A strong start by Northern Colorado set the tone for their 71-57 win over the Portland State women’s basketball team at Viking Pavilion on Saturday. The Bears opened with a 14-0 run, making five of their first six field goal attempts, while the Vikings missed their first six shots and did not score until there were just over three minutes left in the first quarter.
Portland State narrowed the gap to six points twice in the second quarter but could not get any closer for the remainder of the game.
“We’re trying to dissect these first quarters and what it is [that leads to early deficits]. If it’s a belief, or whatever it is. From an execution standpoint, we couldn’t put the ball through the hole and then we just dug ourselves a really big hole,” said Portland State head coach Karlie Burris after the game.
“I thought for the next three quarters, we did a really good job of trying to claw back. But it felt like every time we’d get close, get back within six, they’d hit a three. So just some breakdowns on the defensive end.”
The pattern was similar to their previous meeting with Northern Colorado this season when Portland State trailed by double digits after one quarter and never recovered. However, this time Portland State improved its ball control, keeping turnovers closer between teams compared to their earlier matchup where turnover disparity led to significant points off turnovers for Northern Colorado.
Saturday’s contest saw both teams take an equal number of shots from the field, unlike their last encounter when Northern Colorado had 18 more attempts. The Bears’ efficiency proved decisive as they made nearly 47 percent of their shots compared to about 38 percent for Portland State.
“We’re still trying to be really positive,” Burris said. “The three-point line seems to really hurt us. [Northern Colorado’s Julia Riley], we didn’t want her taking any threes and she took five and made three. Those nine points really hurt. This is, again, where we need to be in the gym and space the floor out a bit.”
Kyleigh Brown led Portland State with 14 points—10 coming in the second half—and extended her streak of scoring in double figures to 31 games. Hannah Chicken contributed nine points but was limited by foul trouble after a strong start in the first half.
Laynee Torres-Kahapea and Taylor Moffat each scored seven points but combined for only three made baskets on ten attempts.
Northern Colorado placed four players in double figures: Neenah George (17), Aniah Hall (16), along with contributions from others.
“I thought George was really good for them at the start. Just being really physical and going into our chest. I thought we were playing pretty solid D, but we didn’t have an answer for that,” Burris added.
With this loss, Portland State dropped to 12-29 all-time against Northern Colorado and remains winless this season when opponents shoot above 40 percent from the field; they are now 0-17 under those circumstances but hold a winning record when limiting opponents below that mark.
Northern Colorado also became the ninth consecutive team to out-rebound Portland State, finishing ahead by six boards (32-26).
Next week, Portland State will play away games at Idaho on Thursday and Eastern Washington on Saturday.
