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EL PASO, Texas — A few days after fall term finals at Portland State, the Viking women's basketball team aced its first road test Sunday, beating UTEP 89-61 at the Don Haskins Center. The Vikings, who had won their first five games at the new Viking Pavilion, improved to 6-0 for the first time since the 1995-96 season with the win.
 
The Vikings hadn't won their road opener since the 2012-13 season, when the Vikings beat the University of Oregon, 87-85, in double overtime down in Eugene. The 28-point victory over UTEP also marked the largest margin of victory in a true road game in the Big Sky era of the Vikings' program. The Vikings hadn't won a road game by that wide of a margin since beating Alaska Fairbanks 107-40 on Jan. 26, 1995 – back when the Vikings were a Division II program.
 
Additionally, the Vikings handed UTEP (2-7) its worst loss of the season to date. Five of UTEP's six losses before Sunday had come by five points or less, including a narrow, 68-63 loss to Weber State out of the Big Sky back on Nov. 28.
 
"It was a big win," head coach Lynn Kennedy, who had been 0-3 in road openers at Portland State before Sunday, said afterwards. "Anytime you can win on the road, those are big wins. We were focused on what we do well and tried to disrupt what they do well. They were aggressive from the start, but we knew the game plan and kept playing hard and it payed off at the end of the first quarter."
 
UTEP took its only lead of the game at 13-11 with a 5-0 run, but the Vikings responded with six straight points from senior guard Ashley Bolston and freshman guard Desirae Hansen to retake the lead at 17-13. Hansen fed Bolston for a three-point play to give the Vikings the lead back at 14-13, and then hit a three-pointer of her own on the Vikings' next possession.
 
UTEP got back within two at 19-17 with 2:25 left in the first quarter, but the Vikings outscored the Miners 16-2 over the next seven minutes to take a 16-point lead at 35-19 midway through the second quarter. The Vikings scored the last seven points of the first quarter with Bolston contributing five of the seven, including a three-pointer in the final seconds of the quarter.
 
Bolston scored the first points of the second quarter for the Vikings, too, while junior forward Jordan Stotler followed with a jumper that made it 30-17 Vikings with just over a minute off the clock. Sophomore point guard Kylie Jimenez closed the Vikings' 16-2 run with her second three-pointer of the game with 5:13 remaining in the quarter.
 
The Viking defense held UTEP to just 1-of-9 from the field during the run, after UTEP had started the game shooting 6-of-14.
 
Jimenez closed the first half with another three-pointer, and then hit her fourth three-pointer of the game on the Vikings' first possession of the second half, giving the Vikings a 17-point lead at 47-30.
 
UTEP got back within 12 at 51-39, but the Vikings responded with an 11-2 run to stretch their lead to 22 points at 62-40 with 2:22 left in the third quarter. Freshman guard Ana Tainta scored seven of the Vikings' 11 points in their third-quarter run, including a three-pointer to end the stretch.
 
The Vikings scored 11 straight points near the start of the fourth quarter to stretch their lead to 34 points at 79-45 with 6:32 remaining. Jimenez scored seven of the Vikings' first 11 points in the fourth quarter between a three-pointer and two steals-and-scores.
 
Jimenez led all players with a career-high 21 points behind five three-pointers in the game, another career high.
 
"Kylie was relaxed tonight and let the game come to her," Kennedy said. "They dropped off of her to focus on Ashley and Sid, and Kylie made them pay. It was one of those games where every one of her shots looked good. She really stepped up tonight. Overall it was a great team win."
 
Bolston finished with 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting, while adding another all-around game with five rebounds (three offensive), four assists and four steals. Bolston's 18 points pushed the senior over 1,000 career points, making her the 18th member of the 1,000-point club at Portland State, joining teammate Sidney Rielly.
 
Rielly and Tainta also went into double figures with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Tainta's 13 points represented a career high for the freshman, who went 6-of-10 from the field while adding four rebounds and five assists for the Vikings.
 
Hansen led the Vikings with a career-high 11 rebounds in the game, while adding five points and two assists.
 
UTEP became the latest victim of the Vikings' smothering shooting defense, as the Miners shot just .328 while going 20-of-61 from the field. The Vikings held UTEP to just 7-of-27 combined in the second and third quarters, before UTEP upped its percentage with a 7-of-18 performance in the fourth quarter.
 
The Vikings continue on the road Tuesday, when they play Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Ariz., at 6 p.m. (MT).
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 2-0 all time against UTEP with the win Sunday…The Vikings hadn't played UTEP since the 1988-89 season before their game Sunday…Sunday's win was the Vikings' sixth straight double-digit win to open the season, the only time in program history the Vikings have won their first six games by double digits…The Vikings went 13-of-13 from the free throw line Sunday, upping their Big Sky-leading free throw percentage to .787 for the season.