BOISE, Idaho — The regular-season champion Idaho State Bengals had the answers for the Portland State women's basketball team Tuesday.
The Bengals (20-3) answered nine first-quarter points from
Tatiana Streun with a 12-0 run to take a 22-9 lead in the first half.
Desirae Hansen then caught fire in the third quarter, scoring 12 straight to get the Vikings back within five at 34-29, but the Bengals responded with a 16-3 run to close the quarter.
The result was a 66-50 win for the Bengals in the Big Sky quarterfinals at Idaho Central Arena that ended the Vikings' 2020-21 season.
"I'm just really proud of our team today. Even though we came away with a loss, you look back to three months ago and we didn't even know if we were going to be able to play this season. I was telling our Athletic Director, we had 25 practices, 25 games this year and I'm just so proud of our athletes and everything they went through," Portland State head coach
Lynn Kennedy said afterwards.
"It was kind of like this game, we kept fighting through everything. I liked our third quarter when we came out with a lot of intensity, especially on the defensive end. We started playing offense like we can. We showed some spirit and we showed some fight and it became a game. And that's kind of how this season went for us."
The Vikings (12-13) struggled to get other players besides Streun involved early in the game. Streun finished the first half 5-of-13 from the field, while the rest of the Vikings were a combined 1-of-21. Streun scored the first 12 points for the Vikings, while no other player scored until
Kylie Jimenez hit a three-pointer with 47 seconds remaining before halftime.
"This could have potentially been my last game so I wanted to come out and do anything for my team and get the team going with energy and momentum as much as I could," Streun said.
Hansen took over the hot hand in the third quarter, as she scored 12 straight for the Vikings early in the period. Hansen hit three straight shots from the outside during the stretch, the last of which was a four-point play as Idaho State's Dora Goles caught her from behind on a three-point attempt.
The Bengals immediately answered with 10 straight points to go back up 44-29, however, and added six more after a three-pointer from the Vikings'
Nakia Boston to take a 50-32 lead into the fourth.
"I thought we adjusted really well in the third quarter. We get within five and what we keep talking about, especially with a young team, our intensity has to go up [at that point]. Especially on the defensive end. But it stayed the same and I thought they increased their intensity. That's why they are in first," Kennedy said.
Morgan Baird hit the first three-pointer of her career to get the Vikings back within 15 early in the fourth quarter, but the Vikings didn't get closer than that the rest of the way.
Streun finished with 19 points to lead the Vikings to go with seven rebounds and four steals. Hansen scored all 12 of her points in that one stretch of the third quarter, while Baird, Boston and Jimenez chipped in five each.
The loss ends a season that was unlike any other in program history. The Vikings weren't cleared to play 5-on-5 until Nov. 25, the day other teams around the country played their first official game. A 14-day quarantine followed immediately after that for the Vikings, putting them behind every other team in the Big Sky Conference.
Despite that, the Vikings got 25 games in, went 7-11 in conference play, and didn't face a COVID interruption after the initial pause due to false positives.
"At Portland State, it was a little more difficult than for other teams," Kennedy said in wrapping up the year. "Our first official practice was Dec. 10 and we played on Dec. 16. It says a lot about the character, and just the fight, and the resilience of our team. You know, we had a team meeting that week before and I thought we were five minutes away from opting out. But they chose to play, we wanted to coach them, and I couldn't be more proud of the team and the way they fought through this year.
"I think we all learned a lot about ourselves and how strong we can be. I've got a strong team of women who are going to be amazing whether they stay at Portland State or they move on in their careers. It's going to be amazing to watch what they do after this."
Game Notes: The Vikings fell to 23-40 all-time against Idaho State following Tuesday's loss…Tuesday was just the third time the Vikings and Bengals have faced each other in the Big Sky tournament, and the Bengals took a 2-1 lead in those matchups with their win…The Bengals outshot the Vikings .549-to-.293 in the game…The Vikings forced the Bengals into 19 turnovers, the sixth time in the Vikings' last eight games of the season that they forced at least that many turnovers.
