PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State women's basketball team punched back Saturday.
 
Down 61-56 midway through the fourth quarter, the Vikings' game against the defending Big Sky champion Montana State Bobcats started to look like Thursday when the Bobcats ran away from the Vikings in the final minutes. That wouldn't be the case this time, however, as the Vikings got up off the ropes and countered with an 11-2 run that flipped the game in their favor.
 
Freshman Nakia Boston put an exclamation point on the run with a steal and score that gave the Vikings (4-4, 3-3 Big Sky) a two-possession lead at 67-63 with two minutes remaining. Another clutch steal a few moments later, this time from junior Desirae Hansen, clinched the game for the Vikings. Hansen stole the ball with the Vikings up 68-65 and eight seconds remaining, and then hit both free throws on the opposite end as the Vikings closed out a 72-70 win.
 
"We took a lot away from Thursday night and to make those adjustments in just a one-day span, I think says a lot about the team and our fight and our continuation to get better," Portland State head coach Lynn Kennedy said afterwards. "We didn't have a great finish on Thursday, and we all know it. So, we came into this game and I loved our third-quarter push to get back into the game, and I love how we controlled the fourth. It wasn't their offensive sets, their offensive rebounding, it wasn't their defense. We controlled the fourth."
 
The Bobcats (5-5, 2-2 Big Sky) came into the weekend leading the Big Sky with 11 steals a game, but the Vikings out-stole them Saturday. The Vikings tallied nine steals to the Bobcats' five, and recorded four steals in the fourth quarter alone. The Vikings also finished +3 in the turnover battle against the Bobcats, even as the Bobcats came into the weekend with a Big Sky-leading +4 turnover margin for the season.
 
Most importantly, everybody on the floor stepped up for the Vikings Saturday as the team had five players score in double figures for the first time this season. That gave the Vikings multiple options late in the game, a stark difference from Thursday when sophomore Jada Lewis caught fire for 15 points in the fourth but no one else could find their stroke.
 
"We have to have players on this team step up. It can't be one or two players. It's got to be seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13 players that step up and give us something," Kennedy said. "In all of our wins, somebody has stepped up and we've got to continue that. That's why we keep saying it's a team win, but really this year and this season, it's a team win because somebody stepped up like Nakia today, playing really good defense."
 
Hansen led the way, especially in the second half when she scored 15 of her team-high 20 points. Ten of Hansen's 20 points came in the fourth quarter, including four points from the line in the final seconds.
 
Hansen gave the Vikings a much-needed three-pointer to kick-start their momentum swing in the fourth quarter. A mini, 5-0 Montana State run gave the Bobcats a 57-51 lead with 7:37 remaining before Hansen's three-pointer cut the Vikings' deficit in half. Hansen and Lewis then hit back-to-back three-pointers to tie and take the lead at 64-61 with 3:22 remaining. That was the Vikings' first lead of the fourth quarter, as they trailed for much of the second half to that point.
 
Boston scored all five of her fourth-quarter points in the Vikings' run to take the lead. Boston scored three straight points for the Vikings late, the last being her coast-to-coast steal and score with two minutes remaining. The Bobcats answered immediately on the other end, but the Viking defense than kept them scoreless for the next 100 seconds before Hansen's steal sealed the game late.
 
Jimenez and fifth-year senior Tatiana Streun shouldered the load in the first half, as the Vikings took a 30-29 lead into the break. Jimenez scored nine of her 15 points in the first half, and finished with six assists and two steals. Streun, meanwhile, had nine rebounds at halftime and finished with her second double-double of the season with 10 points to go with 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
 
Streun and fellow post Syd Schultz answered their coaches' call for stronger play in the post after the Bobcats out-rebounded the Vikings 43-30 Thursday. The Bobcats still won the battle on the glass, but only by four this time, 34-30, while the Vikings held them to only five offensive rebounds in the second half.
 
"I thought our posts played extremely well, especially down the stretch," Kennedy said. "Holding them to five offensive rebounds in the second half was crucial, especially in a game like this where you're trying to compete and win a game in the Big Sky Conference. You've got to rebound and you've got to get stops."
 
Besides Streun, Schultz finished with six rebounds to go with two points.
 
Lewis, meanwhile, chipped in 13 points – eight in the second half – while shooting 5-of-7 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range. In her five starts so far this season, Lewis is now 18-of-33 from three-point range, giving her a .545 field goal percentage from deep in that span.
 
Boston finished with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting for her second double-digit scoring game as a Viking. Boston also chipped in two rebounds, three assists and one steal, and was part of the Vikings' defensive rotation that held Montana State's Darian White – last year's Big Sky Freshman of the Year – to a season-low two points on 0-of-6 shooting from the field.
 
"I have to give our guards a lot of credit on White, who is one of the best players in the league. To contain her – no field goals – was huge. She's their energy. When she gets going, they get going and they didn't quite get going tonight like they did on Thursday," Kennedy said of his team's defense.
 
The Vikings face another one of the conference favorites next weekend, when they travel for two games at Idaho State, Jan. 21 and 23. The Bengals beat the Hornets 77-70 in other action Saturday to remain undefeated at 8-0 in Big Sky play.
 
Tipoff for the game on the 21st is set for 6 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. MT
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 30-38 all time against the Bobcats with Saturday's win, and snapped a three-game losing streak to Montana State…Jimenez continues to inch closer to becoming the only player in Portland State history to record 1,000 points, 500 assists, 250 steals and 200 three-pointers in her career. After Saturday, Jimenez needs only 25 assists, eight steals and 19 three-pointers to reach all four milestones…Jimenez passed Stacey Liebl (1983-87) for 16th all time in scoring at Portland State with her 15 points Saturday…Streun's 11 rebounds give her 518 in her career, leaving her 38 away from matching former teammate Pia Jurhar (2015-19) for 10th all time.