PORTLAND, Ore. — Fridays allow you to take measure of the past week. For the Portland State women's basketball team, that retrospective seems mighty favorable after the Vikings showed improvements from game-to-game in an 80-52 win over Dixie State at Viking Pavilion.
 
Dixie State (1-1) came into the game having just hit a school-record 22 three-pointers in a 107-57 win over Life Pacific Tuesday night. The Vikings, meanwhile, had struggled to defend the three-point line in their exhibition against Multnomah on Oct. 31, as well as at the start of their season opener against Warner Pacific Tuesday.
 
Not so Friday.
 
The Vikings (2-0) held Dixie State to just 14.7 percent on 5-of-34 shooting from beyond the arc. What's more, Dixie State scored only 11 points in the first quarter, after Warner Pacific had 28 in the opening 10 minutes of Tuesday night's game.
 
"Our team did a heck of a job," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said of the team's defensive effort. "We talked about it at practice, if you get after it defensively, you don't have to play for the whole 30 seconds. Force a bad shot, get a tip, get a deflection, work really hard for that 10-15 seconds, and now we can go the other way.
 
"They're a great team [Dixie State]. They have a super promising future. JD [Gustin, Dixie State's head coach]. They were coming off a record-setting night, and so we knew that we needed to be ready."
 
The Vikings put some distance between themselves and the Trailblazers with a 20-3 run over the first seven minutes of the second quarter that gave them a 33-17 lead. Jada Lewis scored eight points in the run, including a pair of three-pointers that came as part of 6-of-9 night for Lewis from deep. Lewis finished with a career-high 22 points Friday, as she showed the form Viking fans saw from her last season after a quiet season opener Tuesday.
 
"We've had conversations with her about how it's not about the offense. Let that come. Don't force shots early and get after it defensively, and then the offense will take care of itself. And that's really what I saw her do tonight," Gregg said of Lewis. "It wasn't so much about, 'when can I get that next look?' It was, 'can I get in the passing lanes? Can I do my job?' And then ultimately attack and kick, and that's when she does what she does best, which is knock down those three-pointers."
 
Three-point shooting helped spur a 17-0 start to the fourth quarter that put the game away. Lewis and Esmeralda Morales hit back-to-back three-pointers near the end of the run that gave the Vikings their largest lead of the game at 76-43 with only 4:38 remaining.
 
"In the exhibition and also our first game, we had slow starts," Gregg said afterwards. "We gave up a lot of points, so I was super proud of our group with how they started and finished the game. We didn't give up 28 points [in the first quarter] this time, we gave up 11. And I felt like that set the tone.
 
"Tonight we saw a completely different team, I thought, and we'll continue that trend, for sure."
 
Besides the defensive energy, the Vikings also showed a spark on the glass while out-rebounding Dixie State 52-to-37, including a 19-to-8 advantage on the offensive end. Rhema Ogele led the effort, as the freshman center finished with her second straight double-double to open the season. Ogele finished with a game-high 13 rebounds to go with 14 points, and did it all in only 16 minutes, 38 seconds of game time.
 
Savannah Dhaliwal also came within a rebound of a double-double, as she finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. Syd Schultz added seven rebounds off the bench, while also chipping in four points and a pair of assists.
 
"I was really proud of our bench," Gregg said after the game. "Whoever was on the bench at any time, I thought that really carried us and our energy throughout. We knew that. We talk about needing all 14 players. It's a cliché, but it's true. We have to have everyone on the same page to have a performance like that."
 
All five starters finished in double-figures for the Vikings. Besides Lewis, Ogele and Dhaliwal, Morales and Alaya Fitzgerald also hit double digits Friday. Morales followed up her record-breaking 32 points Tuesday night with an all-around game of 11 points, nine assists, four rebounds and two steals. Fitzgerald, meanwhile, scored half of her 10 points during the Vikings' run in the second quarter, and added four assists, three rebounds and three steals.
 
The Vikings totaled 12 steals for a second straight game, with freshman Mia 'Uhila leading the way with four. 'Uhila picked one and went the distance for two in the third quarter, then came up with a highlight-reel steal a little later in the period. 'Uhila forced a loose ball near midcourt on the play, then jumped over the Dixie State player who had fallen down, knocking the ball forward where Morales picked it up and laid it in.
 
All told, 'Uhila finished with four points, five assists, and two rebounds to go with her four steals.  Reilly Kelty and Morgan Baird added a bucket each to close out the Vikings' scoring.
 
The Vikings hit the beach next, as they travel to Hawaii for a pair of games at the Bank of Hawaii Classic. The Vikings open the tournament against Prairie View A&M at 6:30 p.m. PT / 4:30 p.m. HT on Nov. 19. The team will then face host Hawaii at 7 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. HT on Nov. 21.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 2-0 all-time against Dixie State with Friday's win…The Vikings assisted on 23 of their 30 field goals…The Vikings forced Dixie State into 17 turnovers, which they turned into an 18-to-3 advantage in points off turnovers.