PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland State freshman Hannah Chicken hit a three-pointer to cut the Vikings' deficit to two with 4:23 remaining. But three late turnovers over the next three minutes limited the Vikings' chances for a second straight comeback victory as they fell 72-63 to Idaho State Saturday at Viking Pavilion.
 
The Vikings (5-9, 1-1), who erased an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit with a 17-0 run to beat Weber State Thursday, appeared headed towards another comeback against the Bengals (9-4, 2-0). Down 10 entering the fourth quarter, the Vikings scored six straight out of the break to get within four at 56-52. The Bengals pushed it back out to an eight-point lead from there, but the Vikings answered with three free throws and Chicken's three-pointer to make it 62-60 entering the home stretch.
 
Missed free throws and turnovers cost the Vikings in the end, though. Five of the Vikings' seven misses from the free throw line Saturday came in the fourth quarter. Additionally, the Vikings gave up five turnovers to the Bengals in the period.
 
"We battled. So, from that standpoint, I was really happy throughout. The start of the third quarter, I wish we could have back. We had some mental lapses in terms of executing the scouting report, which really hurt us. We talked about execution a ton after the game. Step one was effort, which I think we did. Step two is execution," Portland State head coach Karlie Burris said afterwards.
 
"We didn't come out with the win, but I thought we won in a lot of areas tonight."
 
The effort from the Vikings put them in rare company amongst Idaho State opponents. The Bengals came into the game with a +10.2 rebounding margin, as only two opponents had finished level or better against the Bengals on the glass this season. The Vikings became the third member of that group as they finished level, 37-to-37.
 
"We talked about how we had to at least match them if not exceed them [on the boards]. Piper Carlson got way too many offensive rebounds, which hurt us. But we'll go back and watch film. I was happy with our effort on the glass," Burris said.
 
The Vikings also became only the third team to shoot better than 40 percent against an Idaho State defense that came into the game leading the Big Sky Conference and ranked 34th nationally in field goal percentage defense. The Bengals were holding opponents to 35.7 percent shooting on average, and yet the Vikings shot 41.1 percent (23-for-56) Saturday.
 
It didn't start that way for the Vikings. The Bengals held the Vikings to 3-for-16 shooting at the start of the game as they built a 17-10 lead after the opening quarter. But better ball movement at the start of the second quarter started to open things up for the Vikings. The Vikings made 7-of-8 from the field during a 17-4 start to the second quarter, with the Vikings recording assists on all seven field goals.
 
The 17-4 start turned the Vikings' 17-10 deficit at the start of the quarter into a 27-21 lead. Chicken hit the first of her three three-pointers to start the run, then hit a layup a little later to give the Vikings their first lead at 20-19. Kyleigh Brown chipped in six points during the run between a traditional three-pointer and a three-point play.
 
The Vikings dished out 17 assists on 23 field goals Saturday, the third time out of the team's last four games that they've had an assist percentage of 65.0 percent or higher.
 
"We've been preaching [ball movement] and we're going to continue to work on that and do a better job. [Assistant coach Hailey King pointed out] in conference, everyone is going to know each other. So, it's not the first action. We have to be able to make the second and the third read. We missed a few people today, but I thought for the most part we were looking for other people and passing up good shots for great shots," Burris said of the team's distribution.
 
The Bengals ultimately responded, closing the second quarter on a 12-3 run of their own to take a lead into halftime. They then stretched their lead to 10 with an 11-4 start to the third quarter, forcing the Vikings to play catchup the rest of the way.
 
Brown led all scorers with 23 points, recording her sixth 20-point game of her season as well as her 20th straight game in double figures. Brown had 14 points by halftime despite constantly dealing with double teams from the Big Sky's top defensive team in Idaho State.
 
"She was face guarded the whole game. To have 23 points when you're really the first and main focus on the scouting report is impressive. Her resolve, she gets fouled every possession and we talk through it just about how she's not going to get a call. Her body control is so good, so we just need her to fight through that," Burris said.
 
Cici Ellington, meanwhile, recorded her second double-double in the past four games for the Vikings with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Ellington is now averaging 11.0 rebounds per game over the Vikings' last four games after she set a career high with 16 Thursday against Weber State.
 
Chicken's 3-for-4 mark from three-point range provided a spark for the Vikings. She matched her season total with her three makes as she was just 3-for-11 from three-point range this season going into the game. Sophomore forward Katelyn Best also hit the first three-pointer of her career for the Vikings, as the forwards were responsible for four of the Vikings' six three-pointers between them.
 
"Our forwards are going to need to be able to shoot the ball and we're trying to give them confidence in doing that, which opens things up for us," Burris said of Chicken and Best hitting three-pointers.
 
Chicken finished with 12 points for her sixth straight game in double figures and 10th out of the last 12. Fellow forward Ajae Yoakum nearly went into double figures for her second straight game while finishing with nine points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
 
The Vikings will hit the road for their next three games, starting with a lone game next week at Sacramento State. The Vikings and Hornets will tip off at 1 p.m. on Jan. 10. The Vikings won't play at home again until Jan. 22 when they host Eastern Washington.
 
"We have to be road tough. We only have one game next week so a lot of our work early in the week will be about us and then we'll turn our attention to Sac State. Hopefully our rebounding travels, because it needs to. And we'll need to get back to the free throw line," Burris said.
 
GAME NOTES:

• The Vikings fell to 26-47 all-time against the Bengals with Saturday's loss.
• Taylor Moffat set a new PSU career high with seven assists. Her overall career high remains nine from Nov. 29, 2023, when she was playing for Williston State.
• Brown had a streak of 21 straight free throws snapped on her first attempt of the game. She finished 3-for-5 from the line, giving her two misses in a game for only the second time this season. She's still shooting 91.0 percent (61-for-67) from the line.

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