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CEDAR CITY, Utah — The Portland State women's basketball team came into its games against Northern Arizona and Southern Utah this weekend having not swept a Big Sky road weekend since 2012. The Vikings emphatically snapped that run of futility, however, as they never trailed in either game while going coast-to-coast for an 81-56 win over the Thunderbirds Saturday, after leading throughout in a 74-59 win over the Lumberjacks Thursday.
 
The Vikings (19-4, 11-3 Big Sky) hadn't won both games of a Big Sky road weekend since they swept Northern Arizona and Weber State on Jan. 5 and 7, 2012, respectively. The Vikings have been solid on the road all season, as they are 6-2 in true road games after Saturday, which would be the team's best road record ever during the Big Sky era of the program if the season ended today.
 
"The team was really focused and prepared this weekend," PSU head coach Lynn Kennedy said of his team's performances on the road trip. "Both NAU and SUU are dangerous at home, but we were locked in defensively in both games and aggressive on the offensive end."
 
The road sweep put the Vikings back into first place of the Big Sky standings after Idaho lost 77-71 to Northern Colorado and Idaho State lost 60-59 to Montana in other action Saturday. The Vikings still have games against both Idaho and Idaho State on their schedule, but they control their own destiny now with six games remaining during the regular season.
 
The Vikings also matched their win total from last season with their 19th win of the season Saturday, but did it in nine fewer games than they did in 2017-18 when they went 19-13. The Vikings can now go for their first 20-win season since 2010-11, when they play next against Idaho State on Feb. 21.
 
That game should promise more drama than Saturday, when the Vikings took any tension out of the game early while going up 50-26 at halftime against the Thunderbirds (6-18, 3-12 Big Sky). The Vikings went 19-of-29 for a .655 field goal percentage in the first half against the Thunderbirds, including a 10-of-14 performance in the second quarter when the Vikings outscored the Thunderbirds 26-8.
 
"We were able to establish our offensive flow early in both games this weekend, and that gave us great shots at the basket," Kennedy said. "We were shot-ready and they were going in all weekend."
 
The Vikings took their first double-digit lead with nine straight points at the start of the second quarter, and then closed the half with 14 straight points. Seniors Sidney Rielly and Ashley Bolston traded off feeding the other for back-to-back three-pointers to make it 44-26 Vikings with 2:38 remaining before half. Bolston then stole the ball – one of four steals for the Viking senior in the game – the next time down the court, and kicked off a fast break where four of the five Vikings on the court touched the ball, leading to an easy layup for Rielly.
 
Rielly had 15 points by halftime against the Thunderbirds, and finished with a game-high 22 points off a career-best shooting performance in which she went 9-of-11 from the floor. Rielly has now scored in double figures in 12 straight games, and has averaged 18.3 points per game during that stretch. Rielly's 22 points Saturday also tied her with PSU hall-of-famer Claire Faucher (2006-10) for sixth all time in career scoring with 1,399 points.
 
Rielly wasn't alone Saturday, however, as six different Vikings had eight points or more by the midway point of the third quarter. Depth has been a major factor in the Vikings' past four games, as the Vikings also had six players with eight or more points against Sacramento State on Feb. 7, and then had five players with nine or more points against Northern Colorado (Feb. 9) and Northern Arizona (Feb. 14).
 
"Depth might prove to be the key factor in the Big Sky tournament with back-to-back games, and we've had that throughout the season but especially recently," Kennedy said. "We need everyone to continue to step up and compete at a high level."
 
Sophomore forward Savannah Dhaliwal has been the latest Viking to step up, as she's emerged as another scoring threat over the Vikings' past four games. Dhaliwal had 16 points in only 19 minutes played Saturday, matching the season high she set in the Vikings' 85-66 win over Northern Colorado last Saturday. Dhaliwal has now scored 48 points combined in the Vikings' past four games, nearly double the total she had scored – 25 points – in the Vikings' first 15 games of the season.
 
Senior forward Courtney West and sophomore point guard Kylie Jimenez joined Rielly and Dhaliwal in double figures Saturday, as they scored 13 and 11 points, respectively. West also went in double figures with 16 points in the Vikings' win over Northern Arizona Thursday, giving her back-to-back double-digit performances for the first time since she had 10 and 16 points against Weber State and Southern Utah on Jan. 12 and 17, respectively.
 
Jimenez, meanwhile, added eight assists against only two turnovers against the Thunderbirds, and now has 21 assists in the Vikings' past three games after she also had nine assists against Northern Colorado last Saturday.
 
Bolston chipped in nine points for the Vikings on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, while freshman guard Desirae Hansen had eight points, four rebounds and two assists while going 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
 
The Vikings continue on the road next weekend, as they play at Idaho State and Sacramento State next Thursday and Saturday, respectively. The Vikings face Idaho State in Pocatello, Idaho, at 7 p.m. (MT) Thursday, and then head to Sacramento, Calif., for their game against the Hornets at 2 p.m. (PT) Saturday.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 15-8 all time against the Thunderbirds with their win Saturday, as well as 5-7 in the Big Sky series…Saturday's 25-point road win was one point short of the program record for largest margin of victory in a Big Sky road game, which the Vikings set with two different 26-point wins over Sacramento State (97-73 on Jan. 29, 2011, 77-51 on Jan. 16, 2003)…Rielly moved into a tie for fourth all time with her 25th-career 20-point game…Bolston moved into a tie for seventh all time with 194 career steals after Saturday.