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THIS WEEK: Portland State plays just once this week, traveling to Idaho State on Thursday, Feb. 10. Tip-off is set for 6:05 p.m. PT, at Reed Gym.

GAME NO. 23
Portland State (13-9, 6-3 Big Sky) at Idaho State (14-7, 5-3 Big Sky)
Thursday, Feb. 10  •  6:05 p.m. PT
Pocatello, ID  •  Reed Gym

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

SERIES INFORMATION
All-Time: PSU leads 21-20
BSC Games: ISU leads 15-14
At ISU: ISU leads 12-7
At ISU BSC Games: ISU leads 9-5
Streak: PSU 2
Last PSU Win: PSU 89, ISU 79; 1/17/11 @ PSU
Last ISU Win: ISU 63, PSU 51; 2/26/10 @ ISU

PORTLAND STATE vs. IDAHO STATE STORYLINES
• Portland State took the first game this season between the two schools, 89-79, in Portland on Jan. 17.
• Last year, PSU won two of three games in the series, 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. Idaho State claimed a 63-51 victory in Pocatello on Feb. 26.
• The Vikings have won seven of the last eight and nine of the last 12 meetings against Idaho State, including one postseason game.
• Six of the last seven 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 seven wins is 16.7 points. The Vikings 40-point win in 2007-08 is their largest margin of victory in a Big Sky Conference game.
• Sherri Murrell is 7-1 all-time against the Bengals, including 6-1 in regular season contests. She has a 2-1 record in Pocatello.
• Both teams enter on winning streaks. The Vikings have won five in a row and six of their last seven. Idaho State has won its past three games after a three-game losing streak.
• Idaho State is 8-0 at home this season, including a 3-0 mark in Big Sky home contests. Portland State is 3-8 in road games and 2-3 in conference road games.
• PSU is tied with Montana for third in the conference with a 6-3 mark. At 5-3, Idaho State is one-half game back in fifth place.

PSU-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 seven of the past eight and nine of the last 12 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 7-1 against Idaho State under Sherri Murrell, including 2-1 in Pocatello and 6-1 in the regular season ... Six of PSU's last seven wins in the series have been by double-digits, including three in a row ... In 2007-08, Portland State defeated the Bengals, 97-57, for their largest margin of victory since joining the Big Sky in 1996-97 ... Eryn Jones is averaging 12.2 points and 2.3 steals, and shooting 55.6% (15-27) from 3-point range in six career games against ISU ... In eight career games vs. ISU, Kelli Valentine is averaging 10.8 ppg and 4.6 rpg, while shooting 52.9% (37-70) from the field. She is also 9 of 9 at the free-throw line.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE VIKS THIS WEEK: Thursday's game at Idaho State will feature live audio and video through Big Sky TV and live stats. Fans wanting a Portland State flavor can listen to Teri Mariani call the action through GoViks.com. Links for everything can be found by visiting GoViks.com and clicking on the LIVE EVENTS tab. Under there you will see links for LIVE AUDIO/VIDEO and LIVE STATS.

VANBROCKLIN NAMED CO-BIG SKY PLAYER OF THE WEEK (FEB. 7): Courtney VanBrocklin made it two straight Big Sky Player of the Week awards for the Vikings when she was announced as the co-winner on Feb. 7. Montana State junior forward Katie Bussey was the other recipient. VanBrocklin led the Vikings to a 2-0 record last week, averaging 17.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks, while shooting 60% (12-20) from the floor, 75% (3-4) on 3-pointers and 80% (8-10) at the charity stripe. She had just three turnovers in 60 minutes of action. On Thursday against Sac State, VanBrocklin tallied 17 points, five boards, four assists, one steal and one blocked shot, and shot 6 of 10 from the field and 2 of 3 from 3-point range. On Saturday, she led the Viks past first-place Northern Colorado with 18 points and five boards. She added two blocks and two steals, while again shooting 6 of 10 from the floor. She contributed one three-pointer and was 5 of 6 at the free-throw line.

CLIMBING BACK INTO THE BIG SKY RACE: With improved play the past three weeks, the Vikings have climbed back into the Big Sky race. They won have five straight and six of their past seven to move into a tie with Montana for third place at 6-3. Prior to their win vs. Idaho State on Jan. 17, the Vikings were tied for last place in the conference at 0-2. PSU went 2-1 the week of Jan. 17-23, 2-0 the week of Jan. 24-30 and 2-0 the week of Jan. 31-Feb. 6. Better rebounding, shooting and defense have played key roles the past two weeks. The Viks have outshot their opponent in six of the last seven games and outrebounded them in four of the last seven. That after they won the shooting battle just four times and the rebounding battle only five times during their first 15 contests.

TOPPING THE 90-POINT BARRIER: For the first time in 15 years, Portland State scored over 90 points in back-to-back games then they defeated Sacramento State 97-73 on Jan. 29 and 92-74 on Feb. 3. The last time they did that came in their final year of DII play in 1995-96. That season they did it twice, last defeating Alaska Fairbanks, 91-37, on Jan. 27, 1996, and Seattle Pacific, 92-80, on Feb. 3, 1996. PSU surpassed the 90-point barrier for the first time in 2010-11 in their 96-55 win over Corban on Jan. 3. It marked the sixth consecutive season they have scored at least 90 points in a game. They have now done it three times this year. Under Sherri Murrell, the Viks have topped 90 points ten times, going 7-3. In the eight seasons prior to her arrival they did it just twice (once in 2005-06, once in 2006-07), including going six straight seasons without doing so from 1999-2005. Since joining the Big Sky, PSU has gone over 90 points thirteen times. 

RECORDS WATCH – KV JOINS THE SCORING TOP TEN: Senior forward Kelli Valentine moved into tenth place all-time at Portland State in points in the Vikings' game against Sacramento State on Feb. 3. With 1,184 points, Valentine took over the No. 10 spot from Renae Aschoff, who scored 1,172 points from 1989-93. Valentine needs 14 more points to take over the ninth spot occupied by Sarah Hedgepth (1,197 pts/2000-04). Valentine is also ranked in several other catgories. She is tied for fourth place in games played at 117 and needs five more to tie Kelsey Kahle for the top spot. She is also ninth in games started (100). Valentine ranks seventh in field goals made (494) and needs 19 more to move up one spot, while also ranking ninth in field goal attempts (1,094) and needs five more to bump up one slot. Finally, she is eighth in rebounds with 562 and needs 51 more to move up to seventh.

RECORDS WATCH – 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. This year, Cremer has a team-high 27 blocks and ranks fourth in the Big Sky, averaging 1.2 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 82 in her career and moved up from tenth to a tie for seventh on Feb. 5. With ten more she'll move up one more spot. Cremer is a big reason the Vikings are currently leading the Big Sky in blocked shots per game, averaging 4.0 as a team. The return of Shauneice Samms helped last weekend. Samms had four blocks against UNC on Feb. 5 and is averaging 1.3 per game, but hasn't played in enough games to qualify for the conference rankings.

RECORDS WATCH – BISHOP MAKING HER 3s: Senior guard Lexi Bishop took over the No. 10 spot in the Portland State career record book for 3-pointers made when she hit two against Sac State on Feb. 3. With 109 in her career, Bishop passed Heather Arns, who made 108 from 2003-07. She needs 10 more to tie for ninth and 11 more to tie for eighth.

RECORDS WATCH – JONES IS ALL OVER THE RECORD BOOK: Just a junior, Eryn Jones is making sure her name is all over the PSU career record book. This past weekend, Jones moved up from a tie for fifth to fourth in 3-pointers made (130) and from a tie for 10th up to ninth in 3-pointers attempted (313). She is second all-time in 3-point FG percentage with a 41.5% mark, while also ranking third in free throw percentage at 84.3%.

ALL ABOUT EJ LATELY: Over the past seven games, Eryn Jones, or EJ as she is known by her teammates, is averaging a team-leading 17.7 points per game and has made 24 of 43 from three-point range for a 55.8 percentage. She is also averaging 4.9 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals, and has a 2.0 assist to turnover ratio during that span. Additionally, she is shooting 50.7% (38-75) from the field and 82.8% (24-29) at the line. Jones' play has helped PSU get back into the Big Sky race as they have won six of their past seven games. Jones started out her hot streak tying a 22-year old school record by going 6 of 6 from 3-point range against Idaho State on Jan. 17. Over the first six games of her current run, she scored at least 17 points and made at least three 3s in each contest.

NATIONALLY RANKED: Eryn Jones and Courtney VanBrocklin are the only Vikings to be ranked in the top 100 in the NCAA statistical rankings as of Feb. 6. After her splendid 3-point shooting the past three weeks, Jones is sixth nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (46.5%). In the Feb. 3 rankings, Jones was all the way up to third in the country. She is also 46th in FT percentage (84.2%), 59th in assists per game (4.7), 67th in 3-pointers made per game (2.4) and 80th in assist to turnover ratio (1.6), while VanBrocklin is 50th in FT percentage (84.1%). As a team, PSU is 42nd in 3-point FG percentage (35.2%), 70th in scoring offense (69.4 ppg), 73rd in 3-pointers made per game (6.4), 77th in assist to turnover ratio (0.84) and 88th in assists per game (14.2) and blocked shots per game (4.0).

WHO SAYS GUARDS CAN'T REBOUND?: Portland State's leading rebounder this season is 5-foot-7 guard Courtney VanBrocklin. Her 5.9 average is the 10th-best mark in the Big Sky and she is also the conference's top-rebounding guard. Should she finish the year leading the team in rebounding, VanBrocklin would become the first true guard to ever do so. The only other player that has led the Viks in rebounding who could be considered a guard was Heather Arns in 2004-05 (5.0 rpg), but she was listed as a guard/forward on the roster. 

FINISHING THE JOB: Since the 2005-06 season, Portland State has won 86.8 percent (79-12) of its games when taking a lead into intermission. In 2005-06 they were 6-1, followed by a 9-0 record the next year. In Sherri Murrell's first season, PSU went 21-3, then 21-1 in 2008-09 and 12-4 last year. They took a 27-25 lead into the break in this year's season opener at Washington, but eventually fell 51-50, and are currently 10-3 when leading at intermission in 2010-11.

MORE KEYS TO A VICTORY: Another key to victory for the Vikings since 2005-06 has been winning the shooting percentage battle. Over the past five seasons, Portland State is 67-9 (88.2%) when outshooting its opponent, including 55-6 (90.2%) under Sherri Murrell. PSU went 11-3 last season, 17-1 in 2008-09 and 17-2 in 2007-08.