BOISE, Idaho — Someone forgot to take the lids off the baskets at Idaho Central Arena Saturday. At least it felt that way for the Portland State women's basketball team, which opened Starch Madness with a 76-53 first-round loss to Weber State.
 
Senior Taylor Moffat hit a three-pointer on the Vikings' second possession of the game. But the Vikings (6-25) then missed 11 straight shots to finish the first quarter as the Wildcats (11-21) built a 19-5 lead after the opening 10 minutes.
 
The Wildcats used their size advantage to bully the Vikings early in the paint. The Wildcats were outscoring the Vikings 16-0 in the paint before a rebound basket from Ajae Yoakum with 3:32 remaining in the second quarter gave the Vikings their first points close to the basket.
 
The inside advantage, coupled with the Vikings' slow start, meant the Wildcats outshot PSU .509-to-.333. The Vikings shot better than 40 percent in the second half (.419), but their 1-for-13 mark in the first quarter proved too much to overcome.
 
"It wasn't the result we wanted. It wasn't really how we wanted to go out, but I thought we had a resilient group and fought all year long," Portland State head coach Karlie Buris said afterwards.
 
"It's going to be tough to win a game when a team shoots 51 percent from the field. I thought [Weber State's Antoniette] Emma-Nnopu enforced her will on both sides of the ball. I thought she was a monster. I just didn't think we could match her physicality."
 
The Australian pair of Moffat and Hannah Chicken tried to spark the Vikings. Chicken scored five points in a row between a pair of free throws and a three-pointer to get the Vikings back within 11 early in the second quarter. She also had the middle bucket of a 6-2 PSU start to the second half that dropped the Weber State lead back under 20 points.
 
Moffat and Chicken both scored as part of a 7-0 run that got the Vikings within 17 midway through the fourth quarter.
 
But the Wildcats maintained their lead throughout. Emma-Nnopu and Hannah Robins led the Wildcats with 23 and 20 points, respectively. They were a combined 17-for-28 (.607) from the field.
 
Chicken finished with a team-high 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting including 2-for-3 from three-point range. It was her 20th game in double figures as a freshman this season.
 
Moffat, meanwhile, scored in double figures for the third time out of the last four games with 11 points on 5-for-9 shooting overall.
 
"It's been a roller-coaster, my college journey in general. But I'm super proud of myself and I'm glad after four years I can say that," Moffat said in reflecting on her college career, which came to an end Saturday.
 
"I'm super proud, this year, of how much adversity myself and the team have faced and continued to fight through. It got to a 20-point lead early and we continued to fight."
 
Saturday's first-round loss to the Wildcats ends the season for the Vikings. They'll now look to build for what will be their second year under Burris during the 2026-27 season.
 
"I told the group in the locker room how proud I am of them. To the five seniors, for them trusting us, sticking with us. We were in a ton of different games. I thought today was really indicative of the year where we got down but we fought back. They set the tone for what's to come and I told them they should be really, really proud of themselves," Burris said.
 
Game Notes:

• The Vikings fell to 32-38 all-time against Weber State Saturday. The Vikings are 0-4 against the Wildcats at the Big Sky tournament after Saturday's loss.
• Saturday's 19-5 deficit after the first quarter was the ninth time this season that the Vikings trailed by double digits after the opening quarter.
• The Vikings have exited in the first round of the Big Sky tournament in four of the past five seasons. Their last tournament win came in the quarterfinals against Montana State in 2023.

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