BOISE, Idaho — The Portland State women's basketball team picked up some hardware Monday, as five Vikings were named either individual award winners within the Big Sky Conference, or to the All-Big Sky teams.
 
Senior forward Courtney West headlined the award winners for the Vikings, as she was named the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year Monday. West becomes only the second Viking to earn the award, and the first since Kelsey Kahle won the award following the 2008-09 season. Freshman forward Desirae Hansen was named the Co-Top Reserve within the Big Sky Conference alongside Eastern Washington's Uriah Howard, while senior guards Sidney Rielly and Ashley Bolston were named to the All-Big Sky first and second teams, respectively. Sophomore point guard Kylie Jimenez was also named an All-Big Sky honorable mention.
 
West's Defensive Player of the Year honor comes after she led the Big Sky in blocked shots for the third straight season as a senior. West leads the Big Sky and ranks fifth in the nation with 2.9 blocks per game, and broke her own school record for blocks in a game with nine against Southern Utah on Jan. 17. West holds the triple crown of blocked shot records at Portland State, as she owns the records for blocks in a game (9), season (94) and career (253).
 
West also ranks fourth all time for blocked shots within the Big Sky Conference, and needs only five more to match Montana's Carly Selvig (2011-14) for third all time.
 
West's interior defense has also helped the Vikings lead the Big Sky and rank 11th in the nation with a field goal percentage defense of .350. The Vikings have held 21 of their 29 opponents to under 40 percent shooting from the floor, and have held 14 opponents to under 35 percent. Weber State failed to shoot over 20 percent against the Vikings in their game on Jan. 31 – the first time the Vikings have held an opponent to under 20 percent since game-by-game records go back through the 2006-07 season. The 38 points the Vikings gave up to the Wildcats in that game were also the fewest points the Vikings have conceded to a Big Sky opponent since they held Eastern Washington to 36 points on Jan. 25, 1997 – the Vikings' first year in the conference.
 
"From day one, Courtney worked on her defensive footwork and how to block shots, using her length and athleticism," Kennedy said of West. "In the past two seasons, Courtney has developed into a dominate defensive presence. She anchors our defense and it is imposing for teams to try to score at the basket around a 6-4 player. Not only is she one of the all-time best shot blockers in Big Sky history, we also ask her to do so much in our defensive sets and she always steps up to the challenge."
 
Like West, Hansen is only the second player in program history to earn her award, as she joins Robbie Nix as the only two Vikings to be named the Big Sky Conference's Top Reserve. Nix was named the Big Sky's Top Reserve following the 1998-99 season, 20 years before Hansen shared the award with the Eagles' Howard.
 
Hansen earned the honor after averaging 8.3 points per game in Big Sky play while coming off the bench for all 29 contests this season. Hansen played her best game in the Vikings' regular-season finale, as she scored 20 of her game-high 22 points in the first half of the Vikings' 68-55 win over Montana State Saturday. Hansen was 8-of-10 from the floor in the first half against the Bobcats, and made her first six shots in the game. Hansen's 22 points against the Bobcats were the most by a Viking freshman in a Big Sky game since Kian McNair scored 22 against Montana on Feb. 6, 2016.
 
Hansen added 10 rebounds against the Bobcats, too, giving the freshman her first-career double-double to go along with four assists, a block and a steal.
 
"Des has stepped up her game during the conference season," Kennedy said. "She is an instant spark for us off the bench not only offensively, but also with her intensity and energy. This will be an important off season for her as she continues to develop her game to get to the next level."
 
Rielly, meanwhile, made the All-Big Sky first team as a senior after being named to the All-Big Sky third team the past two seasons. Rielly is the Vikings' first All-Big Sky first-team honoree since Eryn Jones earned first-team honors following the 2010-11 season.
 
Rielly earned the first-team honors after leading the Vikings with 14.6 points per game this season. Rielly scored in double figures in 12 straight games during the middle of the Big Sky season, and averaged 18.3 points per game during that run. Rielly is also the only player in the Big Sky Conference to rank in the top 10 for both overall field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage. Rielly ranks sixth in the Big Sky with an overall field goal percentage of .465, and ranks fourth in the conference with a .408 three-point field goal percentage.
 
Rielly's moved up the career rankings at Portland State as a senior, as well. Rielly passed Kim Manifesto (1992-96) for fourth all time on the career scoring list at Portland State with 11 points against Montana last Thursday. Rielly, who became just the third Viking to reach the 1,000-point club in only two years at Portland State, now has 1,460 points in her Viking career. Rielly also ranks in the top 10 all time for scoring average (6th, 15.5), 10-point (T-5th, 71), 20-point (4th, 26) and 30-point (T-6th, 3) games.
 
Rielly is the only player in program history to simultaneously rank in the career top 10s for field goal percentage (10th, .486) and three-pointers made (5th, 139).
 
"Sidney has developed into a complete basketball player," Kennedy said of Rielly. "She focused on her attacks to the basket and her defense this past off season and it paid off. She is now a multi-dimensional player.
 
"We ask her to do a lot for us offensively and on the defensive end. She is so active and athletic, which gives us an edge in our defensive schemes. She has left her mark among the PSU all-time records."
 
Bolston will also leave as one of the all-time greats, and earned her third straight selection to the All-Big Sky second team Monday. Bolston earned her latest second-team selection after ranking in the top five of the Big Sky for assists per game (4th, 4.7), free throw percentage (5th, .805) and steals per game (2nd, 2.6).
 
Bolston also had two triple-doubles during the non-conference season, tying the record for most triple-doubles in a season that hall-of-famer Claire Faucher (2006-10) set with two during the 2007-08 season. Bolston recorded the first triple-double by a Viking since 2013 with 21 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in the Vikings' 65-50 win over UC Davis on Nov. 16. Bolston then came within a steal of a quadruple-double while recording 19 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds and nine steals in the Vikings' 92-79 win over the University of Portland on Dec. 1.
 
Like Rielly, Bolston has also moved up the all-time rankings in her final year as a Viking. Bolston entered the career top 10 for scoring with eight points against Idaho on Feb. 28, and heads into the Big Sky tournament ranked 10th all time with 1,272 points. Bolston is only the third Viking to rank in the career top 10s for points, assists (7th, 368) and steals (5th, 209), joining Faucher and Manifesto.
 
"Ashley is a high-level player that does so much for this team, which was evident when she was close to a quadruple-double against Portland," Kennedy said of Bolston. "She worked this off season on improving the consistency of her shot and this past month, she has stepped up in critical times and hit key three-point shots. She has such a unique game where she can play inside and outside and dominate at any time. Her length and athleticism starts our defense every possession and she has done an unbelievable job of being that presence for us. Ashley will leave PSU as one of the most dynamic players ever to wear the Viking uniform."

Monday's honors for West, Rielly and Bolston serve as further commemoration of how far they've advanced the Viking program as seniors. The team won only four games during their redshirt season in 2015-16, but have won 22 games this season going into the Big Sky tournament. The 22 wins is only one off the program's Big Sky era record for wins in a season, which the 2008-09 Vikings set while going 23-10. This season also stands as the Vikings' first 20-win season since 2010-11, as well just the fourth 20-win season during the program's Big Sky era.
 
Jimenez, finally, earned All-Big Sky honorable mention after being named the Big Sky Freshman of the Year last season. Jimenez led the Big Sky with 2.7 steals per game, and ranked third in the conference in both assists per game (4.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2). Jimenez had two games with six steals this season, including the Vikings' game against UC Irvine on Dec. 18, when she also set a career high with 28 points. Jimenez also tied her career high with nine assists during two different games in Big Sky play, as she had nine assists against Montana on Jan. 5 and Northern Colorado on Feb. 9.
 
Jimenez's contributions have helped the Vikings lead the Big Sky as a team in steals per game (10.0) and assists per game (17.7). The Vikings already have 514 assists this season, just 21 behind the program's Big Sky-era record of 535, set during the 2007-08 season. 
 
"Kylie has taken her game to the next level this year," Kennedy said of Jimenez. "One of our most consistent players, she leads our offense that ranks 11th in the nation in assists.
 
"She put a lot of time in the gym this past off season to work on her game. She greatly improved her speed, tempo, attack and her outside shot. It definitely paid off. There are so many great players in the Big Sky who were upperclass players this season. This honor shows that she will be one of the players to watch next year."
 
The Vikings open the Big Sky tournament Tuesday, when they face Montana State in the quarterfinals at 2:30 p.m. (MT).