PORTLAND, Ore. — Measures of success from year to year can be tricky. No two teams are ever the same from one year to the next. Still, a 73-55 win over a team that beat you by 19 last season, is as good a sign of progress as any. And for the Portland State women's basketball team, which was playing Utah Valley the Saturday after Thanksgiving for the second straight season, that's something to be thankful for.
 
The Vikings (3-2) topped the Wolverines (1-4) at Viking Pavilion behind 40 combined points from Esmeralda Morales and Jada Lewis. A suffocating Viking defense also turned 16 turnovers into 22 points Saturday.
 
"I feel like we're a different team with our growth, and obviously they're a different team as well, but it's always nice to have some redemption. What I continue to focus on is where our growth is and where we can continue to get better," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said after the game.
 
"For us, we continue to talk about controlling what we can control. I probably sound like a broken record, but the reality is that when we do that, we put ourselves in a good position. When we value the basketball and when we turn over people like that…that was one of our goals for the day, was to turn them over."
 
Morales and Lewis went a combined 9-of-13 from three-point range, which included a perfect 5-of-5 from Morales. The sophomore point guard led the way with a season-high 24 points while going 9-of-12 overall from the field. Lewis also scored a season-high 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting from three-point range.
 
"The ball is in Esme's hands almost the whole game and we're asking her to do a lot with that, but for her to shoot like that – five for five from the three-point line – that's a hell of a game," Gregg said of Morales.
 
"And Jada, we know that about her, that she can go off on runs like she did tonight. She got into the right place, got shot ready and her feet right, and knocked it down for us."
 
The hot shooting from the outside got started early. Morales went 3-of-3 from three-point range in the first quarter, while Lewis was 2-of-2 in the opening 10 minutes.
 
Still, it was only a two-point game at the end of the first quarter. A 14-0 run in the middle of the second quarter gave the Vikings their first taste of separation. Rhema Ogele started with a fast-break layup to tie it at 27-all with 7:03 remaining in the half. Lewis then hit her third three-pointer of the game to put the Vikings up three at 30-27, while Mia 'Uhila sandwiched a jumper from Cinco McCartney with a pair of buckets. The second of 'Uhila's buckets came on a three-point play that gave the Vikings their first 10-point lead in the game. Lewis converted a second-chance jumper with 1:42 remaining to complete the run and give the Vikings a 39-27 lead.
 
Defense then assured the Vikings stayed out in front in the second half. Eight of the Vikings' 17 points in the third quarter came off of Utah Valley turnovers. All eight came in a three-minute stretch in which the Vikings turned a 12-point lead into a 56-37 advantage with 1:55 remaining in the quarter. Included in the run was a circus shot from Morales in which she got fouled, kept the ball through the contact and threw it up only to have it drop in.
 
The forced turnovers meant the Vikings held the Wolverines to only three made field goals in the third quarter on 30.0 percent shooting.
 
A three-pointer from Morales, her final of the night, opened the fourth quarter and gave the Vikings their largest lead of the game at 62-40. Utah Valley then never got closer than 18 points the rest of the way.
 
Outside of Morales and Lewis, 'Uhila scored nine points on 4-of-6 shooting while leading the Vikings in rebounds with six. Syd Schultz also had five rebounds to go with five points, while Paige Winter Blanchard and Alaya Fitzgerald added four rebounds each.
 
As a team, the Vikings out-rebounded the Wolverines 38-to-30, including a 13-to-6 advantage on the offensive glass that led to a 12-5 advantage in second-chance points.
 
The rebounding advantage may be the biggest sign of progress from last year's game against the Wolverines. A year ago, the Wolverines out-rebounded the Vikings 49-to-30, which led to 19 second-chance points compared to just six against the Vikings. But this year, the Vikings held the Wolverines to a single shot most times.
 
Gregg praised the minutes Schultz played for the Vikings inside. She guarded a bigger player throughout Saturday's game, but still limited the Wolverines' advantages on the inside.
 
"Syd is playing some really good basketball. It doesn't always show on the stat line, but she's battling inside and I think she's been a difference maker the last few games," Gregg said of Schultz. "Her ability to guard inside when she's undermatched in size and maybe stature, but not in how she's playing. She's shown a lot of leadership for us the last few games." 
 
A year ago, Schultz was held scoreless in 13 minutes against Utah Valley. Saturday, she was getting singled out by her head coach for her contributions to a 73-55 win.
 
Progress.
 
Game Notes: The all-time series between the Vikings and Wolverines is now tied at 4-4…Morales has hit at least four three-pointers in four of the team's five games so far this season…Lewis' four three-pointers Saturday moved her into a tie with former teammate Desirae Hansen for seventh in career makes at Portland State.