PORTLAND, Ore. — Jada Lewis brought the ice in the Portland weather forecast into Viking Pavilion Thursday.
 
Lewis knocked down a baseline three-pointer with 2.1 seconds left, perfectly arching a shot over Northern Arizona's Miki'ala Maio to give the Vikings a last-second, 75-73 win over the Lumberjacks. Kylie Jimenez, who hit her own game-winner a week ago at Montana, fed Lewis on the play for what would become her 500th-career assist. Only two other players in Portland State history have reached the 500-assist milestone, and they're both PSU Hall of Famers in Claire Faucher and Kim Manifesto. 
 
It was a picture-perfect ending for another gritty performance from the Vikings, the style of which has come to define Portland State's 2020-21 season.
 
The Vikings led by as many as 10 points in the third quarter, only to see Northern Arizona go on a 19-4 run to take a 66-61 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the fourth. The Lumberjacks stretched it to a six-point lead a half-minute later, but the Vikings stiffened their defense from there, holding NAU to only one field goal over the final 4:35 of game time.
 
"NAU started hitting some shots, [Khiarica] Rasheed started getting going in the fourth. We loosened up on defense, and I didn't like that part, but we stayed with it even when we got down and we continued to fight back," Portland State head coach Lynn Kennedy said afterward. "We executed really well down the stretch and the last play was perfect execution. That was a beautiful pass from Kylie, setting up Jada for a knock-down shot to win."
 
Jimenez kick-started the Vikings' late comeback, connecting on her fifth three-pointer of the game to cut the Vikings' deficit in half at 68-65. Lewis followed with her own triple less than a minute later that put the Vikings back up two at 70-68. NAU answered with its own three-pointer, but Desirae Hansen put the Vikings back up one with a second-chance layup that made it 72-71 with 1:33 remaining. Neither team scored again until NAU's Khiarica Rasheed drew a foul with 18.5 seconds left and knocked down a pair of free throws to make it 73-72.
 
The Vikings advanced the ball to the frontcourt with a timeout following Rasheed's free throws, and drew up what would end up being their game-winner in the huddle. Jimenez idly dribbled at the half-court line until about nine seconds remained, then drove to the right in a way similar to her game-winning layup against Montana last week. Rasheed switched on to Jimenez for NAU, however, forcing Jimenez to dish to Lewis, who was left open along the left baseline. Lewis didn't hesitate, quickly launching a three as she caught her defender with her back turned for a split second. The shot went in, and NAU's own chance at a game-winning three bounced innocently off the backboard on the other end.
 
It was the fourth three-pointer of the game for Lewis, who returned to the Vikings' lineup after missing six out of the eight quarters the Vikings played last week in Missoula.
 
The bigger story from beyond the arc was the breakout performance for Jimenez, who went 5-of-7 from deep after struggling from the outside over the previous few games. Jimenez went 3-of-3 from beyond the arc in the third quarter, the last of which gave the Vikings their largest lead of the game at 57-47 with 1:02 remaining in the third.
 
"We knew she was due," Kennedy said of Jimenez. "She stepped up tonight and played extremely well, especially the second half. I thought she took over the game."
 
Jimenez finished with a season-high 23 points to lead all players in scoring Thursday. Jimenez also set season highs for field goals made (9), three-point field goals made (5) and rebounds (6). Her six rebounds went with five assists and two steals, as the senior point guard went for 20-5-5 for the first time this season.
 
Lewis finished with 14 for the Vikings while going 4-of-7 from three-point range and 5-of-8 overall. Freshman Jenna Kilty was the only other Viking in double figures with 10 points, eight of which she scored in the opening quarter.
 
Kilty scored the first six points of the game for the Vikings, while she and the Vikings' three other available freshmen – Nakia Boston sat the game with an injury – helped the Vikings answer some early runs from the Lumberjacks.
 
Kilty's third basket gave the Vikings a 6-2 lead in the first quarter, but NAU immediately responded with a 12-2 run to take a 14-8 lead. Lewis cut the deficit in half with her first three-pointer of the game, while Kilty hit her fourth shot of the first quarter to draw the Vikings back within one at 14-13.
 
NAU went up by six again at 25-19 early in the second quarter before freshman Reilly Kelty snapped the run with an inside bucket off an assist from Lewis. Kelty made her biggest impact on the defensive end, as she blocked four shots in the second quarter alone, giving her a career high in the category.
 
"Everybody came in and gave us really good minutes tonight," Kennedy said. "Morgan and Itzi [Itziar Ugarte] stepped in and gave us minutes that Kia [Nakia Boston] was having. I think the rotation of our posts, Syd and Reilly and Marina and Tots in the middle, was good tonight. We've got to have that overall play where everyone's coming in and giving us good minutes. We can't have any let down and I like that we didn't have that tonight."
 
Lewis followed Kelty's basket with her second three-pointer of the game, and Jimenez hit her first triple a few possessions later to put the Vikings up 27-25. Freshman Morgan Baird scored four straight points to give the Vikings the lead back after NAU started to get hot from three-point range.
 
A 9-2 run extended the Vikings' lead to 10 points the third quarter, with Jimenez bookending the stretch with a pair of three-pointers.
 
Four other Vikings finished with five points or more besides the team's three players in double figures. Hansen scored nine points to go with five rebounds and four assists, while Baird chipped in seven points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field. Tatiana Streun added five points, five rebounds and two steals, while Syd Schultz matched Streun with five points to go with two offensive rebounds.
 
The Vikings will now look to use their late heroics as a springboard into Saturday, when the teams face each other again for a noon tipoff.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 29-23 all-time against the Lumberjacks following Thursday's win, and stretched their winning streak against NAU to 11 games…Besides her 500-career assists, Jimenez also moved up to third all-time in career three-pointers with 188 now after Thursday…Jimenez also moved into a tie for third all-time in career steals, matching another PSU Hall of Famer in Kelsey Kahle with 252.