MOSCOW, Idaho — A much-improved defensive effort kept the Portland State women's basketball in its road game against Idaho Monday, but a tough shooting night prevented anything more for the Vikings as they fell 65-52 to the Vandals at Cowan Spectrum.
 
Two days after the Vikings (12-13, 6-9 Big Sky) let Eastern Washington shoot over 50 percent against them, the Vikings held the Vandals to 41.4 percent (24-of-58). Additionally, the Vandals (15-8, 10-4 Big Sky) hit only four three-pointers against the Vikings despite coming into Monday night averaging 8.3 makes a game, good for second in the Big Sky Conference.
 
Portland State also held Gina Marxen, Idaho's leading scorer with 14.4 points per game coming into the game, to zero points, the first time Marxen has been held scoreless in a game this season.
 
"I thought our defensive effort was amazing," head coach Lynn Kennedy said after the game. "We held Marxen to zero points and kept all of their starters in check. They had to rely on two subs who don't play a lot of minutes to help them out of it tonight. We'll take that effort every time on the road.
 
"A few breaks go our way and this is a completely different game. We had some great looks that just didn't go down tonight."
 
The Vikings missed several shots they would normally make Monday while finishing just 18-of-61 (.295) from the field. The Vikings went 6-of-22 (.273) from three-point range, just two days after setting a new single-game program record with 15 three-pointers against Eastern Washington.
 
Put the offensive performance against Eastern Washington and the defensive performance against Idaho together in the same game, and both games may turn out differently.
 
The decisive stretch Monday came via two Idaho runs, the first coming late in the second quarter and then the next early in the third quarter. An 8-0 Idaho run gave the Vandals their first double-digit lead of the night at 32-22 with 1:43 left to go before the half. The Vikings got back within three at 34-31 when sophomore guard Desirae Hansen hit a three-pointer on the team's opening possession of the second half. However, Idaho answered immediately with another 8-0 run to go up 42-31 early in the third quarter. 
 
Hansen stayed after halftime as she tried to keep the Vikings in it while scoring 11 of the Vikings' 12 points in the third quarter. Hansen converted a three-point play to get the Vikings within seven at 47-40, but Idaho responded with an 8-2 run to go up 55-42 with 7:36 left in the fourth.
 
Hansen finished the game with 17 points for her highest scoring output since scoring 17 in the Vikings' win over Weber State on Jan. 20. Hansen was the lone Viking making shots consistently in the first three quarters, as she was 6-of-10 from the field before missing all five of her shots in the fourth quarter.
 
Freshman Belle Frazier also had good aggressive moments earlier in the game, as she led the Vikings with eight points in the first half. Frazier snapped Idaho's first 8-0 run with a straightaway jumper late in the second quarter, and went 4-of-4 from the free throw line in the first quarter.
 
No other Viking beside Hansen and Frazier finished with more than six points Monday.
 
The Vikings will close out their three-game road trip Thursday, as they head to Bozeman for a matchup against league-leading Montana State. The Vikings and Bobcats will tip off at 6 p.m. (PT) / 7 p.m. (MT).
 
Game Notes: The Vikings fell to 14-27 all time against Idaho after Monday…The Vikings hadn't shot worse than 30 percent in a Big Sky game since Feb. 11, 2016, when the Vikings shot .217 against Idaho State in Kennedy's first year at Portland State…Senior forward Jordan Stotler, who leads the Big Sky in blocked shots, was held without a block for the third straight game…Junior guard Kylie Jimenez passed Angela Hewlett (1990-92) for sixth on the all-time steals list at Portland State with three Monday…Jimenez now has 967 points in her career after Monday's game, leaving her 33 points from becoming the 19th member of the 1,000-point club at Portland State.