HEAD COACH LYNN KENNEDY

Chelsey Gregg (née Zimmerman) was elevated to head coach of the Viking program on April 16, 2021, and enters her second year at the helm during the 2022-23 season.

Gregg spent six seasons first as an assistant (2015-18) and then associate head coach (2018-21) under former Viking head coach Lynn Kennedy. Gregg helped lead the Vikings to the program’s best Division I season in her first year as associate head coach during the 2018-19 season.

The Vikings won only their second Big Sky tournament title during the 2018-19 season, and advanced to the NCAA tournament for only the second time in program history. The 2018-19 Vikings also made history while going 25-8 overall, the most wins in a season during the program’s Big Sky era. The Vikings also tied Big Sky era records for home wins (14) and Big Sky wins (14), and set a new Big Sky era record for road winning percentage (.615).

March runs have been common during Gregg's tenure at Portland State. The Vikings are 9-5 at the Big Sky tournament in Gregg's six years on the Park Blocks, having won at least one game at five of the last six conference tournaments. Besides the 2019 tournament title, the Vikings made the semifinals in 2017 and 2018, and made the quarterfinals in 2020 and 2021.

The 2021 tournament featured the most complete game of the season for the 2020-21 Vikings, as they beat Eastern Washington 71-51 in the first round. The 20-point margin of victory was the biggest of the season against a Division I opponent, as the Vikings put things together following a pandemic-altered regular season.

The Vikings practiced 5-on-5 only 25 times during the 2020-21 season, a fraction of what they would have done normally. Despite that, the Vikings were 6-2 in games decided by three points or less, with Jada Lewis (vs. NAU on Feb. 11 & SUU on March 5), Kylie Jimenez (vs. Montana on Feb. 4) and Desirae Hansen (vs. NAU on Feb. 14) all making game-winning plays in the final seconds during the season. Jimenez and Hansen received All-Big Sky third-team honors for the second straight season at the end of the year.

The 2020-21 season also marked the Vikings' best academic year in program history despite difficulties stemming from the pandemic. The Vikings put 12 of their 14 players on the Academic All-Big Sky team; 12 players made the President's or Dean's List during fall, winter or spring term; and the team had at least a 3.63 GPA every term. The standout accomplishment of the year came in July, however, as the Vikings made the WBCA Academic Top 25 Honor Roll for the first time in program history. The Vikings finished tied for 12th in the rankings with a team GPA of 3.672.

The Vikings went 16-16 in 2019-20, the third straight season where the Vikings were at .500 or above. The Vikings beat Eastern Washington 83-70 in the first round of the Big Sky tournament, the fourth straight season in which the Vikings have won at least one game at the conference tournament.

Hansen and Jimenez, two players Gregg has worked closely with as the team's primary guards coach, were each named to the All-Big Sky third team as the pair led the Vikings with 14.3 and 12.1 points per game, respectively. Hansen scored in double figures in 12 straight games to finish the season, including four 20-point games in the Vikings' last six games. Jimenez, meanwhile, reached 1,000-career points against Weber State on Feb. 29, becoming the 19th member of the 1,000-point club at Portland State, as well as the third new member in the past three seasons.

Portland State led the Big Sky in free throw percentage (.791) and three-point field goal percentage (.373), and ranked fifth and 11th in the nation in each category, respectively.

The Vikings' .373 three-point percentage set a new Big Sky-era program record, crushing the old mark of .359 that the Vikings set two years earlier in 2017-18. The Vikings broke the single-game record with 15 three-pointers against Eastern Washington on Feb. 15, breaking a mark that had stood since Dec. 29, 2007. The Vikings matched the record two weeks later while going 15-of-31 (.484) from deep against Weber State. The Vikings also set a new overall program record with 261 made three-pointers, as three different Vikings moved into the single-season top 10 for makes in Belle Frazier (64), Jimenez (63) and Hansen (60).

The previous year, Ashley Bolston, another guard who worked closely with Gregg, led the Vikings to the Big Sky tournament title as she was named the tournament MVP after averaging 14.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in the Vikings’ three wins at the tournament. Bolston was also named to the All-Big Sky second team after a regular season in which she became just the second Big Sky athlete to record two triple-doubles in a season between her performances against UC Davis (21 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists) and the University of Portland (19 points, 10 rebounds, 12 assists and nine steals).

Bolston also moved into the career top 10 for scoring during the 2018-19 season, along with fellow senior Sidney Rielly. Rielly finished fourth (1,501 points) on the all-time scoring list after becoming just the fourth PSU player to score over 1,500 points her career, while Bolston finished ninth with 1,334 career points. Rielly led the Vikings with 14.0 points per game during the season, and was named to the All-Big Sky first team following the regular season. Rielly was the first Viking to be named to the All-Big Sky first team since Eryn Jones made the first team following the 2010-11 season.

Courtney West became only the second Viking to be named the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year, after leading the Big Sky in blocks for the third straight season. West broke her own single-game record with nine blocks against Southern Utah on Jan. 17, and finished the season with 85 blocks, second to only her 94 blocks as a redshirt sophomore in 2016-17.

Hansen also became just the second Viking to earn Top Reserve honors from the Big Sky as she shared the honor with Eastern Washington’s Uriah Howard. Hansen earned the honor after averaging 8.3 points per game in Big Sky play, and went on to hit the game-winning shot in the Vikings’ 61-59 win over Eastern Washington in the championship game of the Big Sky tournament.

Jimenez was named an All-Big Sky honorable mention after leading the Big Sky with 2.6 steals per game while also ranking second in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3) and third in assists per game (4.7). Jimenez was also named to the All-Big Sky tournament team, after she scored a game-high 22 points in the Vikings’ 75-59 upset win of top-seeded Idaho in the semifinals of the Big Sky tournament.

Jimenez and Bolston each ranked in the top five of the Big Sky in terms of assists per game, while the Vikings led the Big Sky and ranked 13th in the nation with 17.2 assists per game as a team. The Vikings finished with 569 total assists during the season, the most assists by a Viking team during the program’s Big Sky era. The Vikings also set a Big Sky era program record with 1,289 rebounds during the season.

The assist and rebound records came as part of a season-long statistical dominance for the Vikings during the 2018-19 season. The Vikings led the Big Sky in eight different statistical categories, and ranked second in the conference in five more. The Vikings led the Big Sky in scoring margin (+10.4), field goal percentage defense (.356), free throw percentage (.790), defensive rebounds per game (28.1), assists per game (17.2), turnover margin (+1.39), steals per game (9.8) and blocks per game (5.3).

The Vikings’ .790 free throw percentage in 2018-19 also ranked them fourth nationally in the category. The Vikings also ranked in the top 25 of the nation for assists per game (13th, 17.2), field goal percentage defense (13th, .356) and blocks per game (15th, 5.3).

Additionally, the Vikings earned national recognition for their standout 2018-19 season, as they twice were ranked eighth in the espnW Mid-Major Poll, and made two appearances in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. The Vikings had never appeared in either poll before the season.

Gregg was also instrumental in Jimenez being named the 2017-18 Big Sky Freshman of the Year, making her the first Viking to earn the honor since Kelli Valentine following the 2007-08 season. Jimenez earned the honor while leading the Big Sky with a 2.7 assist-to-turnover ratio, and also ranked fourth and seventh in assists per game (4.5) and steals per game (1.8), respectively.

Kiana Brown also led the Big Sky and ranked seventh in the nation with a .898 free throw percentage in 2017-18. As a team, the Vikings ranked second in the Big Sky and fifth in the nation with a .786 team free throw percentage – the second highest single-season free throw percentage in program history.

Gregg helped the Vikings post the biggest turnaround in team field goal percentage in 2016-17, when the Vikings shot .450 as a team after shooting .358 from the field in 2015-16. Rielly posted the top field goal percentage in the nation by a guard that year, as she shot .530 from the field.

The Vikings’ .450 field goal percentage in 2016-17 was the team’s best shooting mark since joining the Big Sky before the 1996-97 season. Gregg also helped the Vikings post the top three-point field goal percentage in their Big Sky era in 2017-18, when the Vikings shot .359 from beyond the arc.

Gregg came to the park blocks after serving two seasons as an assistant coach under head coach Lynn Kennedy at Southern Oregon University, where she played collegiately. While at Southern Oregon, Gregg served as the travel coordinator and was responsible for student-athlete academic standards, monitoring, and retention.

During her time in Ashland, Gregg was part of two of the best teams in program history, both as a player and as a coach. Gregg and the Raiders went 29-5 during her senior season in 2007-08, and then went 27-5 in 2014-15 with Gregg as an assistant. The Raiders also made the NAIA Sweet 16 in 2014-15, and were ranked as high as eighth in the nation that season.

Gregg also spent four years as an assistant coach at the University of Great Falls (now the University of Providence). Gregg assisted with scheduling, scouting, player development, academics, budgeting and on-court coaching while at Great Falls, and served as the program’s camp director. Gregg coached a pair of future NAIA All-Americans while at Great Falls, and helped the team rank among the best academic teams in the NAIA with a 3.65 GPA in 2013.

Gregg graduated from the University of Great Falls with an M.A. in Secondary Education in 2011. Gregg graduated from Southern Oregon in 2009 with a B.S. in Health and Physical Education and a minor in Spanish.