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EUGENE, Ore. — Facing a potential final four team in the first round of the NCAA tournament, the Portland State women's basketball team couldn't transfer it's Boise magic from the Big Sky tournament over to Matthew Knight Arena Friday. The Vikings stayed with the second-seeded Ducks early, but the Ducks' offense picked up from there to lead the Ducks to a 78-40 win in front of 6,523 of their home fans.
 
The loss ended the Vikings' historic season in which they won their first Big Sky tournament title since 2010, and advanced to the NCAA tournament for just the second time in program history. The Vikings finished the season 25-8 overall, setting a new school record for wins in a season during the program's Big Sky era.
 
The historic season came in only the fourth year under head coach Lynn Kennedy, and three seasons after the Vikings went 4-26 in Kennedy's first season at Portland State.
 
 "I'm so proud, humbled and honored to be the coach of this team," Kennedy said afterwards. "They'll go down as the best team in Portland State history, and that says a lot about them, their character and their work ethic." 
 
The Ducks (30-4) – ranked seventh in the last USA Today Coaches Poll before the tournament – won the battle of strengths between the two teams as their offense – one of the most efficient in the nation – shot well against the Vikings' defense, which came into the tournament ranked 11th in the nation for field goal percentage defense. The Ducks shot 60 percent from the floor in the first half against the Vikings while holding the Vikings to 30.4 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The Vikings found several open looks from beyond the arc but couldn't hit enough to keep the game close. The Vikings went 4-of-14 from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes, and finished the game 8-of-23 from outside.
 
The Vikings hit from deep early as freshman guard Desirae Hanen sank a three-pointer to bring the Vikings within one at 11-10, while sophomore point guard Kylie Jimenez followed with a three of her own the next time down the court to tie it at 13-13.
 
The Ducks got hot from there, however, shooting 13-of-18 from the 4:04 mark of the first quarter to the 3:45 mark of the second as they built a 39-20 lead. The Ducks closed the first quarter on a 9-2 run, and scored 11 straight points in the middle of the second to take their 19-point lead.
 
The Ducks then opened the second half with two early three-pointers, while the Vikings went scoreless over five-plus minutes as the Ducks stretched it to a 30-point game.
 
Jimenez snapped the cold spell at the start of the second half for the Vikings, hitting her second three-pointer of the game with 4:22 left in the period. Jimenez finished with seven points and four assists to go with two rebounds and two steals.
 
Senior guard Ashley Bolston hit two three-pointers later in the third quarter, and added another in the fourth as she went 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. The five three-pointers tied a career high for Bolston, who scored a team-high 19 points to go with three rebounds and two assists.
 
Bolston was playing in her final game as a Viking along with fellow seniors Pia Jurhar, Sidney Rielly and Courtney West. Jurhar was the lone Viking playing Friday that played in the Vikings' four-win 2015-16 season, while Bolston, Rielly and West all played their first seasons for the Vikings in 2016-17, and grew with the program from there.
 
"I think this made us hungrier," Kennedy said after the game. "It's tough to get back to this moment, but we're going to go to work again and be better the next time.
 
"When I arrived on campus, we had five players. After the first week, we had three. To see our seniors go to work and be committed to our program and build it, I can't say enough about them. It wasn't our best game tonight, but I'm proud of them."
 
Game Notes: The Vikings are 0-2 now in the NCAA tournament, having also lost 84-53 to Texas A&M in the first round of the 2010 NCAA tournament…The Vikings are now 10-28 all time against the Ducks…Corey James did not play in Friday's first-round game due to being medically retired, but closed her Viking career along with Bolston, Jurhar, Rielly and West…Around 250 Viking fans made the trip down from Portland for the game.