PORTLAND – Sophomore guards Ashley Bolston and Michaela Kay each went for 20 points as Portland State held off UC Irvine's late push to win 79-73 Saturday afternoon at the Peter W. Stott Center. The Vikings improved 3-3 overall and 2-0 at home this season with the win.
 
Bolston scored half of her 20 points at the free-throw line. She went a perfect 10-for-10 at the line for the game and 8-for-8 at the line in the fourth quarter. She hit four-straight free throws over the final :15 to secure the win. She added five field goals in the contest to post her third-straight 20-point game.
 
Bolston's 10-for-10 night at the line is the most in a game without a miss since Courtney Van Brocklin went 10-for-10 against UC Davis in 2011.
 
Bolston became the second Viking this season to score 20 points in three-straight contests, joining fellow sophomore G Sidney Rielly. Bolston added a game-high seven assists to improve her Big Sky Conference leading assists per game average to 5.83.
 
Kay did most her damage in the first half, scoring 17 of her eventual season-high 20 points. She went 6-for-11 from the floor and 5-for-9 from three-point range for the game. She also added three key free throws down the stretch. Her five three-pointers matched her previous career high which she hit twice last year.
 
Portland State (3-3 overall) shot .491 (27-55) from the floor in the game and held UC Irvine to .411 (20-73) shooting. The Anteaters were shooting just 19-for-52 (.365) entering the final quarter but hit 11 baskets, including five three-pointers, over the final 10 minutes to outscore the Vikings 29-22 in the fourth. It would not be enough as the Vikings held on for the victory.
 
Sophomore F Courtney West and sophomore G Cici West added 12 and 11 points respectively for the Vikings who had four players in double figures for the second time this season.
 
Portland State came into the game averaging a league-best 18.0 assists per game and were recording assists on 66.2 percent of their field goals. Against the Anteaters, they recorded 22 assists on 27 field goals, 81.5 percent.
 
Sophomore G Sidney Rielly was held under 10 points for the second consecutive game with eight against UC Irvine. She sat most the first half after picking up her second foul just one minute into the second quarter.
 
The Vikings took a 9-4 lead in the first quarter before the Anteaters cut the lead to one at 9-8. After the teams traded baskets, Kay hit a three-pointer to put Portland State up 14-10 at the end of the first.
 
Kay started the second quarter with back-to-back three-pointers to put Portland State up eight at 20-12. A 6-0 run by the Vikings put them up nine before another three-pointer gave the Vikings a 29-19 lead.
 
Kay's fifth three-pointer followed by senior G Ashley Torres Negron's first of the game put the Vikings up 37-30 at the half.
 
Kay and her three-point shooting was the story of the first half. She scored 17 of the Vikings' 37 points in the half, going 6-for-8 from the floor, including 5-for-6 from three-point range.
 
UC Irvine cut the lead to five points midway through the third before a 9-2 run by the Vikings put them up 52-40 on a three-pointer from Rielly, her first basket of the game. The Vikings hit their last two shots of the third quarter to go up 57-44, their largest lead of the game.
 
Three-point shooting by the Anteaters kept them in the game in the fourth as they cut the lead to seven points at 68-61. An 8-0 run by UC Irvine cut the lead all the way down to two points, 75-73, with :28 remaining in the game.
 
Bolston sealed the 79-73 victory for the Vikings with four free-throws over the final 15 seconds. Her last free throw gave her 20 points in the game for her third-straight 20-point game.
 
UC Irvine's Shereen Sutherland scored a team-high 20 points, going 10-for-20 form the floor with a game-high 12 rebounds.
 
Portland State is home again next week when they take on the Cal State Fullerton Titans on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. PT.
 
NOTES:
• Sophomore G Ashley Bolston scored 20 points for her third-straight 20-point game.
• Bolston is the second Vikings (Sidney Rielly) to scored 20 points in three-straight games.
• Bolston went a perfect 10-for-10 at the free-throw line.  
• Sophomore G Michaela Kay scored a season-high 20 points, going 6-for-11 from the floor and 5-for-9 from distance.
• Kay matched her career-high with five three-pointers.
• Portland State never trailed in the game.
• Portland State is 3-3 overall and 2-0 at home.