FRESNO, Calif. — Finals might be coming next week for the Portland State women's basketball team, but the Vikings answered a lot of questions Wednesday.
 
One question answered was when the Vikings (4-2) would win back-to-back games. Tick. Wednesday's 72-61 win over Fresno State at Save Mart Center followed a 75-68 victory over Seattle U last Saturday.
 
Another was how the Vikings would shoot in an opponent's gym when 24 of their 37 made three-pointers this season have come at home. Tick. The Vikings shot a season-high 57.1 percent (28-of-49) from the field against the Bulldogs (5-3), as well as 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from three-point range.
 
A third question was could the Vikings win the hustle stats against a Bulldog team that came into Wednesday a perfect 4-0 at home. Tick. The Vikings recorded their second straight win on the glass, out-rebounding the Bulldogs 28-to-26, and outscored them in the paint (32-30) and on second-chance points (12-8).
 
Exam passed.
 
"Complete team win. Top to bottom. Start to finish. That's what we need, to get a complete team win," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said.
 
"We had to break down the season in just little parts. It was something we talked about. Not only winning two in a row, but against who we were playing was really impressive. Fresno State is a good team and to beat them in their home gym says a lot about our team."
 
The Vikings took control after Fresno State jumped out to an early 8-2 lead. The Vikings outscored the Bulldogs 30-13 after that initial deficit then never looked back. They led by double digits throughout the second half and won the first three quarters before the Bulldogs made a push in the fourth.
 
Ogele and Esmeralda Morales led the way for the Vikings. Morales led all scorers with 21 points, the fourth time out of six games this season she's scored at least 20. Ogele, meanwhile, finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season and first since her breakout performance against UC Davis in the team's season opener.
 
Both players helped push the Vikings in front after the Bulldogs led early. Morales' first three-pointer of the game broke a 13-all tie with 3:37 to go in the first quarter. That kicked off a stretch of three straight three-pointers for the Vikings, all of which answered a bucket on the other end for the Bulldogs. Morales hit a second to make it 19-15, while Mia 'Uhila hit the third to make it 22-17.
 
Joy Haltom knocked down the team's first triple in the second quarter to make it 29-21, while Cinco McCartney followed with an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Vikings their first double-digit lead at 32-21.
 
"Sometimes I think we get too caught up in what they're running and what they need to do. But I think when we focus on us and what we're doing, then that gives us confidence and gets us going on our end. I think when we're able to get stops from our defense it really jumpstarts us offensively," Gregg said of the team's answer after the Bulldogs' early lead.
 
The Bulldogs got back within six at 32-26, but Morales and Ogele scored the final six points of the half between them to give the Vikings a 38-26 lead at the break.
 
The Vikings added nine of the first 12 points in the third quarter to stretch it to an 18-pont advantage early in the third. Morales added two more three-pointers in the quarter, the second of which gave the Vikings a 54-35 lead with 3:19 left in the period.
 
The only hint of a comeback came midway through the fourth quarter when the Bulldogs cut it to a 14-point lead with 5:24 remaining. But Ogele answered that with back-to-back second-chance buckets to push the lead back out to 18.
 
"Super impressed with the way that Rhema came to play and defended. I think that gave us a lot of confidence," Gregg said.
 
The Vikings were balanced behind their two leading scorers as different players scored at least six points in the end. Besides Morales and Ogele, Cinco McCartney scored eight points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field. Mia 'Uhila and Joy Haltom added seven points each while Laynee Torres-Kahapea chipped in six. 'Uhila, who has stuffed the stat sheet in all of the Vikings' wins, did so again Wednesday, adding five rebounds and four assists to her seven points.
 
"Really just a complete team win. So many people came in and gave us good minutes," Gregg said.
 
The back-to-back wins give the Vikings good momentum going into a 10-day break between games. The Vikings will be off from competition until facing Oregon on Dec. 9. Tipoff for that game is still to be determined.
 
It always feels better to go into a break like that with some questions answered. The Vikings ticked several of those boxes Wednesday.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 2-1 all time against the Bulldogs with Wednesday's win…The Vikings also beat the Bulldogs, 62-60, last season at Viking Pavilion…Morales also led the Vikings with a season-high four steals…Five of Ogele's 10 rebounds came on the offensive glass.
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