Seven different players contributed points in the opening quarter for the Portland State women’s basketball team, but their strong start was not enough to overcome the Idaho Vandals, who lead the Big Sky Conference in scoring. The Vandals secured their 11th consecutive win with an 86-66 victory Thursday night in Moscow, Idaho.
Portland State (6-20, 2-12) recorded its second-highest first-quarter point total of the conference season with 19 points. However, Idaho (22-5, 13-1) responded with 27 points in the same period. After halftime, the Vikings shot efficiently—62.5 percent in the third quarter—but Idaho still outscored them 31-22 during that stretch.
Overall, Portland State shot 46.7 percent from the field, their third-best mark this season. Idaho finished at 50.8 percent and dominated inside with a 50-34 advantage in points scored in the paint.
“They’re the best team in the league for a reason. They’re good at every position and then have more ammo coming off the bench. When they’re shooting like they did tonight, it’s really hard to limit them,” said Portland State head coach Karlie Burris.
“I thought the differences in the game were our turnovers [PSU had 16 to 13 for Idaho] and rebounding [Idaho out-rebounded PSU by 15]. Two points of emphasis for us every game.”
Despite losing momentum later on, Burris highlighted her team’s improved start compared to recent games where they struggled early.
“We’ve been talking a lot about starting strong. That’s been important. In our last game [against the Vandals], they had big first and third quarters, which unfortunately they did again tonight. But I thought today we did a better job of trying to keep pace with them,” Burris said. “Again, a couple of unforced live-ball turnovers led to easy buckets for them. Those are the things we’re trying to limit, but definitely a much better start for us.”
In the second quarter, Cici Ellington scored seven straight points as part of a run that brought Portland State within two points of Idaho before another scoring drought allowed Idaho to extend its lead before halftime.
Ellington and Hannah Chicken both finished with 16 points for Portland State; Ellington shot seven-for-ten from the field while adding four rebounds and a block. Chicken also contributed four rebounds along with three steals and two assists.
“I thought Cici was aggressive early in the first half. She did a good job of being aggressive and getting into her spot. Hannah, the same thing,” Burris said.
“I thought we had a mismatch when they went a little bit smaller, but they did a good job of just clogging the paint and making us really try to rework our offense a little bit to try to get some people open looks.”
Kyleigh Brown added 15 points—seven coming in the fourth quarter—and freshman Sophie Buzzard scored all seven of her points after halftime.
Idaho’s Kyra Gardner led all scorers with 17 points as six Vandals players reached double figures.
Portland State will continue its road trip Saturday against Eastern Washington at 2 p.m., where rebounding will remain a focus according to Burris: “It’ll be much of the same for Eastern. We’re going to need to do a much better job on the boards,” she said. “Our goal is to win the rebounding margin and obviously we know we’re facing Kourtney Grossman and Jaecy Eggers, two of the best in the league if not the country. So, we’ve got our work cut out for us, but we are up for the challenge.”
With Thursday’s loss, Portland State now holds an all-time record of 15 wins and 40 losses against Idaho. The Vandals out-rebounded Portland State by fifteen (41-26), including fourteen offensive rebounds leading to thirteen second-chance points compared to six for Portland State. Turnovers also played a role; Portland State finished minus-three in turnover margin resulting in an eighteen-to-ten edge for Idaho on points off turnovers.
Brown’s performance marked her thirty-second consecutive game scoring double digits—a streak dating back nearly one year.
