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CHENEY, Wash. — The Portland State women's basketball team found itself in a game at halftime of an early game against Eastern Washington Thursday.
 
The Eagles, playing with 4,000 screaming elementary school kids behind them and in a gym where the Vikings hadn't won since 2013, finished the first half within one point of the Vikings at 37-36 while going 8-of-17 from beyond the arc. The Vikings responded with a 20-2 run out of halftime, however, and held the Eagles to just 2-of-15 shooting from deep after the break as they ran away with a 76-64 win over the Eagles.
 
The Vikings have now won six Big Sky games in a row for the first time since the 2010-11 season, and can tie the school record for longest Big Sky winning streak with a win Saturday in a crucial, top-of-the-table matchup against Idaho.
 
"We just emphasized our defense and rebounding at halftime," PSU head coach Lynn Kennedy said of his team's second-half adjustments. "[The Eagles] were getting open looks and second chance opportunities. We needed to limit those looks and block out.
 
"Our rotations were better in the second half. They made some tough shots early and then we did a better job of anticipating those attempts in the second half."
 
Depth sparked the Vikings (14-2, 6-1 Big Sky) to the win over the Eagles (4-12, 3-4 Big Sky) Thursday – the team's first win in Cheney since an 86-74 win over the Eagles on Dec. 29, 2013. Five different Vikings scored in double figures for the first time this season. Sophomore point guard Kylie Jimenez led the team with her second straight 19-point game, while senior guard Ashley Bolston followed with 17 points to go with four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Seniors Sidney Rielly and Courtney West added 13 and 10 points, respectively, while freshman guard Desirae Hansen finished with 11 points and six rebounds.
 
"Everyone had excellent minutes today," Kennedy said of his team's depth. "We showed our balance in scoring once again. I thought we were sparked by our bench today. Des, Pia [Jurhar], Sav [Savannah Dhaliwal], Ana [Tainta], Labrea [Denson] all gave us good minutes to keep our intensity and energy up."
 
Hansen hit two big three-pointers for the Vikings when she subbed in at the mid-way point of the first quarter. The Eagles led early against the Vikings, but Hansen sandwiched two three-pointers around an EWU three to keep the Vikings within one at 15-14 with 2:54 to go. Hansen then gave the Vikings their first lead of the game with a pair of free throws with 17 seconds remaining that made it 18-17 PSU going into the second quarter.
 
The Vikings pushed their lead out to five points a couple of times in the second quarter, but the Eagles seemed to match every Viking run with a three to stay close. The Eagles made 5-of-8 shots from beyond the arc in the second quarter, and tied the game three different times with a three-pointer.
 
That changed in the third quarter, as the Vikings forced misses on the Eagles' first seven shots from deep after halftime. The Eagles didn't score at all until the 4:55 mark in the third quarter, and the Vikings immediately responded with a 12-0 run to take their largest lead of the game at 57-38 with 50 seconds remaining in the period.
 
Hansen fed Rielly for an easy layup with a full-court, left-handed pass near the start of the run, while Jimenez and Bolston teamed up for back-to-back steals that led to easy layups on the other end. The Vikings ended up outscoring the Eagles 20-5 in the third quarter while outshooting them .615-to-.154.
 
The Vikings maintained a comfortable lead throughout the fourth quarter, as the closest the Eagles got the rest of the way was within 11 points at 74-63 with 1:12 remaining.
 
The Vikings continued their strong run offensively in the game, as they shot .462 (24-of-52) against the Eagles – the fifth straight game the Vikings have shot better than 44 percent. The Vikings also held Eastern Washington to .350 (21-of-60) shooting from the field – the fifth time out of the past six games the Vikings have held their opponent to 35 percent shooting or worse.
 
The Vikings can now turn their attention to their big game against Idaho Saturday at 2 p.m. (PT) in Moscow, Idaho. The Vandals, who were picked to win the Big Sky before the season, host Sacramento State at 6 p.m. (PT) later tonight.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 30-37 overall against the Eagles with Thursday's win, and tied the Big Sky series at 22-22…Kennedy had never beaten Eastern Washington on the road before as the Vikings' head coach…Bolston's 17 points against the Eagles were her most since she scored 17 against UNLV on Dec. 15…The Vikings made a season-high 23 free throws Thursday, while going 23-of-29 as a team from the line.