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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Call it "The Great Response."
 
After suffering a deflating loss on the road against Idaho State Thursday, the Portland State women's basketball team answered every question asked of them following that game while beating Sacramento State 75-57 Saturday in The Nest. The Vikings reached their 20th win on the season with the victory, marking the program's first 20-win season since the 2010-11 season, and just the fourth 20-win season in the program's Big Sky era.
 
"We came out a little flat because of our travel day yesterday, but we responded in the second quarter," PSU head coach Lynn Kennedy said of his team's response against the Hornets. "Getting to 20 wins shows that the hard work by the players and the coaches has paid off this season. The best part is we are not done yet, but I'm extremely proud of this team and all they have accomplished so far."
 
The Vikings (20-5, 12-4 Big Sky) went just 4-of-21 in the second half against Idaho State Thursday, turning a tied game at halftime into a 72-54 loss to the Bengals that knocked the Vikings out of first place in the Big Sky standings. Facing the Hornets (10-13, 6-9 Big Sky) just over 36 hours later, the Vikings showed their mettle, both in response to Thursday's loss but also in response to the Hornets.
 
The Hornets missed their first eight shots of the game, but then hit six in a row and took a 26-19 lead with 8:38 remaining in the second quarter. Senior guard Ashley Bolston hit three shots from beyond the arc to keep the Vikings in the game in the first quarter, and added a fourth trey with 7:39 remaining before half that gave her 12 of the Vikings' first 22 points in the game.
 
Bolston was putting together her own individual response to Thursday's game – a game in which she finished with only two points while taking just two shots from the field. Bolston atoned for that early with her three first-quarter three-pointers, and would continue to atone for it as the game went on.
 
Bolston's fourth three-pointer, which set a new career high for the Viking senior, kicked off a 7-0 run that brought the Vikings' level again at 26-26. Sophomore forward Savannah Dhaliwal – continuing her hot run of play of late – assisted on a jumper from freshman Desirae Hansen to make it 26-24 Hornets, and then tied the game herself with a put back off a missed three-pointer from Hansen.
 
Dhaliwal scored again to make it 33-31 a little later, giving the Vikings their first lead since midway through the first quarter. Dhaliwal also hit the final shot of the first half to make it 37-31 Vikings going into the break.
 
The Vikings scored the final nine points of the second quarter, and finished the half on an 18-5 run.
 
The Vikings stretched it to a 12-point lead at the 7:24 mark of the third quarter when Bolston hit her fifth three-pointer of the game to make it 45-33 Vikings.
 
The Hornets answered Bolston's three with an 11-2 run, however, getting them back within three points at 47-44 with 3:09 remaining in the third quarter. Bolston and the Vikings came with up with another response out of a timeout, however, and took back control of the game over the next minute-plus.
 
Bolston snapped the Hornets' run with a jumper despite being fouled while driving across the paint to her left. Bolston missed the following free throw, but junior forward Jordan Stotler got the offensive rebound and hit a jumper to make it a four-point possession for the Vikings. Bolston then collected a loose ball on the Hornets' next possession, and led a fast break that ended in another layup for Dhaliwal off a no-look pass from Bolston. Bolston got another steal on the following possession, and took it all the way for a three-point play.
 
Bolston's one-woman steal, fast break and three-point play made it 56-44 Vikings with 1:45 remaining, just 84 seconds after the Hornets had cut the Vikings' lead to three at 47-44.
 
"I told them in the huddle, 'we have the lead. Get back to what made us successful.' We were tentative, and we just needed to get back to attacking," Kennedy said of the Vikings' turnaround late in the third quarter.
 
The Vikings didn't let up from there, as they opened the fourth quarter with a 13-3 run. By the time Dhaliwal converted a three-point play off a no-look pass from Labrea Denson, it was a 73-49 game with 2:01 remaining. The Vikings had outscored the Hornets 26-5 over the last 10+ minutes, turning what was once a tense game at 47-44 in the third quarter into another blowout victory.
 
Bolston finished with a season-high 22 points against the Hornets, just her second 20-point game this season. Bolston scored her 22 points while going 7-of-11 overall and 5-of-9 from the beyond arc, and chipped in six assists and two steals.
 
"Ashley was in one of those zones today," Kennedy said of Bolston. "You could see it in her eyes. She could have scored more but she did a great job finding the open person in the second half."
 
Senior forward Courtney West also had one of her best games in Big Sky play, as she finished with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting while adding seven rebounds, six blocks and two steals.
 
West had two blocks back-to-back with just over a minute gone in the second quarter, the second of which moved her past Montana's Lisa McLeod (1985-89) for fourth place all time in career blocks within the Big Sky Conference. West now has 240 career blocks after Saturday, more than double any other player in program history as Kelli Chandler-Read (1994-97) ranks No. 2 with 118.
 
Dhaliwal, meanwhile, added 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting for the Vikings, while finishing with eight rebounds and a career-high four assists. Dhaliwal has now scored 75 points in the Vikings' past six games – an average of 12.5 points per game – after she had only 25 points through the Vikings' first 19 games of the season.
 
Junior forward Jordan Stotler also had her best game in recent weeks, as she finished a point away from a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds.
 
Saturday's response win over the Hornets gives the Vikings momentum going into their big game against Idaho Thursday, when they'll host the Vandals with first place in the Big Sky standings on the line. The Vikings will host the Vandals at 7 p.m. (PT) at the Viking Pavilion.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 30-18 in the overall series and 28-18 in the Big Sky series against Sacramento State with their win over the Hornets Saturday…The Vikings have won four straight in their series against the Hornets, including their last three road games…Bolston now has 1,234 points in her Viking career, and will enter the top 10 all time if she can score at least six points against Idaho Thursday…Bolston also moved up to seventh all time in career assists (348) during Saturday's game, and took over sixth place all time on her own in career steals (199).