PORTLAND, Ore. — Jada Lewis and the Vikings said hell nah.
 
In a game it led for close to 39 of the 40 minutes Thursday, the Portland State women's basketball team suddenly found itself down one to Fresno State at 45-44 with 7:51 remaining in the fourth quarter.
 
The response?
 
Eleven straight points, nine coming from three-pointers by Lewis, to give the Vikings a 10-point lead again with 4:32 to go. The Bulldogs (4-4) still didn't back down, as they got back within two, but Lewis hit another triple – her fourth in the quarter – to give the Vikings a two-possession lead with 44 seconds remaining. Alaya Fitzgerald then hit four clutch free throws down the stretch to seal a 62-60 win at Viking Pavilion.
 
"I thought we showed a lot of resiliency. We could have folded. You know, we're still a young team and have some new players. But I thought we really stayed together tonight and got the stops when we needed to get them," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said of her team. "We had that 'next play' mentality where we didn't think about that last turnover or the last possession where we didn't get the stop. We just went next-play mentality, got the stops that we needed and executed offensively."
 
The win furthers the growth fans have seen out of this Viking women's basketball team. The Vikings (4-2) already pulled out one close game earlier this season, coming back from five down with 38 seconds remaining to beat Seattle U in overtime. Now with Thursday's win, it's clear that these Vikings have learned how to win.
 
"We always talk about 'trust the preparation.' Trust what we have on the floor, trust that we can get those stops. Once you have done it, though, then you can really lean onto that and know that we can get it again," Gregg said of the team's confidence late in games. "We can say, 'hey, we've been there. We got the stops, we can finish it.' Whereas last year, I don't like to talk about last year a lot and live in the past, but the reality is we weren't able to finish some of those games. Today we did.
 
"I thought our bench energy was great. I know it's not always easy to stay locked in, but I thought it was a total team effort. I heard everybody and saw everybody staying locked in."
 
It helps to have the hot-shooting duo of Lewis and Morales. They combined for 10 of the 11 three-pointers for the Vikings Thursday, five days after they had all nine triples for the Vikings in their win over Utah Valley. Morales took the hot hand early, knocking down four of her five three-pointers in the first half. She closed the half with a buzzer-beating three from NBA range, then opened the second half with a three seven seconds into the third quarter.
 
Lewis then finished it for the Vikings. She hit back-to-back three-pointers immediately after the Bulldogs took their lead, then added another on a second-chance opportunity that made it 55-45 Vikings. Lewis' final three-pointer may have been the most clutch as it came after the Bulldogs had knocked the ball loose a couple of times, leaving seconds on the shot clock. If Fresno State gets a stop there, then it's their ball, down two, with less than a minute to go. Instead, Lewis hit it to put the Vikings up five with 44 seconds to go.
 
"She's got ice in her veins, man," Gregg said of Lewis. "She's really come through. She hit some tough ones tonight, and so it's always nice to have a player like her on the floor. A seasoned vet who you know at any given time can hit a couple in a row. You can tell her teammates have the utmost confidence in her, too."
 
Fresno State had been holding teams to poor percentages from deep. Coming into Thursday, opposing teams were shooting just 25.5 percent from three-point range against the Bulldogs. Additionally, they came in ranked eighth in the NCAA in scoring defense, as they were holding opponents to only 48.3 points per game.
 
The Vikings surpassed both numbers, however, as their 62 points were the second-highest total by a Fresno State opponent this season. The Vikings also went 11-of-24 (.458) from three-point range – both the best percentage and the most makes by an opposing team against the Bulldogs this season.
 
Taking care of the basketball helped put the Vikings in position to score. Fresno State came into the game forcing close to 20 turnovers a game, and yet the Vikings gave it up only eight times. The Vikings put Fresno State in trouble more consistently, as they forced 16 turnovers on 10 steals, and turned those into 18 of their 62 points.
 
"We were strong with the basketball today, especially with how physical they were. They are a put your head down and grind it out, tough team. We had to find a way to counter that physicality. We're more of a finesse team, but I think we're finding our grit and our dog a little bit," Gregg said of limiting turnovers.
 
Besides Morales and Lewis, Fitzgerald's clutch free throws in the final minute meant she finished with 10 points to go with a game-high five assists. Three of Fitzgerald's five assists came in the fourth quarter, as she found her teammates consistently Thursday.
 
Cinco McCartney also went into double figures, scoring a season-high 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field.
 
Lewis added a team-high six rebounds to her 19 points, while Morales chipped in four assists, three rebounds and three steals to her 19.
 
The Vikings now have a short turnaround before facing Pepperdine on the road at 1 p.m. Saturday. Pepperdine is nicknamed the Waves, of course. It's an appropriate name given how the Vikings rode the waves to perfection Thursday against the Bulldogs.
 
When it looked like the final wave was going to come crashing down on top of them, Lewis and the Vikings said hell nah.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 1-1 all time against Fresno State with the win…Lewis' five three-pointers moved her past Sidney Rielly (2016-19) for sixth on the all-time career list at Portland State…Morales has hit at least four three-pointers in five of the Vikings' six games this season…Mia 'Uhila tied Morales with three steals in the game, while Syd Schultz added two more.