GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The Vikings closed out the regular season with its biggest win of the conference season, defeating North Dakota 80-61 Friday afternoon at the Betty Engelstad Center in Grand Forks, N.D.
 
Portland State (17-12 overall, 11-6 Big Sky Conference) needed a win Friday to keep alive in the battle for a top four finish and a first round by in next week's 2018 Big Sky Women's Championship. Northern Colorado has secured the No. 1 seed and a first round bye after winning the regular season outright. That leaves the final three byes still up for grabs with Idaho, Weber State, Eastern Washington, Portland State, and Idaho State all still in contention.
 
The starters led the way for the Vikings against North Dakota (12-17, 5-13), with four scoring in double figures. Ashley Bolston scored a team-high 20 points for her sixth 20-point game of the year, third in the last four. She went 6-for-10 from the floor and 8-for-10 at the line. She also pulled down seven rebounds in her 35 minutes of action.
 
Freshman Kylie Jimenez, whose offensive production dipped during league play, finished the regular season with a career-high 19 points, going 7-for-10 from the floor and matched her career high with four three pointers. She hit her first five shots, including her first three from deep. She tallied seven assists but turned the ball over seven times, the most of her young career.
 
Turnovers were a problem for both teams all game long. Portland State turned the ball over 22 times but were able to take advantage of North Dakota's 24 turnovers, turning them into 23 points. After turning it over eight times in the third, the Vikings only committed three turnovers in the fourth to close out the win.
 
Sidney Rielly scored 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting, while Courtney West added 14 points and seven rebounds in her 32 minutes.
 
After struggling in the first quarter for much of the season, the Vikings flew out of the gate against the Fighting Hawks. Corey James hit a three-pointer to give the Vikings the first basket of the game. The Vikings shot 68.3 percent (13-for-19) from the floor in the first quarter, including four of their six three pointers on the game, to take a 30-15 lead at the end of the first. The 30 points matched PSU's highest scoring quarter of the season.
 
Portland State shot 53.8 percent from the floor in the second quarter, outscoring the Fighting Hawks 19-9 in the period to take a commanding 49-25 lead at the break. The Vikings shot 62.5 percent from the floor in the first half going 20-for-32 from the floor and 5-for-9 from distance. PSU outscored UND 14-2 in the paint in the first half, the Vikings finished the game with a 26-6 advantage.
 
After playing so well in the first half, the Vikings struggled in the third. North Dakota opened the second half on a 15-2 run to close the deficit to single digits. Portland State finally started to find some rhythm in the third at the free-throw line. The Vikings went 6-for-6 at the line at the end of the period to built up a 13-point lead heading to the fourth.
 
North Dakota cut the lead to 12 points in the fourth but from that point on the game was really never in doubt. The Vikings extended their lead over the final 10 minutes to win 80-61. The 19-point margin is the largest of the season for the Vikings during league play.
 
The Vikings continue to play tremendous defense down the home stretch of the season. They held the Fighting Hawks to 37.0 percent from the floor and 28.6 percent from distance. The Vikings forced 24 turnovers and tallied 11 steals, five by Jimenez, which is also a new career high.
 
Lexi Klabo was the only player to fins success against the Vikings for UND. She scored a game-high 29 points with 10 rebounds for the game's lone double-double. She went 9-for-14 from the floor and 11-for-15 at the line. No other Fighting Hawk scored more than nine points.
 
The Vikings will now play the waiting game. They have taken care of what they needed to do and now their tournament seeding hopes are in the hands of the rest of the league, which concludes Big Sky play later Friday night.