PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State women's basketball team stayed red hot while forcing Grand Canyon into an ice-cold shooting performance in a 69-46 win for the Vikings Friday at Viking Pavilion.
 
The Vikings (5-3) held the Lopes (2-4) to a .290 field goal percentage on 18-of-62 shooting from the floor, well below the Lopes' season average. The Lopes came into the game ranked seventh in the nation for field goal percentage while shooting .489 for the season. Additionally, the Lopes came in ranked third in the nation for three-point field goal percentage while shooting .473 from beyond the arc, but went just 2-of-17 against the Vikings.
 
"We really keyed in the last couple of days of practice about their shooting percentage," head coach Lynn Kennedy said of the team's defensive effort. "We knew we had to close out on their shooters. Allow them to attack, but also keep them in front. I thought we did a pretty good job on our rotations. In the second half especially, I thought we did a good job of getting key stops. Key rebounds. That's kind of what we've done the last couple of weeks, and we did it again tonight."
 
The Vikings have now won four games in a row over the last three weekends. The streak started with an 80-75 home win over a previously unbeaten Nevada team on Nov. 23. The Vikings then picked up two road wins over teams that won 20 or more games last season in UC Davis (76-70) and UC Irvine (70-61) last weekend.
 
The Viking defense has held its last two opponents to under 30 percent shooting, as UC Irvine shot.297 Monday followed by the Lopes' .290 performance Friday.
 
"We've been playing like there's just one game ahead of us," Kennedy said of the team's win streak. "With the Preseason WNIT and the travel, we've had to be locked in. We keep saying that we're learning for conference. I think that's what our mindset needs to be. To have played in the Preseason WNIT and have these games against tough, tough teams, that has to prepare us for conference."
 
Besides the defensive effort, the Vikings out-rebounded the Lopes 48-36, the fourth straight game in which the Vikings have won the battle on the boards. Posts Tatiana Streun and Jordan Stotler each finished with 11 rebounds, while Streun finished with five of the Vikings' 13 offensive rebounds.
 
Streun also led the Vikings with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, giving Streun her third double-double so far this season.
 
Streun scored 13 of her 17 points in the first half, as she led the Vikings to an 11-point halftime lead. The Vikings led for all but 18 seconds of the game, with their only deficit coming after GCU hit two free throws on the Lopes' first possession of the game.
 
A three-pointer by Cassidy Gardner gave the Vikings a 17-8 lead with 48 seconds remaining in the first quarter. GCU hit a three-pointer to get back within four on the opening possession of the second quarter, but Streun answered with a three-pointer less than a minute later that, and then hit a rebound basket to put the Vikings up 22-15 with 8:12 remaining before half.
 
Sophomore guard Desirae Hansen added a three-pointer of her own to make it 25-15, while Streun made another jumper in the paint to put the Vikings up 27-15 with 7:18 remaining.
 
A great post-to-post pass from Stotler to Streun led to another layup a few minutes later, giving the Vikings a 34-19 lead with 1:04 left before half.
 
Junior guard Kylie Jimenez took the baton from Streun in the second half, as she scored 14 of her 16 points after the break. Jimenez hit back-to-back three-pointers in the middle of the third quarter that came at the end of a 15-3 run for the Vikings. Jimenez hit a third three-pointer with 42 seconds left in the third quarter, giving the Vikings a 57-36 lead going into the fourth. 
 
Jimenez went 3-for-3 from deep in the third quarter, while the Vikings went 4-of-5 as a team. The Vikings finished the game 7-of-16 from beyond the arc, raising their percentage for the season to a Big Sky-leading .405.
 
The big lead let the Vikings get into the beautiful aspects of their game in the fourth quarter. Junior guard Labrea Denson opened the quarter with a pretty drive along the baseline, then hit Stotler with a pretty pass for a layup that made it 61-38 with 7:15 remaining.
 
Hansen provided another pretty assist with 1:45 remaining, passing out of a double team on the wing to a wide-open Marina Canzobre down low. Denson feathered a bounce pass through another double team on the Vikings' next possession, finding Canzobre who then passed to freshman Syd Schultz for an easy layup.
 
Nine of the Vikings' 10 dressed players scored for the Vikings Friday, led by Streun and Jimenez with 17 and 16 points, respectively. Hansen also hit double figures with 10 points to go with five assists, four rebounds and a career-high three blocks. Stotler finished a point away from a second straight double-double with nine points to go with her 11 rebounds.
 
The Vikings remain in the Portland area for their next game, as they head across the river for a game against the University of Portland, Dec. 15, at the Chiles Center. Tipoff for the Vikings' game against the Pilots will be at 2 p.m. (PT).
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improve to 9-0 all time against Grand Canyon…The Vikings doubled up the Lopes from the free-throw line, hitting 16 shots from the charity stripe to eight for the Lopes…The Vikings came into the game ranked third in the nation for free-throw percentage, and upped their average to .823 after going 16-of-19 from the line as a team…Grand Canyon's 46 points are a season low for a Viking opponent.