FRANKFORT, Ky. – The Portland women's basketball team came up just short in a thrilling championship game against the Cleveland State Vikings at the Women's Basketball Invitational championship on Sunday. The Vikings got a big late three-pointer from Destiny Leo and held on for a 67-64 victory at the William Exum Center.

Sophomore forward Alex Fowler led the Pilots (14-13) with 22 points and seven rebounds. Fowler capped her second year on The Bluff as the quickest player in Division I program history to score 1,000 points as she passed the mark in yesterday's semifinal victory over Northern Arizona.

Senior guard Maddie Muhlheim finished Sunday's championship game with 13 points and a career-best seven steals. On Saturday, Muhlheim became the school's all-time leader in three-pointers made and she extended that margin with three triples on Sunday.

Junior point guard Haylee Andrews added a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Pilots.

Portland entered the tournament 0-7 all-time in postseason play, but raced to the title game in comfortable fashion with wins over Abilene Christian (67-42) and Northern Arizona (80-65) in the first two tournament games.

It was back-and-forth throughout on Sunday with the game featuring six ties and ten lead changes.

The Vikings used a 12-0 run midway through the second quarter to go up 32-24, but Fowler snapped the run with a layup. Freshman Emme Shearer had a big steal and layup in the final minute as the Pilots trailed 34-28 at the half.

CSU led by nine midway through the third quarter, but the Pilots stormed back. Muhlheim buried a three-pointer and then stole the inbounds pass and converted a layup to give Portland its first lead of the second half 56-55 with 6:05 left in regulation.

The teams traded leads three more times as Fowler made it 60-59 with a strong move in the paint. Shearer then made a layup for a three-point lead, but Mariah White tied it with a three-point play with 1-minute remaining. After two missed free throws, Leo hit the crucial corner three for a 65-62 lead and 20 seconds left.

Andrews made a layup and the Pilots fouled Isabelle Gradwell who hit both free throws for a 67-64 edge and less than five seconds remaining. Portland was called for an offensive foul before getting a potential game-tying three attempted and the Vikings held on for the tournament title.

Portland concludes the 2020-21 season with its second consecutive winning season in the first two years under head coach Michael Meek. Last year the Pilots qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1997, but the tournament was not played due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The future looks bright as Portland will return All-West Coast Conference first teamers Fowler and Haylee Andrews, as well as All-WCC freshman Emme Shearer and ten total players from this year's roster.