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THIS WEEK: After picking up a 10-point win at home over Idaho State on Monday, the Vikings continue Big Sky Conference play with a pair of road games at Weber State on Thursday and Northern Arizona on Saturday. The Viks and Wildcats tip off at 6:00 p.m. PT, while PSU and NAU get started at 5:05 p.m. PT.

GAME NO. 17
Portland State (8-8, 1-2 Big Sky) at Weber State (4-11, 0-3 Big Sky)
Thursday, Jan. 20  •  6:00 p.m. PT
Ogden, UT  •  Dee Events Center (11,500)

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

SERIES INFORMATION
All-Time: WSU leads 22-17
BSC Games: Tied 14-14
At WSU: WSU leads 13-5
At WSU BSC Games: WSU leads 9-5
Streak: PSU 4
Last PSU Win: PSU 65, WSU 62; 2/27/10 @ WSU
Last WSU Win: WSU 76, PSU 71 (OT); 2/16/08 @ WSU

GAME NO. 18
Portland State (8-8, 1-2 Big Sky) at Northern Arizona (7-10, 2-2 Big Sky)
Saturday, Jan. 22  •  5:05 p.m. PT
Flagstaff, AZ  •  Walkup Skydome (7,000)

COVERAGE
Internet Audio: GoViks.com
Play-by-Play: Teri Mariani
Video: Big Sky TV
Live Stats: NAUAthletics.com/GoViks.com

SERIES INFORMATION
All-Time: NAU leads 19-12
BSC Games: NAU leads 17-11
At NAU: NAU leads 12-3
At NAU BSC Games: NAU leads 11-3
Streak: PSU 1
Last PSU Win: PSU 74, NAU 56; 2/19/10 @ PSU
Last NAU Win: NAU 86, PSU 80; 1/16/10 @ NAU

PORTLAND STATE vs. WEBER STATE STORYLINES
• The Vikings have won four straight in the series and are 5-1 against the Wildcats under Sherri Murrell. PSU has also won two straight in Ogden.
• PSU's average margin of victory over Weber State in the five wins is 13.8 points, with four of the wins coming by at least 10.
• PSU controlled the Big Sky series early, winning six of the first eight, before Weber State won 11 of the next 14 regular season games. The Wildcats also knocked off the Viks in the 2006-07 Big Sky Tourney.
• Weber State enters the contest having lost six consecutive games, including their first three conference home matchups, and is 2-7 at the Dee Events Center. PSU is just 1-7 on the road and has lost six straight away from the Park Blocks.
• In the two games last year, PSU shot a combined 45.1 percent while holding Weber State to a 39.5 percent mark. The Viks also went 23 of 54 from behind the arc (42.6%) and WSU was only 5 of 24 (20.8%). Additionally, PSU averaged 42.0 rebounds to WSU's 35.0.
• Eryn Jones averaged 19.0 ppg and shot 53.3% (8-15) from 3-point range against Weber State last season. Kelly Marchant averaged 16.5 ppg and made five 3s in the series. Jones has a career average of 15.0 ppg against WSU, while Marchant's is 10.4 ppg.
• Kelli Valentine is averaging 9.8 ppg and 6.6 rpg over five career games against Weber State. Last year she averaged 7.5 rpg.

PORTLAND STATE vs. NORTHERN ARIZONA STORYLINES
• Portland State is 5-1 against NAU under Sherri Murrell, winning by an average of 20 points a game. The Vikings have five double-digit victories including a 26-point win in 2007-08 and a 29-point win in 2008-09.
• Overall, the Vikings have won six of the last seven in the series. The teams split the two contests a year ago with the home team winning each time.
• Two of PSU's three victories in Flagstaff have come under Murrell. The Vikings won two straight at Northern Arizona before the Lumberjacks claimed a 86-60 victory last season.
• Northern Arizona is 6-4 at home this season, including 1-1 in Big Sky games. PSU is 1-7 on the road, including 0-2 in conference road games.
• Shooting was the difference in the two games last season. In their victory in Portland the Vikings shot 49.2% to NAU's 38.3%. But in Flagstaff the Vikings shot just 38.9% while the Lumberjacks shot 48.3%.
• The Vikings led at halftime of both games a year ago. They were up by 13 in Portland and up 35-31 in Flagstaff before getting outscored by ten in the second period.
• In six career games against Northern Arizona, Kelly Marchant has averaged 13.0 points, shot 42.1% (8-19) from 3-point range and made all 14 of her free throw attempts. Kelli Valentine has averaged 11.3 points and shot 50.9% (28-55) against NAU. 

HOW TO FOLLOW THE VIKS THIS WEEK: Thursday's game at Weber 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. Saturday's game at NAU will have live audio through GoViks.com as well as Big Sky TV. Teri Mariani will call the action for Portland State in both games. 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.

THE LAST TIME OUT: Three Vikings scored over 20 points and Eryn Jones matched a 22-year old school record by going 6 of 6 from 3-point range as Portland State defeated Idaho State, 89-79, at the Stott Center on Monday night. It was PSU's first Big Sky win of the year and they snapped ISU's eight-game winning streak in the process. Portland State led 46-41 at the break and fended off several Idaho State comeback attempts in the second period. The Bengals actually went in front, 58-52, before the Vikings scored eight straight to regain the lead and they never trailed again. Courtney VanBrocklin scored eight points in the final 56 seconds and made all six of her free throws during that span to help seal the victory. She finished with 20 points, Jones had 21 and Allie Brock set a new career-high with 22 points. PSU's 46 first-half points were the most they have scored this season over the first 20 minutes. The teams combined for 15 first-half 3-pointers, but made just three in the second period.

THREE OVER 20 MARKS A FIRST: For the first time in school history, three Portland State players scored at least 20 points in a game when Allie Brock, Eryn Jones and Courtney VanBrocklin all topped the mark in the Vikings' 89-79 victory over Idaho State on Monday night. Brock led the way with 22, Jones had 21 and VanBrocklin scored 20. Several times in the late 80s and early 90s under Greg Bruce the Vikings came close with two players over 20 and another with 18 or 19 points, but even with PSU scoring over 90 points multiple times during that span they never had three players score at least 20 in the same game.

PERFECT FROM LONG RANGE: Eryn Jones tied a 22-year old school single game record when she made all six of her 3-pointers against Idaho State on Monday night. Several players are listed as the single game record holder for 3-point field goal percentage (1.000%), but only one other player had ever made that many 3s without a miss. On Nov. 25, 1989, Michele Hughes went 6 of 6 against Southern Utah. Jones and Hughes are two of the best 3-point shooters in PSU history as Jones ranks third all-time in career percentage (40.6%) and Hughes is fourth (39.4%).

LOTS OF HIGHS: In their 89-79 victory over Idaho State on Monday, the Vikings set several individual career and team season highs. Allie Brock's 22 points was easily a new best and she also set new highs with nine field goals made and a 75 percent shooting mark (9-12). Brock also made the first three-pointer of her career in the contest. Eryn Jones also put together one of the best games of her career, going 6 of 6 from three-point range to tie a 22-year old PSU record and set a new best with six 3s made. She also tied a career-high with six boards. As a team, Portland State set new season highs for 3-point field goal percentage (60.0%) and 3-pointers made (9).

VALENTINE'S MONUMENTAL NIGHT: On Dec. 28 against Portland, senior forward Kelli Valentine joined the Viking elite when she pulled down career rebound number 500 with 11:55 left in the game. That made her one of just 10 players in Portland State women's basketball history to go over the 1,000-career point, 500-career rebound barrier. Valentine is now the third Viking in the past four seasons to join the club as Kelsey Kahle reached the mileston in 2007-08 and Claire Faucher did it last season. Prior to Kahle, the last Viking to join the elite club was Sarah Hedgepeth in 2003-04.

VALENTINE PASSES 1,000: On November 27, senior forward Kelli Valentine became the 14th player in Portland State history to surpass the 1,000-career point barrier when she scored 24 against Tulane. Valentine entered the contest needing nine points but matched her career-high with 24. She is now at 1,127 points and needs 45 more to join the PSU career top 10.

CREMER'S BLOCK PARTY: Senior center Courtney 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. Cremer has a team-high 18 blocks and ranks seventh in the Big Sky, averaging 1.1 per contest. 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.

RETURNING TO HER OLD FORM: After a slow start to her senior season, Kelly Marchant has returned to her old form the past two weeks and is averaging 10.5 points and has made five 3-pointers over the past four games. Marchant has scored 42 points the past four contests, including a season-high 22 vs. Corban, which is one more point than she scored in the first 12 games combined. She is also 5 of 10 from behind the arc, after shooting 4 of 27 the first 12 games. She has definitely found her shooting touch and has a 57.7 percentage the last four games after registering a 25.5 percentage prior to that.

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 is second in the conference with a 86.2 percentage, while Eryn Jones is third in the Big Sky with a 83.7 percentage. VanBrocklin has missed just nine free throws all year (56 of 65) and is 36 of 40 (90%) over the past nine games. She helped seal the win against Idaho State on Jan. 17 by sinking all six of her free throw attempts over the final 56 seconds. 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), Eastern Washington (21-26) and Idaho State (22-27), but they've also had some not so good showings and are sixth in the Big Sky at 68.6%.

BASKETBALL JONES: Junior guard Eryn Jones is the only returning Viking to play in all 82 games the past two-plus seasons and has started 25straight 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 40.6 ranks her third 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 third in free three percentage (83.7), assists per game (4.8), 3-point field goal percentage (45.5) and minutes per game (33.4), fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.5), fifth in 3-point field goals made per game (2.2), and ninth in scoring (12.8 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 (13.5 ppg), rebounding (6.1 rpg) and steals (1.8 spg). In the Big Sky she ranks second in free throw percentage (86.2), sixth in scoring, eighth in rebounding and 10th 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.

BROCK STEPPING UP: Freshman forward Allie Brock has started the past four games after the injury to Shauneice Samms and is averaging 11.3 ppg and 6.0 rpg over that span. She is also shooting 56.3 percent and has gone 8 of 11 at the charity stripe. Against Corban on Jan. 3, Brock pulled down a then-career-high eight rebounds, but then topped that with 10 at EWU on Jan. 8. She also recorded her three highest scoring totals in the past four games with 22 vs. Idaho State, 15 at EWU and six against Corban. Over the first 12 games, she averaged 7.9 minutes, 2.5 points and 1.8 rebounds.

DOUBLE FIGURES: Portland State players have recorded 42 double-digit scoring performances this season, including eleven 20-point games. Courtney VanBrocklin has reached double-digits a team-high 14 times, including in each of the past seven games, and has scored at least 20 points on three occasions. Eryn Jones has reached the 10-point barrier in 11 games and has a team-best four 20-point games, while Kelli Valentine has six double-digit scoring performances.

WINNING VERSUS LOSING: There are several numbers that stand out as to what has helped the Vikings to their eight victories this season. Comparing their shooting percentage, rebounding numbers and scoring in their victories to their losses shows some glaring differences. In their eight wins, PSU is outscoring the opposition 77.1 ppg to 61.2 ppg, but in their eight losses they are getting outscored 73.2 ppg to 52.4 ppg. Shooting wise, PSU is outshooting their opponents 43.5% to 37.8% in their victories, but is getting outshot 45.6% to 33.8% in their loses. On the boards, the Vikings are outrebounding their opponents 43.1 to 38.0 in their victories, but getting outrebounded 43.4 to 34.6 in their losses.