WBCA Release (PDF)  |  Big Sky Release (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. – The awards continue to come in for the Portland State women's basketball team as Eryn Jones has been named to the WBCA State Farm All-Region 8 team and Sherri Murrell was voted as the Big Sky Conference co-Coach of the Year on Wednesday.

The 2010-11 Big Sky Player of the Year, Jones becomes PSU's first ever student-athlete recognized by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. She is one of four players from Region 8 and one of 52 candidates nationwide that are now eligible for selection to the 10-member State Farm Coaches' All-America Team.

The State Farm Coaches' All-America Team for NCAA Division I will be announced at 9 a.m. ET, Saturday, April 2, in Indianapolis during the WBCA National Convention, which is held in conjunction with the NCAA Women's Final Four.

A 5-foot-8 point guard from Lynnwood, Wash., Jones is the only player in the conference to rank in the top 10 of eight categories. She is currently averaging 14.3 points and 4.8 assists per game, and is shooting 44 percent from 3-point range to rank ninth in the country.

"She has been so consistent all year long," Murrell said of Jones, "and led this team not just to victories, but also to history with all that we have accomplished this year. She is very deserving of this honor."

Murrell shared the league's top coaching honor with Northern Colorado's Jaime White. In her fourth season on the Park Blocks, Murrell has led the Vikings to the postseason for the third straight year. Her Portland State squad will face Wyoming this evening at 6 p.m. PT, in a WNIT first round game.

The Vikings (20-11) won their first Big Sky regular season title this year, sharing first place with Northern Colorado as both teams finished 12-4 in league play. PSU held the tie-breaker, though, and hosted the conference tournament last week, also a first for the school.

In three-plus seasons at Portland State, Murrell has accumulated a 83-45 (.648) overall record and a 46-18 (.719) conference record. She has led the Vikings to three 20-win seasons and to the second round of the WNIT in 2009 and to the NCAA tournament in 2010.

White earned the honor after helping the Bears to the co-regular season title despite her team being picked eighth in both of the preseason polls. In her fifth season, White led UNC to a 17-13 overall record this year.