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BOISE, Idaho — Twelve years since its last win over Idaho, eight years since its last appearance in the Big Sky championship game, the Portland State women's basketball team accomplished both Wednesday, upsetting regular-season champion and No. 1-seeded Idaho 75-59 in the semifinals of the Big Sky tournament, presented by My Place Hotels, at CenturyLink Arena.
 
The Vikings will now play in the championship game of the Big Sky tournament Friday at 1 p.m. (MT) against either second-seeded Northern Colorado or sixth-seeded Eastern Washington. Winner of that game advances to the NCAA tournament, where the Vikings haven't been since the 2009-10 season.
 
"I'm just proud of our players," Portland State head coach Lynn Kennedy said afterwards. "We had to play the perfect game, and I think we got it. Our assistant coaches came up with a great game plan, and our players executed it perfectly. I mean to guard those two players [Idaho's Taylor Pierce and Mikayla Ferenz, both All-Big Sky first-team selections] the way they did, was outstanding. We put a lot of time and effort into this game, and to see our streak against Idaho come to an end in this situation says a lot about our team and their character."
 
The Vikings (24-7) had lost 10 straight games to the Vandals (20-11), including a 102-99 loss in the semifinals of last year's Big Sky tournament in Reno, Nev. The Vandals had also swept the Vikings in the regular season, beating the Vikings 80-78 at their place on Jan. 26, and 81-68 at the Viking Pavilion on Feb. 28. Wednesday's win marked the Vikings' first win over the Vandals since Dec. 8, 2007.
 
Portland State held Idaho – the nation's top three-point shooting team with an average of 11.6 three-pointers made per game – to only six three-pointers in their game Wednesday. Additionally, three of those six came in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter as the Vandals were trying to make up a double-digit deficit. The Vandals finished 6-of-29 for a .207 three-point field goal percentage in the game – their worst three-point field goal percentage against any Big Sky opponent this season.
 
It was a far cry from the Vikings' first two games against the Vandals this season, when the Vandals hit 13 three-pointers against the Vikings on Jan. 26, and 15 three-pointers in their game on Feb. 28. Idaho's Taylor Pierce, who came into the game leading the nation with 4.55 three-pointers made per game, totaled 11 three-pointers between those two wins for the Vandals, but went 0-of-12 from beyond the arc Wednesday.
 
"We had to use our length today," Kennedy said in regards to the Vikings' defense on the Vandals' three-point shooters. "When we played them at our place, they were launching from 10, 15 feet past the three-point line so we knew we had to take it away. We were quicker on our rotations tonight, and our angles were great.
 
"They're such good players that if you take the three away, then they can start driving. Courtney [West] did a great job being a presence in the paint for us. She didn't need to stop every shot necessarily, but she was enough for them to think twice about shooting it or passing it for a kick out."
 
The Vikings maintained their high level of defensive intensity throughout the game, disappointing the Vandal fans who were assuming that their team's three-point shooting would turn around at some point during the game. Instead, the Vikings extended a four-point halftime lead into double digits by the end of the third quarter, and maintained at least an eight-point lead throughout the fourth quarter.
 
Free throw shooting helped the Vikings stay ahead, as they were a perfect 19-of-19 from the line, including a perfect 10-of-10 in the fourth quarter. The Vikings' 19 makes set a new program record for makes without a miss in a single game, and came a day after the Vikings went 23-of-25 from the line in their 68-56 quarterfinal win over Montana State Tuesday.
 
Sophomore point guard Kylie Jimenez went 8-of-8 from the line – all coming in the fourth quarter – giving her a game-high 22 points to go along with nine assists and two steals. Senior guard Ashley Bolston also went 7-of-7 from the free throw line, and finished with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting to go with eight rebounds.
 
In addition to her perfect shooting from the line, Jimenez went 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, making her the surprise leader for makes from beyond the arc in the game.
 
Every one of Jimenez's three-pointers seemed to come at a critical time for the Vikings. Jimenez hit her first three-pointer with 4:24 left in the first quarter, giving the Vikings an early 11-7 lead. Jimenez followed with her second at the 8:13 mark of the second quarter that kicked off a 7-0 PSU run to give the Vikings their largest lead of the game to that point at 25-18.
 
Jimenez's third three-pointer capped a 7-0 run at the start of the third quarter that put the Vikings up 39-30 with 5:12 left in the period. Idaho's Mikayla Ferenz, who was named the Big Sky MVP before the tournament started on Monday, answered with a three-pointer of her own on the Vandals' next possession, but that would be the closest the Vandals would get the rest of the way.
 
Jimenez's fourth three-pointer was the dagger in the game, as it gave the Vikings at 12-point lead at 63-51 with 2:58 remaining. The Vikings maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
 
Bolston did not hit a three-pointer Wednesday, but instead came up with big post-up after post-up while Jimenez was hitting from the outside. Bolston posted up Ferenz for a bucket during the Vikings' 7-0 at the start of the third quarter, and then did it again as Jimenez fed her over the top to give the Vikings their first 10-point lead at 43-33 with four minutes to go in the third quarter.
 
Senior guard Sidney Rielly also came alive in the second half after missing her first six shots from the field. Rielly also had a tough shooting night Tuesday, when she went 2-of-12 from the field, but found her stroke in the third quarter against the Vandals. Rielly – named to the All-Big Sky first team Monday – hit her last five shots in the game, and finished with 11 points to with seven rebounds and two assists.
 
Freshman guard Desirae Hansen battled through some early foul trouble to score in double figures for the second straight game. Hansen had 10 points against the Bobcats Tuesday, and matched that with 10 more against the Vandals Wednesday. Hansen scored her 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field, while adding four rebounds, three assists and a block.
 
Senior forward Courtney West did not go into double figures, but led the Vikings with 11 rebounds in the game, six coming on the offensive end. West's post presence helped the Vikings out-rebound the Vandals 44-33, as the Vikings held them to only five second-chance points.
 
Like the three-point shooting, that was a major change from the Vikings' first two games against the Vandals this season. Idaho out-rebounded the Vikings in both games, and scored 15 and 16 second-chance points between their wins on Jan. 26 and Feb. 28, respectively.
 
"We talked a lot about rebounding, especially in the second quarter at the media timeout," Kennedy said. "We thought they were getting too many second-chance points and we had to lock that up. We said that if we could rebound the ball better, then we could extend our lead, which we did in the third and fourth quarters."
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 13-26 all time against the Vandals with Wednesday's win…The Vikings set a new school record for wins in a season with the win during the program's Big Sky era, as it was their 24th of the season...Bolston passed Kelli Valentine (2007-11) for ninth all time in career scoring at Portland State, and now has 1,299 points in her Viking career…Senior forward Pia Jurhar played eight minutes for the Vikings in the game, moving her up to sixth all time in games played with the 120th appearance of her career…West and Rielly also moved up to ninth all time with their 93rd career starts.