with 2.0 assists per game. That's a career-best average for Yoakum.
Yoakum reached 1,000-career points over her entire collegiate career (including junior college points) with a field goal late in the third quarter against San Jose State on Nov. 28.
Yoakum scored a season-high 20 points on 9-for-12 shooting from the field to go with a career high-tying three blocks in the Vikings' win over Willamette on Nov. 11.
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.

#11 Laynee Torres-Kahapea

Laynee Torres-Kahapea tied her career high with three three-pointers against Seattle U on Dec. 17 while finishing with 13 points, five rebounds and five assists. She's averaging just 2.8 points per game in the five games since then, however.
Torres-Kahapea – despite being just five-feet, six-inches tall – is averaging a career-best 4.1 rebounds per game. That's 1.3 more per game than her previous career-best average (2.8 as a sophomore).
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).
Torres-Kahapea ranks second on the team with 13 made three-pointers this season while shooting 13-for-47 (.277) from beyond the arc.
Torres-Kahapea leads the Vikings while ranking 15th in the Big Sky with 2.50 assists per game. She had a career-high seven assists against San Jose State on Nov. 28.

#23 Taylor Moffat

Taylor Moffat tied her season highs for points (9) and rebounds (4) while going 3-for-4 from the field against Northern Colorado Thursday.
Moffat went 8-for-16 (.500) from three-point range between Dec. 3-17 but is 1-for-9 from three-point range over her last five games.
Moffat set a PSU career high with seven assists in the Vikings' game against Idaho State on Jan. 3.
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 had been out since tearing her ACL in the Vikings' game against Denver on Dec. 7, 2024.

#4 Sophie Buzzard

Freshman Sophie Buzzard recorded one of her better all-around games at Sacramento State last Saturday, totaling nine points, three rebounds, two steals and two blocks. She followed up with just three points at Northern Colorado Thursday.
Buzzard ranks fourth on the team in both free throws made (27) and attempted (40) this season.
Buzzard scored 20 points on 7-for-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.
Buzzard and fellow freshman Hannah Chicken are roommates, making for a very bird-friendly dorm room at Portland State University.

Additional Players

Jamia Carter set season highs for points (9), rebounds (4) and minutes played (22) in Thursday's game at Northern Colorado. Carter missed the first nine games of the season after suffering a knee injury last February. She's averaging 2.3 points and 8.0 minutes per game since her return.
Kirstine Munk started the first nine games of the season for the Vikings before coming off the bench for every game since. She's averaging 2.1 points and 2.1 rebounds per game this season.
Katelyn Best scored a career-high 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field against Willamette on Nov. 11. She's averaging 1.4 points per game this season.
Alani Encinas started the first two games of the season. She's only appeared in seven of the 14 games since then, however, while averaging 5.9 minutes played per game this season.

Coaching Staff

Karlie Burris earned the first win of her head coaching career with an 89-52 victory over Willamette on Nov. 11.
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 this fall 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, from West Salem High School, 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.