PORTLAND, Ore. — Junior guard Kylie Jimenez hit a three-pointer to bring the Portland State women's basketball team level with No. 23-ranked Tennessee at 24-24 with 7:07 left in the second quarter. That was as close as the Vikings would get the rest of the way, however, as Tennessee closed the half on a 16-2 run, then stretched their lead to 30 points with a 19-2 run midway through the third quarter.
 
In the end, Tennessee beat the Vikings 88-61 Saturday, snapping the Vikings' five-game winning streak in front of a record-setting 1,748 fans at Viking Pavilion.
 
"I'm not taking anything away from Tennessee, they're a good team, but we didn't do the things we needed to tonight," PSU head coach Lynn Kennedy said. "Twenty-eight second-chance points. Twenty offensive rebounds. Let's start there. It's a different game if we block out with a purpose like we've been talking about for the last month.
 
"Offensively, we had good flow in the first quarter. We were intense. Emotions were running high and shots were going in. But when shots didn't go in during the second and third quarters, what did we do? We didn't get those stops, we didn't get those rebounds.
 
"Overall, I think this prepares us for next week going into conference," Kennedy said. "I think it prepares us for the postseason if we do get back there this season, and that's what you have to take away from this game."
 
While the outcome didn't go the Vikings' way Saturday, it was a unique home game for the Vikings at Viking Pavilion. The Vikings hadn't hosted an AP-ranked team since Dec. 23, 2000, two days short of 19 years ago. Additionally, the Vikings had never faced the legendary Tennessee Lady Vols (9-2) program, winners of eight NCAA national titles.
 
What's more, Saturday's crowd of 1,748 fans were the most ever for a Portland State women's basketball home game. The previous recorded was 1,500, set when the Vikings sold out their games against Southern Utah (2/22/14) and Northern Colorado (3/1/14) during the 2013-14 season.
 
"It's amazing to see. I know they had a lot of fans here too, but it's amazing to see the support for women's basketball in Portland. It's there," Kennedy said of the crowd. "A game like this is so good for our community and fans as well as our players and our program. To look out at the stands and see all the fans here tonight, it was kind of emotional to see all those people there. Hopefully we can bring them back and keep it going next home game." 
 
The Vikings gave the record crowd a thrill early when they overcame a 9-0 deficit to tie the game at 12. The Vikings hit four three-pointers to tie the game, including two back-to-back for freshman Belle Frazier.
 
Jimenez hit a mid-range jumper off the dribble to give the Vikings their first lead of the game at 16-14 with 1:25 left in the first quarter. Desirae Hansen hit a three-pointer to give the Vikings another lead at 19-16, and the Vikings led 19-18 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Five of the Vikings' first seven field goals came from beyond the arc, as the Vikings went 5-of-10 from deep in the first quarter. Jimenez added a sixth three-pointer with her tying shot with 7:07 left, but the Vikings went cold from there.
 
The Vikings shot just 5-of-26 over the second and third quarters, allowing Tennessee to stretch its lead to 65-35 by the end of the third quarter.
 
Rebounding proved key during the Lady Vols' dominance in the second and third quarters, as Tennessee's length started to give the Vikings trouble. The Lady Vols, who have only one player shorter than six feet on their roster, out-rebounded the Vikings 56-26, while the Lady Vols scored 28 second-chance points off of 20 offensive rebounds.
 
The Vikings knew going into Saturday's game that rebounding would be key. The Lady Vols came into the game ranked second in the NCAA with 51.2 rebounds per game, while the Vikings were 0-3 when losing the rebounding battle this season.
 
Senior forward Jordan Stotler, the tallest Viking, played well amid the Lady Vols' length. Stotler finished with a program record-tying nine blocks against the Lady Vols, seven of which came in the first quarter. The record for an opposing player against the Lady Vols is 11 blocks, just two more than what Stotler recorded Saturday.
 
Stotler added nine points to her nine blocks, while she finished with five rebounds (three offensive) and three steals.
 
Hansen had a tough shooting game against the Lady Vols, going 3-of-16 overall, but still filled the stat sheet with 10 points to go with seven rebounds and seven assists.
 
Jimenez led the Vikings with 15 points while she, Frazier and freshman Cassidy Gardner all finished with three makes from beyond the arc.
 
Gardner hit all three of her three-pointers in the fourth quarter as the Vikings got hot again in the final period. The Vikings went 6-of-11 from deep in the fourth quarter, giving the Vikings 12 made three-pointers overall in the game. The 12 three-pointers are one off the program record the Vikings tied with 13 three-pointers in their season opener against Multnomah on Nov. 5.
 
Saturday's game closed out the non-conference schedule for the Vikings, who now take a week off before opening Big Sky play at Northern Colorado on Dec. 28. Tipoff between the Vikings and the Bears will be at 2 p.m. (MT) at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, Colo.
 
Game Notes: Saturday's game was the first-ever meeting between the Vikings and Lady Vols…Jimenez moved into the all-time top 10s for assists and three-pointers made with her performance Saturday…Jimenez now ranks tied for eighth in three-pointers made with 126 in her career…Jimenez ranks 10th all time with 343 career assists.