PORTLAND, Ore. — Sophomore Irune Orio finished with a team-high 17 points, while freshman Summah Hanson narrowly missed out on her third consecutive double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds, but host Portland State came up big from beyond the three-point line late in the game to defeat Sacramento State, 57-51, in a tooth-and-nail battle on Saturday afternoon at Viking Pavilion.
Orio's 17 points were the most since she finished with a career-high 22 against the Vikings in the first meeting between the two teams back on Feb. 3 in Sacramento. The sophomore finished 6-of-12 from the field and hit all four of her free throws en route to her team-high total, adding three rebounds.
Hanson, meanwhile, finished in double figures for the ninth consecutive contest and the 21st time overall in 28 games, averaging 15.6 ppg and 9.8 rpg during her recent stretch while shooting .455 (51-for-112) from the field overall.
Neither side lead by more than seven points in the contest as both teams shot well from the field to head into the locker room deadlocked at 30 apiece at the break with the Hornets (5-23, 4-13) hitting on 46.4 percent from the field to 44.4 percent for Portland State (8-21, 3-14).
The first half features eight ties and two lead changes alone with Sacramento State taking its first lead of the game at the 2:30 mark of the first quarter on a three-pointer by Kaylie Edge before trailing by two after one. The Hornets then clawed their way back from down seven with 3:39 to play in the half as Hanson hit one from the line and Solape Amusan and Lina Falk each drained three pointers to tie the score just before the end of the half.
Portland State rebuild its lead back to six points just three minutes into the third period, but a Hanson scored inside to spark an 8-0 run that gave her team a 38-36 lead just over four minutes later. The Hornets answered a pair of Viking baskets with four free throws before Esmeralda Morales drained a three-pointer with seven seconds remaining in the quarter for a 44-42 lead heading into the fourth.
That's when Sacramento State went cold, hitting just 4-of-21 (.190) from the field on 11 more shot attempts than Portland State, but it was the three-point shot that gave the Vikings enough cushion. Starting with Morales' three-pointer to end the third, four of Portland State's final five field goals in the game came from beyond the arc, giving the Vikings just enough to keep the Hornets at bay.
Overall, Sacramento State held a 37-34 advantage on the glass, including a 15-9 lead on the offensive glass that led to 19 second-chance points for the Hornets.
The regular season comes to an end on Monday (March 4) at 6 p.m., as Sacramento State heads to Cheney, Wash., to take on league-leading Eastern Washington in the finale.
