CHENEY, Wash. — Maybe the Portland State women's basketball team should keep playing on the road. The team appeared at ease Saturday, at least, as the Vikings – playing their fourth straight road game – posted the program's best shooting performance in 15 years in an 80-71 win over Eastern Washington at Reese Court.
 
The Vikings (10-11, 5-6 Big Sky) shot 60.4 percent from the field Saturday, their best mark since shooting 64.6 percent against Northern Arizona on Feb. 7, 2008 – almost exactly 15 years ago to the day. The Vikings shot 80.0 percent (8-of-10) in the fourth quarter alone, when they were also 11-of-12 (.917) from the free throw line.
 
All eight Vikings who played Saturday shot at least 50 percent from the field. Rhema Ogele went a perfect 6-of-6 from the field, becoming the first player to hit at least five shots without a miss since Courtney West went 7-of-7 against Montana on Jan. 5, 2019.
 
"Total team win," Portland State head coach Chelsey Gregg said afterwards. "I loved our balanced attack. We really made it a point to get back to doubling down on our principles, both defensively and offensively, and needing people to step up and trust each other. I thought we did that today. We executed and shot the ball with confidence against a tough defensive team."
 
The Eagles (14-8, 7-5 Big Sky) came into Saturday having won six of their last seven games, moving them into a tie for third in the Big Sky standings. The Eagles were without two of their top three scorers in Jaydia Martin and Jacinta Buckley, but they also didn't have them Thursday night when the Eagles beat a Sacramento State team, 64-53, that came into the week tied for second in the standings.
 
Even without those players, the Eagles nearly came back on the Vikings after Portland State jumped out to a 16-point lead early in the third quarter. Long runs by their opponents have been a bugaboo for the Vikings on their road trip. Against Montana State on Jan. 26, the Vikings were leading by four in the third quarter when the Bobcats went on a 16-2 run to take control of the game. Similarly, Idaho took control of Thursday's game behind a 15-2 run to finish the first half. So, when the Eagles closed the third quarter on a 22-7 run to get back within one entering the fourth quarter, it looked like déjà vu for the Vikings.
 
This time, however, the Vikings answered the run. The Vikings scored seven straight points to open the fourth quarter and push their lead back out to eight. Alaya Fitzgerald scored five of the seven points in the run, including a three-pointer on the team's first possession of the quarter. A three-point play by the Eagles' Jamie Loera cut it back to a five-point game, but from that point on, the Vikings answered every EWU bucket as the Eagles never got closer than five.
 
"Great response by our team," Gregg said of how her team answered the Eagles' run. "Kudos to [the Eagles] for their big run in the third; however, we learned from Thursday and came back with our own run to start the fourth."
 
Fitzgerald scored 11 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter. Jada Lewis and Esmeralda Morales both had eight points in the period, as they and Fitzgerald accounted for 27 of the team's 30 points in the fourth.
 
Free throw shooting – a missing piece during the Vikings' first three games of their road trip – saw the Vikings close it out. Fitzgerald and Morales combined to go a perfect 10-of-10 from the line in the fourth quarter. As a team, the Vikings went 15-of-16 (.938) from the line in the game, while they held Eastern Washington to only seven free throw attempts. Coming into the game, opponents were averaging five free throw attempts more per game than the Vikings within Big Sky play.
 
The Vikings also out-rebounded the Eagles 29-to-23 Saturday, with the +6 margin representing the Vikings' largest rebounding margin within a Big Sky game this season. Ogele and Cinco McCartney led the way with seven rebounds each in the game.
 
Ogele also featured prominently at the start of the game as the Vikings built their early lead. She led the Vikings with eight points at halftime, then scored on the team's opening possession of the second half to put the Vikings up 15 and go into double figures. Ogele would go on to finish with 13 points, tying her season high.
 
Four different Vikings finished in double figures in the end, the first time that's happened within Big Sky play, and just the third time across all games this season.
 
Lewis recorded her own season high while leading the Vikings with 20 points, 13 of which came in the second half. Fitzgerald and Morales followed Lewis with 19 and 17 points, respectively.
 
The Vikings now return home with some momentum thanks to Saturday's win over the Eagles. They'll be home for four of their final seven games in the regular season, starting with two next weekend against Northern Colorado (Thursday, 6 p.m.) and Northern Arizona (Saturday, 2 p.m.).
 
And the Vikings will be glad to be home, even if Saturday saw the Vikings shoot the lights out on the road.
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 36-43 all time against the Eagles with their win Saturday…Morales finished 10-of-10 from the line, giving her the most makes without a miss since Tatiana Streun went 10-of-10 against Idaho State on Jan. 23, 2021…The Vikings' 80 points marked a conference season high for the team.