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THIS WEEK: The Portland State women's basketball squad returns to the friendly confines of the Stott Center looking to snap a two-game losing streak when they host Idaho State on Monday, Jan. 17, in a Big Sky Conference matchup. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

GAME NO. 16
Idaho State (10-4, 1-0 Big Sky) at Portland State (7-8, 0-2 Big Sky)
Monday, Jan. 17  •  7 p.m.
Portland, OR  •  Stott Center

COVERAGE
Radio: AM 1360 KUIK
Internet Audio: GoViks.com/Kuik.com
Play-by-Play: Teri Mariani
Video: Big Sky TV
Live Stats: GoViks.com

SERIES INFORMATION
All-Time: Tied 20-20
BSC Games: ISU leads 15-13
At PSU: PSU leads 12-6
At PSU BSC Games: PSU leads 8-6
Streak: PSU 1
Last PSU Win: PSU 75, ISU 61; 3/11/10 @ EWU
Last ISU Win: ISU 63, PSU 51; 2/26/10 @ ISU

PORTLAND STATE vs. IDAHO STATE STORYLINES
• Portland State took two of three games last season from the Bengals, including a 61-45 win on Jan. 23 in Portland and a 75-61 victory on March 11 in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament.
• The Vikings have won six of the last seven and eight of the last 10 meetings against Idaho State.
• Five of the last six wins by the Vikings have been by double-digits, including a 97-57 victory at the Stott Center during the 2007-08 season. Their average margin of victory in those five wins is 19.6 points.
• The Vikings 40-point win in 2007-08 is their largest margin of victory in a Big Sky Conference game.
• Idaho State leads the Big Sky in overall winning percentage and is riding a seven-game winning streak. The Bengals play at Sac State on Saturday afternoon before making the trek to the Park Blocks.
• While Idaho State has been great at home (6-0), they are just 3-4 on the road and have lost those four games by an average of 15.5 points. On the flip side, Portland State is 5-1 at the Stott Center and winning by an average of 21.4 points on its home court.
• Both teams like to shoot the 3-pointer. Portland State is averaging 18.2 attempts per game, while Idaho State is averaging 18.6 per contest.  Both squads have made 90 three-pointers on the year.
• PSU and ISU both have played Loyola Marymount this year, with the Vikings claiming a 65-39 victory in Portland and ISU taking a 63-55 win in the season-opener in Pocatello.

PORTLAND STATE-IDAHO STATE SERIES NOTES: Idaho State owned the series early on after Portland State joined the Big Sky, but the Vikings have been the dominant team of late under fourth-year Head Coach Sherri Murrell. PSU has won six of the past seven and eight the last 10 in the series and defeated the Bengals, 75-61, in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament last year on Eastern Washington's court. That victory started PSU's run through the three-day tourney and the Vikings eventually won the championship to advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. PSU is 6-1 against Idaho State under Sherri Murrell, including 3-0 at home. The Vikings have won those six games by nine, 10, 14, 16, 18 and 40 points for an average margin of victory of 17.8 points. At home, PSU has won four straight in the series.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE VIKS THIS WEEK: Monday's game vs. Idaho State will air in the Portland metro area on AM 1360 KUIK, and will also feature live audio and video through Big Sky TV, and live stats. Links for Big Sky TV and KUIK's web site can be found on GoViks.com by clicking on the LIVE EVENTS tab, then clicking on LIVE AUDIO/VIDEO. Teri Mariani will call the action  for Portland State. The live stats link can be found by clicking on the LIVE EVENTS tab on the front of GoViks.com, then clicking on the LIVE STATS link.

WINNING AT HOME: Over the past three-plus seasons with Sherri Murrell as the head coach, the Vikings have posted a 41-8 overall record (.837) and 20-4 Big Sky mark (.833) inside The Stott Center. Even more impressive, Portland State has won by an average of 14.3 points at home overall and by 15.5 points in conference games. The Vikings have won 28 contests by a double-digit margin, including 12 victories by at least 20 points. This year, PSU is 5-1 at home and winning by an average of 21.4 points. Additionally, for the fifth straight season the Vikings posted a winning record at home during conference play in 2009-10. They went 6-2 last season at the Stott Center, after going 7-1 in each of the previous two seasons. In 2006-07 they were 6-2, and in 2005-06 they were 4-3.

MAKING THEIR FREE THROWS: While PSU has been hot and cold this season at the charity stripe, two Vikings have been lights out. Courtney VanBrocklin leads the conference and is 36th nationally with a 85.7 percentage, while Eryn Jones is second in the Big Sky and 44th nationally with a 85.1 percentage. As a team, the Vikings have had several stellar performances at the line, shooting 95.5% (21-22)  vs. Hawai`i and better than 80% against BYU (12-15), Portland (9-11) and Eastern Washington (21-26), but they've also had some not so good showings and are seventh in the Big Sky at 66.9%.

NATIONALLY RANKED: Junior Eryn Jones and sophomore Courtney VanBrocklin are the only Vikings to be ranked in the top 100 in the NCAA statistical rankings as of Jan. 13. Jones is 44th in free-throw percentage (85.1%) and 64th in assists per game (4.7), while VanBrocklin is 36th in free-throw percentage (85.7%).

BASKETBALL JONES: Junior guard Eryn Jones is the only returning Viking to play in all 81 games the past two-plus seasons and has started 24 straight games dating back to last year. Jones is a deadly 3-point shooter and led the team in 3-point field goal percentage last season with a 38.8% mark. Her current career percentage of 39.3 ranks her fourth all-time at PSU and her 77 career three-point field goals (through her sophomore season) is the most by a Viking over their first two seasons since Jenni Ritter sank 86 from 2005-07. Jones is off to a fantastic start in 2010-11 and is ranked in the top 10 of seven categories in the Big Sky, including second in free three percentage (85.1), third in assists per game (4.7), fourth in 3-point field goal percentage (40.8), assist/turnover ratio (1.5) and minutes per game (33.1), sixth in 3-point field goals made per game (1.9), and 12th in scoring (12.2 ppg).

INSTANT IMPACT: Two of Portland State's newcomers this year have had instant impacts on the program. Guard Courtney VanBrocklin, a sophomore transfer from Boise State who redshirted last year, came off the bench in the season opener at Washington to score the Vikings' first nine points of the game. She has since started every game and leads PSU in scoring (13.1 ppg), rebounding (5.9 rpg) and steals (1.6 spg). In the Big Sky she ranks first in free throw percentage (85.7), seventh in scoring, ninth in rebounding and 14th in steals. She also has recorded both of PSU's double-doubles this year. Junior forward Shauneice Samms, a transfer from the College of Southern Idaho, was leading the conference in field goal percentage (61.8%) but fell out of the rankings because she does not have enough field goal attempts to qualify. Samms does rank ninth in blocked shots (1.1 bpg), while ranking third on the team in rebounding (4.3 rpg) and fourth in scoring (7.3 ppg). Samms will be out for a few weeks, though, as she recovers from a knee injury.

BLOCK PARTY: The Vikings are the only school to have three players rank amongst the Big Sky leaders in blocked shots per game and are second as a team averaging 3.6 per contest. Senior Courtney Cremer is seventh (1.1) and has averaged 1.8 blocks over the past eight games, while junior Shauniece Samms is ninth (1.1) and junior Katy Wade is 12th (0.9). Cremer is enjoying a resurgance defensively after recording only five blocked shots last season. In her first two seasons on the Park Blocks, Cremer had 23 and 27 blocks, respectively. On Dec. 28, Cremer had two blocked shots against Portland, giving her 66 for her career and moving her into 10th place all-time at PSU. Then on Jan. 3, Cremer turned in a career performance against Corban, blocking six shots to finish one off the PSU single game record. She now has 73 in her career and needs eight more to move up one spot in the career standings and nine more to go up two spots.