PORTLAND, Ore. – A 13-0 start to the fourth quarter turned a comfortable lead into a blowout for the Portland State women's basketball team, which beat The College of Idaho, 59-37, Wednesday in a mid-week non-conference game.
 
The Vikings (5-6) led by double digits from the 9:29 mark of the second quarter on, but couldn't put away a pesky Yotes (3-8) team until that run in the fourth quarter.
 
Missed shots hurt the Vikings at times, but the team also enjoyed an advantage on the glass for the second straight game. Less than a week after the Vikings out-rebounded the Big Sky's top rebounding team in Idaho State, they dominated the glass against the Yotes, out-rebounding them 56-to-34. The Vikings' 56 rebounds marked a new season high by 11, and tied last season's opener against Multnomah as the highest total in a game over the past four seasons.
 
Redshirt senior Tatiana Streun set the tone early on the boards, grabbing seven in the first quarter alone. Streun finished with 10 rebounds, while Desirae Hansen and Morgan Baird followed with nine each. Baird and Streun added five and four offensive rebounds, respectively.
 
"We wanted a quality opponent [for this game], and College of Idaho is a tough team. They play hard and they've got shooters, and so that's what we wanted to see tonight," Portland State head coach Lynn Kennedy said of his motivations behind adding Wednesday's game to the Vikings' schedule. "At the start of the first quarter, I thought our intensity on defense and how we competed was right there where we needed to be. I also thought we brought it in the fourth quarter, at the start, when we extended our lead."
 
The Yotes gave the Vikings a game until the Vikings' run in the fourth. Baird started the run with back-to-back buckets, and then scored again a few moments later when Streun unselfishly flipped a pass to her on the opposite block for a layup. Baird scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half, and hit 6-of-9 from the field. Additionally, Baird's nine rebounds left her just one short of her first double-double as a Viking.
 
Hansen also hit the last of her six field goals in the game during the Vikings' fourth-quarter run. Hansen finished with a game-high 15 points Wednesday while going 6-of-9 from the field and 3-of-6 from three-point range.
 
Hansen also closed the Vikings' fourth-quarter run with a steal and assist to senior Kylie Jimenez on a fast break. Hansen dropped a perfect pass over the top of the defense to Jimenez, who finished at point-blank range.
 
"Our intensity stepped up another level," Kennedy said of the Vikings' fourth-quarter run. "I wanted to see that and we were able to get some fast-break opportunities in that stretch. But we've got to continue to see it throughout the fourth, not just that first part.
 
"We'll get there. We'll continue to learn and get better, and take steps towards March. That's what it's all about."
 
Jimenez and Lewis traded off feeding each other on a pair of fast-break layups during a 12-0 first-quarter run that gave the Vikings initial control of the game. The Vikings' early run put them up 15-4 with just under four minutes to go in the first quarter, and the team never led by less than seven points the rest of the way.
 
Baird gave the Vikings a 16-point lead going into halftime with a heads-up play in which she stole a pass along the baseline, and then quickly got a shot off before the halftime buzzer.
 
Lewis and freshman Jenna Kilty then hit back-to-back three-pointers out of halftime to stretch the Viking lead past 20 points for the first time. Lewis' triple put her in double figures with 10 points to go with five rebounds and a steal.
 
Jimenez matched a season high with seven assists to go with seven points, four rebounds and three steals. Streun chipped in six points to go with her 10 rebounds.
 
The Vikings now have eight days before their next game, when they return to Big Sky play with a game at Montana on Feb. 4.
 
Game Notes: Wednesday's game was the first-ever meeting between the Vikings and Yotes…The Vikings committed only seven fouls in Wednesday's game, and seven different players committed those seven fouls – no one had more than one foul…Jimenez moved past Renae Aschoff (1989-1993) for 15th on the all-time scoring list at Portland State…Jimenez needs only 15 assists, three steals and 18 three-pointers to become the only player in program history to record 1,000 points, 500 assists, 250 steals and 200 three-pointers in their Viking career.