FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A cold fourth quarter spoiled a chance at a rare road victory for the Portland State women's basketball team, as the Vikings fell 80-68 to Northern Arizona Saturday at Findlay Toyota Court.
 
The Vikings (5-12, 1-4) led 54-52 entering the fourth quarter against the Lumberjacks (7-12, 3-3). But they shot just 5-for-19 (.263) in the final period when the Lumberjacks outscored them 28-14. The Vikings missed 10 straight shots over a five-minute stretch that turned a 63-62 PSU lead into a 72-63 deficit.
 
"I'll have to go back and watch film to see why we got cold late," Portland State head coach Karlie Burris said afterwards. "It felt like we ran out of gas a little bit. I thought we got some looks that we wanted, but the ball didn't go through the hole."
 
The cold spell spoiled what had been a resurgent effort from the Vikings. After a slow start gave the Vikings no chance Thursday, they responded with a better opening quarter against the Lumberjacks.
 
Down 6-0 early, the Vikings answered with 11 straight points. Burris went to her bench for a spark early, and her team responded. Hannah Chicken scored back-to-back buckets to tie it at 6-6, then went to the ground for a steal that led to a fastbreak layup for Ajae Yoakum.
 
"I didn't feel like we panicked [down 6-0]. We knew we were going to need to hockey sub this game. We knew we wanted to go to the bench early. We were really poised in that moment, and the bench sparked us and gave us a great run to put us in front," Burris said of her team's response.
 
The Vikings then came out of a 36-33 halftime deficit with a strong third quarter in which they shot 7-for-12 (.583) from the field. Chicken and Kyleigh Bown accounted for 17 of the Vikings' 21 points in the quarter when they were a combined 6-for-8 from the field.
 
Chicken's two three-pointers both came in the third quarter, the second of which put the Vikings up 43-40. Brown hit another key three later in the quarter that put the Vikings back up by three at 52-49.
 
The Vikings made seven of their first 15 three-pointers Saturday. That was a major turnaround from Thursday when the Vikings went 0-for-12 from deep against Northern Colorado. They made just one of their last eight, but the eight three-pointers still marked their second-most three-pointers in a game this season.
 
Chicken finished with 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field. Brown matched her with 16 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists.
 
Taylor Moffat provided a strong third option for the Viking offense. All of her season-high12 points came in three-point chunks between two three-pointers and two three-point plays. The 12 points followed nine for Moffat Thursday, making this weekend the best two-game stretch of the season for the senior.
 
Jamia Carter and Ajae Yoakum added eight points each. Yoakum added six rebounds to her eight points, five of which came on the offensive glass.
 
The Vikings did a better job protecting the ball than they did Thursday, when they had 24 turnovers against Northern Colorado, but they were still minus-5 in the turnover battle (PSU 16, NAU 11) and minus-13 in points off turnovers (PSU 11, NAU 24).
 
That will be something for the Vikings to work on ahead of their return home next week for a home stand against Eastern Washington (Jan. 22, 7 p.m.) and Idaho (Jan. 24, 2 p.m.).
 
"We've got a big week coming up against two teams with size and really good guard play. We'll have to get back to work, but I was proud of our effort today. It feels a lot better when everyone is rowing in the same direction," Burris said.
 
Game Notes:

• The Vikings still lead the all-time series between them and the Vikings, 32-30, despite the loss Saturday.
• The Vikings were out-rebounded (41-to-36) and out-shot (.438-to-.406) for the first time in Big Sky play.
• NAU shot eight more free throws than the Vikings (20-to-12), the largest discrepancy against the Vikings this season.

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