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THIS WEEK: The Portland State women's basketball squad closes out their preseason schedule by hosting Corban on Monday, Jan. 3. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Stott Center. The Vikings then travel to Eastern Washington on Saturday, Jan. 8, to face the Eagles in the Big Sky Conference opener for both schools.

GAME NO. 13
Corban (9-6) at Portland State (6-6)
Monday, Jan. 3  •  7 p.m. PT
Portland, OR  •  Stott Center

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

SERIES INFORMATION
All-Time: First meeting

PORTLAND STATE vs. CORBAN STORYLINES
• Portland State and Corban meet up for the first time ever.
• This will be Portland State's first regular season matchup against an NAIA instutition since they faced Lewis & Clark State on Jan. 6, 1995.
• PSU is counting the game toward its record, while Corban is counting the game as an exhibition.
• The Vikings have played two other non-NCAA DI schools during Sherri Murrell's tenure, winning both by an average of 26.5 points. Both wins came against Lewis & Clark, an NCAA DIII college.
• Portland State is playing its final non-conference tilt of the season before opening up Big Sky Conference action on Jan. 8 at Eastern Washington.
• Heading into Monday's game, Portland State is 4-1 at the Stott Center and winning by an average of 16.5 points. They have three double-digit victories, including dominating wins over Lewis & Clark, 74-47, and Loyola Marymount, 65-39. Corban is 4-5 on the road, but has won two of its past three away from their campus in Salem.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE VIKS THIS WEEK: Monday's game against Corban will be feature live audio and video through Big Sky TV and live stats. Links for Big Sky TV can be found on GoViks.com by clicking on the LIVE EVENTS tab, then clicking on LIVE AUDIO/VIDEO. 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: The Vikings pulled off a remarkable comeback against crosstown rival Portland on Dec. 28, and left the Stott Center with a 64-62 victory. PSU led in the opening minutes but the Pilots would take over from there and led for the next 35 minutes until a layup by Courtney VanBrocklin knotted the contest up at 57-57 with just over three minutes left. Later, an Eryn Jones' 3-pointer gave Portland State the lead for good, 60-59. PSU held UP to just three field goals over the final 6:05 and to only 37.9 percent shooting in the second half. Jones paced the Viks with 16 points, while Lexi Bishop added a season-high 12. It was also a monumental night for senior Kelli Valentine, who became just the 10th player in PSU history to record 1,000-career points and 500-career rebounds.

VALENTINE'S MONUMENTAL NIGHT: As noted above, senior forward Kelli Valentine joined the Viking elite on Dec. 28 against Portland 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.

WINNING AT HOME: Over the past three-plus seasons with Sherri Murrell as the head coach, the Vikings have posted a 40-8 overall record (.833) and 20-4 Big Sky mark (.833) inside The Stott Center. Even more impressive, Portland State has won by an average of 13.6 points at home overall and by 15.5 points in conference games. The Vikings have won 27 contests by a double-digit margin, including 11 victories by at least 20 points. This year, PSU is 4-1 at home and winning by an average of 16.5 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.

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 1,087 points and needs 85 more to join the PSU career top 10.

INSTANT IMPACT: Two of Portland State's newcomers this year have had instant impacts on the program. 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 this week because she does not have enough field goal attempts to qualify. Samms does rank seventh in blocked shots (1.1 bpg), while ranking third on the team in rebounding (4.3 rpg) and fourth in scoring (7.3 ppg). 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 rebounding (5.9 rpg) and steals (1.6 spg). In the Big Sky she ranks seventh in scoring, ninth in rebounding and 12th in steals. She also has recorded both of PSU's double-doubles this year.

THE THREE-POINT TRIO: Portland State possesses three of the best 3-point shooters in the Big Sky Conference in seniors Lexi Bishop and Kelly Marchant, and junior Eryn Jones. Heading into this year, the trio has a combined career 37.2 percent shooting mark from behind the arc, with Jones ranking fourth all-time at PSU in 3-point field goal percentage (38.7) and Marchant ninth (36.7). Last year, Jones made at least one trey in 27-of-33 games, Marchant made at least one in 26-of-31 games she played, and Bishop sank one in 22 of the 32 games she appeared in. Through 12 games this year, Jones leads the team with 26 three-pointers and is shooting 44.8%, which ranks second in the Big Sky, and Bishop has made 12 and is shooting 37.5%.

BASKETBALL JONES: Heading into her junior season, guard Eryn Jones is the only returning Viking to play in all 66 games the past two seasons. 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 40.1 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 six categories in the Big Sky, including first in free three percentage (86.5), second in 3-point field goal percentage (44.8), third in minutes per game (33.5), fifth in assists per game (4.5) and 3-point field goals made per game (2.2), and sixth in scoring (13.0 ppg).

NOT IN HER PAINT: Junior forward Katy Wade was a defensive force all of last season for the Vikings and became the PSU single-season blocked shots leader on Feb. 27 at Weber State. Wade tied the mark of 52 at Idaho State on Feb. 26, and then had two against the Wildcats to break the record set by Sheri Stemple during the 1991-92 season. Wade finished with 68 blocks, which ranks as the 10th-best single season mark in Big Sky history. In the Big Sky tourney opener against Idaho State, Wade blocked a PSU postseason record six shots. Only two players have blocked more shots in a Big Sky tournament game. Montana's Lisa McLeod blocked eight in 1989 and EWU's Brenda Souther had seven in a game in 1987. She also tied a 19-year old school record when she swatted away seven shots against Oregon State on Dec. 29. With two seasons left, Wade should easily become Portland State's all-time leader as she needs just 31 more to overtake the top spot held by Kelli Chandler-Read (118 blocks from 1994-97). In the season opener on Nov. 14, Wade picked up right where she left off a year ago, blocking two shots against Washington. She currently is third on the team with 10 blocks.

BLOCK PARTY: The Vikings, along with Montana, are the only schools to have three players rank amongst the Big Sky leaders in blocked shots per game. Junior Shauneice Samms is seventh, averaging 1.1 per game, while senior Courtney Cremer is 10th (0.9/11 blocks) and junior Katy Wade is 11th (0.9/10 blocks). 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.