TIPOFF

With six of the Portland State women's basketball team's first seven games having been canceled so far this season, the Vikings understandably rejoiced when they were able to add a game to their schedule earlier this week. The Vikings will now face Air Force Monday, with a 1 p.m. (PT) / 2 p.m. (MT) tipoff scheduled at the Falcons' Clune Arena.
 
It'll be the second game of the season for the Vikings, who are coming off a 63-53 win over Dixie State on Dec. 16. It had been 281 days since the Vikings last played, and it took until the second half for the Vikings to find their basketball legs. The Vikings trailed 37-28 at the 7:13 mark of the third quarter, but then went on a 28-6 run over the next 13 minutes of game time that put the game away.
 
Desirae Hansen and Tatiana Streun led the Vikings in the second half as they did most of their damage after halftime. Streun scored 14 of her 16 points after the break, including seven straight to close out the Vikings' 28-6 second-half run. Streun finished two rebounds shy of a double-double with 16 points and eight rebounds, with all but two points and two rebounds of that coming in the second half.
 
Hansen, meanwhile, went into halftime just 2-of-8 from the field, and fell to 2-of-10 at the early point of the third quarter. Hansen found her stroke from there, however, making four of her last five shots while scoring 13 of her game-high 18 points in the second half. Hansen led the Vikings or tied for the lead in four different statistical categories between points (18), rebounds (9), assists (3) and steals (3).
 
As a team, the Vikings' return to play brought some understandably streaky shooting along with it. The Vikings opened the game 6-of-20 from the field, but then went into halftime hitting three of their last four. The team went cold again at the start of the third quarter – hitting just one of their first 10 out of halftime – but then closed the game 7-of-11 (.636) from the field in the fourth quarter.
 
The Vikings' lack of practice helped explain away most of the streaky shooting. The team wasn't cleared for 5-on-5 practices until Nov. 25, and a two-week quarantine soon after that date meant the Vikings went into their game against Dixie State with only seven 5-on-5 practices under their belt.
 
That number will have nearly doubled before the Vikings face Air Force. Additionally, the Vikings can lean on a defense that held Dixie State to just 34.5 percent from the field and forced 19 turnovers. It's still early in the season, but the Vikings lead the Big Sky in both of those categories, while they rank in the top 20 of the NCAA for scoring defense (53.0) and turnover margin (+7.0).
 
Air Force comes in with more games under their belt than Dixie State, however, and the Falcons won their last game, an 82-79 victory over Denver on Dec. 20. That game was a rematch of an game earlier in the season, when Denver beat the Falcons 72-56 on Nov. 25. The Falcons followed that with losses to Colorado (88-46) and Western Colorado (77-70).
 
It's not hard to identify the leaders for the Falcons, as only three players average more than 5.0 points per game. Briana Autrey-Thompson leads the Falcons with 18.3 points per game, while Riley Snyder and Kaelin Immel average 17.3 and 11.0, respectively. Immel made the All-Mountain West first team last season, but hasn't played in the Falcons' last two games. Snyder has taken over in place of Immel, averaging 26.0 points per game over the last two games, including a career-high 28 in the team's win over Denver.
 
Autrey-Thompson, meanwhile, should prove a formidable presence on both ends of the court, as she ranks third in the NCAA with 4.5 steals per game in addition to leading the Falcons in scoring. Autrey-Thompson had seven steals against Western Colorado while also adding 26 points, five assists and four rebounds.
 
The Vikings' game against Falcons should lead in nicely to the team's Big Sky opener against Eastern Washington next weekend. The Vikings host the Eagles in a two-game homestand starting Thursday, just three days after the Vikings face the Falcons.
 
Beyond preparing for their Big Sky schedule, though, just playing remains something for the Vikings to celebrate this season.
 

GAME NOTES: PORTLAND STATE (1-0) vs. AIR FORCE (1-3)

LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
DETAILS: Monday, Dec. 28, 1 p.m. (PT) / 2 p.m. (MT), USAFA, Colo. (Clune Arena)
SCOUTING AIR FORCE: The Air Force Falcons earned their first win of the season on Dec. 20, beating Denver 82-79 in a rematch of a game they played earlier in the season. Denver beat Air Force 72-56 on the first day of the season, while losses to Colorado (88-46) and Western Colorado (77-70) followed. Riley Snyder scored the last six points of the Falcons' win over Denver, while the Falcons shut out Denver over the final two minutes of the game. Snyder ranks second on the team with 17.3 points per game so far this season as one of three main scorers for the Falcons. Briana Autrey-Thompson leads the Falcons with 18.3 points per game, while Kaelin Immel averages 11.0, though she hasn't played in the Falcons' last two games. No other player averages more than 5.0 points per game. Autrey-Thompson averages 4.5 steals per game, a mark that ranks her third in the nation this season. Autrey had seven steals against Western Colorado to go with 26 points, five assists and four rebounds. Snyder, meanwhile, has averaged 26.0 points per game over the team's last two games, including a career-high 28 in the win over Denver. The Falcons returned all five starters from last season's team that went 10-21 overall and 7-11 in the Mountain West Conference. Autrey-Thompson, Snyder and Immel were all starters last season, along with Emily Conroe and Haley Jones. Immel led the Falcons with 15.3 points per game last season, when she was the lone Air Force player to make the All-Mountain West first team. Immel was also named the Mountain West Freshman of the Year following the 2017-18 season.
ALL-TIME SERIES: This will be the first-ever meeting between the Vikings and Falcons. The Vikings have only played two games against the other service academies between a 69-55 loss to Army during the 2003-04 season, and a 56-50 win over Navy on Dec. 5, 2014.
 

STORYLINES/STREAKS/RECORDS

• Six of the Vikings' seven scheduled games have been canceled so far this season. The Vikings' lone game played so far came on Dec. 16, when the Vikings beat Dixie State 63-53.
• The Vikings played their season opener against Dixie State with only seven 5-on-5 practices under their belts. The Vikings did not have an exemption to practice 5-on-5 until Nov. 25, the official opening date of the season. However, practice was shut down again four days later for a two-week quarantine and didn't resume again until Dec. 10.
• The Vikings' lack of practice showed itself early in their game against Dixie State, as they fell behind early and shot just 14-of-44 (.318) from the field through the first three quarters of the game. The Vikings found their basketball legs in the second half, however, as a 28-6 run from the 7:13 mark of the third quarter to the 4:26 mark of the fourth turned a 37-28 deficit into a 56-43 advantage. The Vikings also shot 7-of-11 (.636) in the fourth quarter after struggling from the field earlier.
• Desirae Hansen and Tatiana Streun led the Vikings' second-half resurgence. Streun scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half, with nine coming in the fourth quarter. Hansen scored 13 of her 18 points after halftime, and hit four of her last five shots after starting the game 2-of-10 from the field.
• The Vikings lead the Big Sky in field goal percentage defense (.345), scoring defense (53.0) and turnover margin (+7.0).
• Desirae Hansen has scored 10 or more points in 13 straight games, and has four 20-point games out of her last seven for the Vikings.
• Kylie Jimenez is 57 assists, 25 steals and 32 three-pointers away from becoming the only player in Portland State history to have 1,000 points, 500 assists, 250 steals and 200 three-pointers in her career.
• Jenna Kilty earned a start in her first-career game as a Viking against Dixie State, and led all five Viking freshmen with seven points in the game. The Vikings' four other freshmen also made their Viking debuts between Nakia Boston (13 min, three steals), Morgan Baird (10 min, two rebounds), Itziar Ugarte (8 min, three points) and Reilly Kelty (1 min).
• Portland State will be without a 6-4 forward starting in the middle of its defense for the first time since the 2015-16 season. Courtney West and Jordan Stotler – the two-best shot blockers in program history – graduated following each of the past two seasons.

 

LONG-RANGE BOMBERS

The Vikings set a program record with 261 made three-pointers last season, and set a Big Sky-era program record while shooting 37.3 percent from deep. And yet, head coach Lynn Kennedy says this year's team could be an even better outside shooting team. No one will know for sure until a few games into the season – the Vikings went 5-of-15 (.333) from deep in their season opener against Dixie State – but the Vikings should have plenty of firepower from deep. Kylie Jimenez and Desirae Hansen both made 60 or more three-pointers last season, while Jada Lewis will start the season healthier than she was as a freshman when she would have been one of the Vikings' better outside shooters if not for an injury that kept her out of 18 games in the middle of the season. Freshmen Jenna Kilty and Itziar Ugarte hit their first-career three-pointers against Dixie State, and should be additional threats from the outside this season. Morgan Baird and Nakia Boston did not score in their Viking debuts against Dixie State, but could also contribute to the Vikings' potency from three-point range.
 

HOT-HAND HANSEN

Desirae Hansen finished her sophomore season playing the best basketball of her Viking career. The Vikings will count on her to continue that into her junior year, when she will be a second-year starter and a returning All-Big Sky third-team selection. Hansen scored 20-plus points in four of the Vikings' last six games of last season, including a career-high 27 points in the Vikings' first-round win over Eastern Washington at the Big Sky tournament. Hansen shot lights out during that final stretch, hitting 51.2 percent of her shots from the outside while making 3.67 three-pointers a game. Hansen started just 2-of-10 from the field in the Vikings' season opener against Dixie State on Dec. 16, but then hit four of her last five shots while scoring 13 of her game-high 18 points in the second half. Hansen led or tied for the team lead in four different categories in the game between points (18), rebounds (9), assists (3) and steals (3). The now-junior guard also went 2-of-4 from three-point range against Dixie State, ranking her 29th in the nation for three-point field goal percentage in the young season.
 

GET YOUR OWN TOTS!

Fifth-year senior Tatiana Streun enters her second year as a starter and first year as a team captain this season, when the Vikings will count on her to lead the team's frontcourt. Streun held the hot hand at the start of last season, recording four double-doubles in the Vikings' first nine games of the season – a period in which Streun averaged 15.1 points and 9.1 rebounds a game. Streun was around both of those averages in the Vikings' season opener against Dixie State, finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds. Streun scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half, including nine in the fourth quarter. Streun scored seven straight points to finish off a 28-6 Portland State run that turned a 37-28 deficit with 7:13 left in the third quarter into a 56-43 lead with 4:26 left in the fourth.
 

IRON WOMAN

Senior Kylie Jimenez has started every game of her Viking career so far, and has played just about every minute of those 98 games. Jimenez averaged a career-high 36.9 minutes per game last season as a junior, when she ranked second in the Big Sky and 27th in the nation for minutes played per game. Jimenez's durability helped her surpass 1,000 career points against Weber State on Feb. 29 last season, and the senior guard is on the verge of hitting other milestones in her final year. Jimenez needs only 57 assists to become only the third player in Portland State history to record 1,000-career points and 500-career assists as a Viking. Jimenez also needs only 25 steals to reach 250 in her career, and only 32 three-pointers for 200 in that category. If she reaches all four marks, then Jimenez would become the only player to record over 1,000 points, 500 assists, 250 steals and 200 three-pointers in their career at Portland State.
 

MILESTONE WATCH

Three different Vikings are waiting on some career milestones this season between Kylie Jimenez, Desirae Hansen and Tatiana Streun. It's up in the air how many games the Vikings will get in this season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with any luck, those three will reach the following milestones:

• Jimenez needs 57 assists to reach 500 in her career
• Jimenez needs 25 steals to reach 250 in her career
• Jimenez needs 32 three-pointers to reach 200 in her career
• Jimenez needs 25 starts to break the career record for starts at Portland State
• Hansen needs 275 points to reach 1,000 in her career
• Hansen needs 194 rebounds to reach 500 in her career
• Hansen needs 197 assists to reach 400 in her career
• Streun needs 359 points to reach 1,000 in her career
• Streun needs 32 rebounds to reach 500 in her career

Jimenez, having already reached 1,000-career points last season, could become only the third player in Portland State history with at least 1,000 points, 500 assists and 250 steals in her career, joining PSU hall-of-famers Claire Faucher and Kim Manifesto. Hansen and Streun could each become the first Viking to record over 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in their career since Kelli Valentine reached both marks during the 2010-11 season. Whoever is first to both milestones will become just the 11th member of the 1,000-point, 500-rebound club at Portland State.
 

STREUN DEBUTS WITH SWISS NATIONAL TEAM

Tatiana Streun made her debut with the Swiss National Team in two qualifying games for the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2021 tournament. Streun, who has dual citizenship between the U.S. and Switzerland thanks to her father Boris, appeared in the Swiss team's games against Russia and Estonia on Nov. 12 and Nov. 14, respectively. There's another qualifying period on Feb. 4 and 6, 2021, which Streun could potentially play in as well. Switzerland already played two of their qualifying games within Group C, beating Estonia 73-63 before losing 80-61 to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The nine group winners and the five-best second-place teams in each group will advance to the final round of the EuroBasket tournament.
 

NEWCOMERS

The Vikings added five freshmen this season in Morgan Baird, Nakia Boston, Reilly Kelty, Jenna Kilty and Itziar Ugarte. Of the freshmen, Baird, a 5-11 forward out of Coquille, Ore., was the Oregon State 2A Player of the Year as a junior, and was a unanimous all-state first-team selection as a senior even as Coquille moved up a classification to 3A. Boston, a 5-9 guard from Everett, Wash., regularly scored 30-plus points for Lynnwood High School, and was the 3A/2A WESCO Player of the Year. Kelty, a 6-3 forward out of Cottage Grove, Ore., played her first three years of high school for Cottage Grove before transferring to Sheldon for her senior season. Kilty, a 5-10 guard out of Oakland, Calif., won back-to-back NorCal titles as a junior and senior, and finished as state runners-up as a junior. Finally, Ugarte, a 5-11 guard out of Madrid, Spain, was the MVP of the 2017 International Basket Cup in Benidorm, Spain.