BOISE, Idaho — Desirae Hansen is the subject of every nightmare in Eastern Washington when the calendar turns to March.
 
A year after Hansen hit the game-winning shot to beat Eastern Washington, 61-59, at the 2019 Big Sky tournament, the sophomore guard scored a career-high 27 while leading the Vikings to an 83-70 win over the Eagles Monday in the first round of the Big Sky tournament at CenturyLink Arena.
 
Hansen's 27 points tied a Portland State single-game record at the Big Sky tournament, matching PSU hall-of-famer Claire Faucher, who had 27 points against Montana on March 14, 2008. Hansen scored nine of her 27 in the fourth quarter, when she was 3-of-4 from three-point range. All three of Hansen's three-pointers answered EWU runs, as the Eagles closed within five points three times in the second half after falling behind by 20.
 
Hansen hit her first fourth-quarter three on the Vikings' opening possession, pushing the Vikings' lead out to 10 points again at 64-54. The Eagles got back within five at 66-61 before Hansen's second three-pointer of the quarter made it 71-61 with 5:20 remaining. Eastern Washington again got within five at 73-68 with 3:41 left, when Hansen hit her final three-pointer of the fourth, sparking a 10-2 run for the Vikings to finish the game.
 
"It was just another game," Hansen said dismissively afterwards. "We're in the playoffs. We've got three more games to go."
 
The Vikings (16-15) opened up a big lead in the first half, as freshman Belle Frazier hit her first four three-pointers of the game. Frazier knocked down her fifth three-pointer with 4:28 left in the second quarter, giving the Vikings their first 20-point lead at 39-19. Frazier finished with a career-high 19 points while tying another career high with five three-pointers.
 
Frazier's first two threes came on second-chance opportunities, as the Vikings took an early rebounding advantage against the Eagles. Eight of the Vikings' first 12 points came on second-chance opportunities, while the Vikings finished with 14 offensive rebounds Monday – their highest total since they had 17 against UC Davis on Nov. 30, 2019.
 
"Over the last week, we've been playing really well," head coach Lynn Kennedy said afterwards. "We've had some ups and downs throughout the season, but I think we've really put it together this last week. It's a testament to this team for just getting through some adversity mid-season."
 
The Vikings established their inside presence again early in the third quarter, after Eastern Washington had narrowed the Vikings' lead with a 12-1 run just before halftime. Senior Jordan Stotler converted a three-point play on the Vikings' opening possession of the second half, and went on to score 13 of her 15 points after halftime.
 
Stotler finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for her second straight double-double after she had 16 points and 10 rebounds in the team's regular-season finale at Sacramento State. Stotler broke the single-season program record during that game, recording eight blocks against the Hornets to surpass Courtney West's old record of 94, set during the 2016-17 season.
 
Junior forward Tatiana Streun matched Stotler with a team-high 11 rebounds, four of which came on the offensive end. Streun also chipped in seven points and two assists for the Vikings.
 
Stotler and Streun hit four straight free throws to give the Vikings their second 20-point lead at 55-35 with 6:38 left in the third quarter. That's when the Eagles responded, however, going on a 19-4 run to get within five at 59-54. Jenna Dick – the Big Sky leader in terms of three-point field goal percentage – woke up during the run, hitting two of her three triples in the second half.
 
Freshman Syd Schultz snapped the Eagles' run with a second-chance bucket on the Vikings' final possession of the third quarter. Hansen then took over with her three-point barrage in the fourth quarter to close out the win.
 
Hansen and Stotler combined for 16 of the Vikings' 22 points in the fourth quarter, with Stotler adding seven to Hansen's nine in the final 10 minutes of play.
 
 "I liked how we stayed together as a young team and continued to fight through it," Kennedy said. "When they closed it to five, six points, we could have fallen apart and we didn't. We stayed with it and executed on offense, and I thought defensively, we really locked in during the fourth quarter."
 
Hansen has now scored 20-plus points in four of the Vikings' last five games, and has hit double figures in each of the team's past 11 games. Junior guard Kylie Jimenez had a run of five straight double-digit performances snapped Monday, but countered with a career-high 11 assists to go with six points and four rebounds.
 
Jimenez's 11 assists broke another Portland State single-game Big Sky tournament record, bettering Faucher's 10 assists against Northern Colorado on March 13, 2008.
 
The Vikings now face second-seeded Idaho in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament Tuesday. Tipoff between the Vikings and Vandals is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. PT / 5:30 p.m. MT.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 34-38 all time against Eastern Washington after Monday's win…The Vikings are now 4-1 against the Eagles in the Big Sky tournament…The Vikings out-rebounded Eastern Washington 45-30, the Vikings' biggest rebounding advantage since out-rebounding Idaho 49-33 on Jan. 2…Stotler has 99 blocks this season after Monday, leaving her one away from becoming just the third player in Big Sky history to record 100 in a season.