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PORTLAND, Ore. — A season can never be judged by its opening game, but what could be a historic season for the Portland State women's basketball team got off to a historic start Friday as the Vikings beat Warner Pacific 102-49 in their first official game in the new Viking Pavilion.
 
The 102 points marked the first time the Vikings (1-0) had gone over the century mark since they beat Cal State San Bernadino 102-39 on Dec. 2, 1995. That game was in the Division II era at Portland State, making Friday's 100-point performance the first-ever by the Vikings as a Division I program. Additionally, the Vikings had 20 steals against the Knights (1-1), the team's most steals in a game since they had 22 against Idaho on Dec. 20, 2006.
 
"I loved our fourth quarter, with our subs coming in and continuing to play hard," Portland State head coach Lynn Kennedy said of his team's performance Friday. "Their run in the second quarter actually spurred us on a bit because they went on an 11-0 run. We talked at the media timeout that it's a game of runs. They're a team of runs. They did it against Simpson, too. I told the team, 'we've got to start establishing our possession and then really lock down defensively.' We let them have eight offensive board in the first half. It was 21-21 in rebounds and I thought we dominated the board in the second half and that was the difference in the game."
 
Senior Courtney West set more history for the Vikings individually as she scored a career-high 28 points in the game while going 13-of-15 from the field. West's 13 field goals marked the most made field goals by a Viking since Kelsey Kahle made 13 field goals against Idaho State on Feb. 12, 2009. Additionally, West had never been so efficient in a game where she made over 10 field goals, as the two previous times she's made over 10 field goals she shot 11-of-18 and 10-of-14 from the field.
 
West scored 12 of the Vikings' first 13 points in the game, and scored her 28 points while playing only 26 minutes. West sat the entire fourth quarter Friday, as she subbed out for the final time with 2:12 left in the third quarter.
 
"I thought Courtney did an amazing job early on," Kennedy said of West. "She was inside, outside. She was knocking down her 15-foot jump shot. I thought she had a three she gave up early on that she could have shot, too.
 
"All-around just a really good game for her. Any time we can have a player go 13-for-15 from the field in a game, hey, I'll take that any day."
 
West added seven rebounds Friday, five coming on the offensive end, and finished with three assists, three steals and two blocks.
 
Freshman Desirae Hansen set her own history against the Knights, finishing with 22 points in 22 minutes played. Hansen's 22 points came in her first counting game for the Vikings, giving her the best debut by a Viking since Michaela Kay had 22 points against Cal State Fullerton in her first game as a Viking on Nov. 13, 2015.
 
Hansen scored her 22 points while going 8-of-10 from the field and 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Hansen made three three-pointers in a row early in the second quarter that stretched the Vikings' lead to 26 at 36-10. Hansen scored another eight points in the fourth quarter, and pushed the Vikings into triple digits with a three-point play with 56 seconds left in the game. Hansen added five steals, four rebounds and four assists to her 22 points Friday.
 
Besides West and Hansen, sophomores Kylie Jimenez and Labrea Denson also went into double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Every player that dressed for the Vikings scored in the game, while eight players scored five or more points against the Knights.
 
"Teams are going to have to pick what they want to take away, and we've got to be able to counter that with players stepping up," Kennedy said of the depth the Vikings showed Friday. "We talked about that when your number is called, you've got to be ready. I felt like they were ready tonight. It's nice to see. We don't have a lot of players, but we're two or three deep at every position. It's nice to see as a coach. It gives me comfort now that I can go to anybody at any time and they'll be ready to step up."
 
Senior Ashley Bolston led the Vikings with six assists Friday to go with three points, four rebounds and two steals. Sophomore Savannah Dhaliwal also tied West with a game-high seven rebounds while adding five points Friday.
 
The Vikings led the whole way against the Knights, and outshot them .551-to-.238 in the game. The Vikings held the Knights to just 6-of-30 shooting in the second half, and just 1-of-13 in the fourth quarter. The Vikings outscored the Knights 50-to-6 in the paint Friday, and scored 39 points off turnovers.
 
The Vikings return to the court Sunday, when they host San Jose State at 2 p.m. at the Viking Pavilion. San Jose State will come into the game 0-2, after losing 73-66 to San Francisco State on Nov. 6, and 85-63 to the University of San Francisco Friday.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 1-1 all time against the Knights with Friday's win…Friday's game marked the first official game – men or women – in the new Viking Pavilion, with 425 fans in attendance.