PORTLAND, Ore. — Everything improves in a win.
 
Saturday may have marked the start of an offensive turnaround for the Portland State women's basketball team, but it didn't have the ending the Vikings wanted as the Bears beat the Vikings, 62-60. Sunday's game, then, marked a chance to continue the team's improved shooting while also getting back in the win column.
 
The Vikings (10-11) did just that, shooting over 40 percent for the second straight game after not doing so over their previous four games. It all amounted to an 83-41 win for the Vikings over Warner Pacific at Viking Pavilion.
 
"I think it does," Portland State head coach Lynn Kennedy said when asked if the game backed up the improvements his team saw Saturday. "We saw a lot of shots go in. We've been getting those looks, but today we were making those shots."
 
The Vikings shot 60 percent (21-of-35) in the first half before seeing that mark drop as the team cleared the bench in the second half. The team finished the game shooting 45.7 percent (32-of-70) from the field, the team's second-best mark in a game since the middle of January. For comparison, the Vikings shot just 34.6 percent (27-of-78) in their first game against the Knights six days earlier when they were in the middle of their shooting slump. 
 
Sunday also marked the Vikings' best three-point shooting game in several games. The Vikings tied their season-high with 12 three-pointers against the Knights, after not hitting more than six in any of their previous five games.
 
Beyond affording the Vikings a chance to find their shooting groove, Sunday's game also gave the team's seniors one last home game. Kennedy took advantage of the opportunity, as he rewarded Labrea Denson and Ruchae Walton with their first career starts in their final home game.
 
"Bre and Chae have been a major part of our program the past four years. It was good to see them both have a good game," Kennedy said of Denson and Walton.
 
Walton finished with a career-high 12 points in her final home game, hitting double figures for the first time in her Portland State career. Walton also set a career high with six rebounds while adding two steals and a block. Denson, meanwhile, set career highs for assists (9) and rebounds (5) in the game.
 
The Vikings also gave their bench more minutes Sunday, and several of those players responded like Denson and Walton. Sophomore Marina Canzobre hit double figures for the first time in her Viking career, scoring 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field. 
 
"Marina was running the court so well today. She played with a lot of energy. We'll need that the next two weeks." Kennedy said of Canzobre.
Canzobre's fellow Spaniard, Itziar Ugarte, also set a new career high with seven points while adding five rebounds and two assists.
 
All but two of the Vikings' 11 dressed players scored in the first quarter, while the remaining two scored before halftime.
 
The Vikings put the game out of reach early, scoring 21 straight points over six minutes in the first quarter that made it 23-3. The team closed the first half on another 12-0 run that gave the Vikings a 51-15 lead at the break.
 
Sophomore Jada Lewis scored 12 of her game-high 15 points in the first half, and finished the game 6-of-9 from the field for her best shooting percentage since going 5-of-7 against Montana State on Jan. 16. Lewis also went 3-of-6 from three-point range for the second time in the Vikings' past three games.
 
Desirae Hansen also continued her return to form, going 3-of-4 from the field and 3-of-3 from three-point range while only playing 12 minutes Sunday. Hansen broke out of a shooting slump Saturday, as she went 5-of-11 from the field and 2-of-5 from three-point range after not shooting anywhere close to that over the team's previous five games.
 
Senior Kylie Jimenez played a career-low seven minutes due to giving way to the team's bench players, but still finished with two steals to move into the career top 10 within the Big Sky Conference. Jimenez now has 272 steals in her career, moving past the former Tricia Bader (271 steals at Boise State, 1991-96), who is now Tricia Binford and serves as the head coach of Big Sky-rival Montana State.
 
The Vikings close out their regular season next week, playing at Southern Utah on March 3 and 5. Both games start at 5:30 p.m. PT / 6:30 p.m. MT.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 3-1 all-time against Warner Pacific with Sunday's win…Fifth-year senior Tatiana Streun finished with more points than minutes played for the second straight game against the Knights, finishing with seven points in 5.75 minutes Sunday after scoring 12 points in 11.5 minutes Monday…The Vikings only scored 66 points in Monday's win over the Knights, but passed that mark with more than six minutes remaining in the third quarter.