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Portland State (2-0) vs. Corban University (2-4)
Tuesday, November 20, 2012, • 7:30 p.m. • Peter W. Stott Center (1,500) • Portland, OR

Corban University: 2-3 • Away: 0-2
Portland State: 2-0 • Home: 1-0
Live Audio/Video Stream: BigSkyTV.org
    Play-by-Play: Teri Mariani
Live Stats: http://vikslive.statb.us
All-Time Series: PSU Leads 2-0
    Series at PSU: PSU Leads 2-0
Most Recent Meeting (12/28/11):  Portland State 90, Corban 48

OPENING TIP
The Portland State women's basketball team (2-0 overall) returns home this Tuesday to take on Corban University at the Peter W. Stott Center starting at 7:30 p.m. PT. The game can be seen streaming live online at BigSkyTV.org with Teri Mariani calling the action. 

The Vikings are coming off a thrilling 87-85 double-overtime win over the University of Oregon last week at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene. Senior guard Courtney VanBrocklin scored as time expired to give the Vikings the two-point win. She matched her career high in points with 26 while pulling down a team best 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.

THE SERIES: Portland State holds the all-time series record with Corban at 2-0 having played the past two seasons. The Vikings took the first game 96-55 at home on Jan. 3, 2011. They then took the game last year 90-48. PSU surpassed the 90-point mark in both games and is outscoring Corban by an average of 41.5 points. Five Vikings scored in double figures a year ago led by Karley Lampman's 18 points to tie her career high. Courtney VanBrocklin (16), Kate Lanz (15) Allison Greene (13), and Lariel Powell (10) all scored in double figures.

THE COACHES: Portland State Head Coach Sherri Murrell is in her sixth season at the helm and is now 100-60 overall and at Portland State after earning her 100th PSU victory at Oregon last week. Terry Williams is in his 14th season at Corban University with a record of 204-188.

THE WARRIORS: Corban comes into play Tuesday with a 2-4 NAIA record so far this season. The Warriors are averaging just 57.8 points per game this season while their opponents are scoring 67.3 ppg. Tara Vanweerdhuizen leads the team in scoring averaging 14.2 ppg and is the team's top rebounder at 8.3 rpg. Corban also has a couple of exhibition game losses to Stanford (117-33) and Oregon (105-66).

THREE STRAIGHT: If the Vikings win against Corban Tuesday, they will be 3-0 to start the season for the first time since the 2007-08 season, head coach Sherri Murrell's first year at Portland State. The Vikings started 5-0 before losing to UC Davis. They then won another four to open the season 9-1 in their first 10 games on their way to a 22-9 overall, 11-5 Big Sky record. The 2007-08 squad made it to the Big Sky Tournament championship game before losing to No. 1 seed Montana, 94-80.

COMING UP: The Vikings return hit the road this Thanksgiving weekend for a Saint Mary's Hilton Concord Thanksgiving Classic Nov. 23-24 where they will take on Chattanooga and Butler.

RECENT GAME: Vikings Down Ducks in Double OT Thriller in Eugene
Senior guard Courtney VanBrocklin scored with no time remaining in double overtime to give the Vikings a 87-85 win over the Ducks Thursday night at the Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore. VanBrocklin tied her career high with 26 points to lead the Vikings. She also tallied 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.

“I added a fourth key to winning the game in the locker room … out last them,” Murrell said following the victory in Eugene. “We outlasted them tonight. I'm so proud of our team.”

After the first overtime period, the Vikings and Ducks were all knotted up at 74-all. Oregon jumped out to a six point lead just 43 second into the second overtime. Senior Karley Lampman hit a big three-pointer to cut the Oregon lead to three points with four minutes remaining.

Portland State whittled away at the Oregon lead and tied it at 81-all with 2:40 left on a jumper from VanBrocklin who drew a foul for the and-one. The Big Sky Conference's free-throw percentage leader from a year ago knocked down the free throw to put the Vikings up one.

A jumper by Lampman gave the Vikings a three-point lead, which was brought back to one at 84-83 after back-to-back free throws by Oregon's Jillian Alleyne with 1:48 remaining.

On the next Viking possession Alleyne came down with a defensive rebound but injured herself and had to leave the game. She led all players with 38 points and 27 rebounds, 10 on the offensive glass.

Oregon took the lead 85-84 with 54 seconds left. Junior Kate Lanz tied it at 85-all with a free throw with 30 ticks on the clock.

Oregon played for the last shot but missed it with seven seconds and Lanz pulled down the defensive board giving the Vikings one final shot. She pushed it up court on a fast break to VanBrocklin who laid it in at the buzzer to win it for the Vikings 87-85 in double-overtime.

“I told Courtney in the time out 'you're going to remember this. This is your senior season and you're going to remember this game,'” Murrell said. “She was calm, cool, and collected. I couldn't be more proud of this team.”
The victory gives Murrell her 100th win at Portland State.

The win is the first for the Vikings over the Ducks since a 75-74 victory in Eugene in January of 1985. That game also went into overtime. Remarkably the Vikings last four wins over the Ducks dating back to 1977 have all come in overtime. PSU is 19-8 all-time in over time games and 9-7 at the Division I level.

VanBrocklin led the Vikings with the 26 points on 10-of-19 from the floor and pulled down 11 boards. Lanz added her first double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. She also added a career-best six assists. Mikaela Rivard tied her career best with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting including 2-of-3 from behind the arc.

The Vikings jumped out to an early 6-2 lead before Oregon came back and tied the game at 9-all and then again at 11-all. Oregon took an 18-17 lead with less than eight minutes left in the fist half but did not lead again until the first overtime period. Portland State finished the first half on a 5-0 run to lead 38-28 at the intermission.

VanBrocklin led all scorers at the half with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting while pulling down five rebounds. Lanz tallied nine points and four boards.

The Vikings opened up their largest lead of the game at 42-30 with 17:34 left in the second half. Eight consecutive points for the Ducks cut the Vikings lead to just four with less than 15 minutes to play.

Portland State built an eight point lead again before Oregon tied the game at 54-all with 3:30 left. The Vikings had a four point lead with 33 seconds left in the second half but four straight points by Alleyne tied it at 66-all which is where it stayed at the end of regulation sending the game to overtime.

Oregon held a three point lead at 72-69 in the first overtime period before Rivard knocked down a jumper to cut the lead to one. A Danielle Love layup again gave Oregon a three-point lead with 45 seconds left forcing the Vikings to call a timeout.

Portland State drew up a play that would give Rivard a three-point opportunity in the corner which she nailed to tie it at 74-all with 35 seconds remaining. Lanz missed a three-point shot at the buzzer sending the game into its second overtime period.

The Viking fell behind by six quickly but tied it at 85-all with 30 seconds remaining in the second overtime period before VanBrocklin laid it in for the two point win, 87-85, as time expired.

NEWS & NOTES
BUZZER BEATER: Senior guard Courtney VanBrocklin laid it in as time expired giving the Vikings an 87-85 double-overtime victory over the University of Oregon. The final bucket matched her career high in points with 26. She had previously hit the 26-point mark almost a year ago to the day against UC Irvine (11/11/11)

DOUBLE-DOUBLES: Senior guard Courtney VanBroklin and junior guard Kate Lanz each recorded their first double-doubles of the 2012-13 season. VanBrocklin tied her career high with 26 points while leading the team in rebounds with 11. Lanz scored 17 points in her first start of the season and pulled down 10 boards. Lanz also led the team with six assists in the game.

GOING BACK A WAYS: The Vikings 87-85 victory in double-overtime last week in Eugene, was just the first time since January of 1985 that the Vikings have defeated the Ducks. That game also went into overtime. Remarkably the Vikings last four wins over the Ducks dating back to 1977 have all come in overtime. PSU is 19-8 all-time in over time games and 9-7 at the Division I level.

WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE: One of the keys to the Vikings' success so far this season is that they have been able to win the turnover battle. Portland State is plus-7.5 in the turnover battle this season. The Vikings are forcing an average of 25.5 turnovers this season.

KEYS TO A VICTORY: Another key to victory for the Vikings since 2005-06 has been winning the shooting percentage battle. Over the past six-plus seasons, Portland State is 87-10 (.897) when outshooting its opponent, including 75-7 (.915) under Sherri Murrell. PSU went 11-3 in 2009-10, 17-1 in 2008-09 and 17-2 in 2007-08. In 2010-11 they went 17-1, with the lone loss coming in the Big Sky tourney title game against Montana. The Vikings outshot the Lady Griz, .382-to-.375, but fell 62-58. PSU was 12-0 last season and is 1-0 this season.

NO. 100 FOR MURRELL: Vikings' Head Coach Sherri Murrell reached the 100-win mark at Portland State with the 87-85 double-overtime win over Oregon on Nov. 15. For Murrell it is just one more milestone reached while at the helm for Portland State.

MILESTONES FOR MURRELL: Sixth-year Head Coach Sherri Murrell reached several milestones last year. She earned her 50th Big Sky victory when PSU defeated Weber State, 76-63, on Feb. 2, 2012. Also, the Vikings' game against Northern Colorado on Jan. 12 was the 400th that she has coached at the NCAA DI level. Overall it was her 485th game as a head coach. The Vikings' 76-69 win at Eastern Washington on Feb. 23, 2012 gave Murrell her 100th league victory at the DI level.

DOMINATING DOWN LOW: Portland State dominated in the paint in its season opener outscoring George Fox 32-to-14. The Vikings scored 16 points in the paint in each half. They also dominated the boards against the Bruins 51-to-37 in the game. Angela Misa pulled down a game-high 12 boards while Kate Lanz tallied nine. Portland State recorded 19 offensive rebounds that turned in to 12 second chance points.

DOMINANT AT THE STOTT CENTER: Over the past five-plus seasons under Sherri Murrell, the Vikings have posted a 60-14 overall record (.811) and 32-8 Big Sky mark (.800) inside the Stott Center. The Vikings have won 38 contests by double-digits, including 16 victories by at least 20 points. This year, PSU is 1-0 at home.

QUICK TO 500: Courtney VanBrocklin became the fourth fastest player in PSU history to reach 500 career points vs. Nevada on Dec. 3, 2011. With 14 points she upped her career total to 511. She reached the mark in 37 games, trailing only Kelsey Kahle (2005-09), who reached it in 29 games, Sheri Stemple (1991-92), who did it in 30 games, and Laurie Northrop (1988-92), who accomplished it in 35 games.

INSTANT IMPACT: In each of the past three seasons, a transfer has had an instant impact on the Vikings program. Two years ago, Courtney VanBrocklin and Shauneice Samms both played major roles. Last year it was Kate Lanz and Angela Misa seems poised to do the same this year. Samms and VanBrocklin combined for 48 starts, 10.3 points and 5.0 rebounds last season. VanBrocklin led PSU in scoring nine times and in rebounding eight times, while Samms led the team in blocks 13 times and in rebounding five times. Lanz led all players in scoring, rebounding and double-doubles, and led the Vikings in scoring in 14 of the 27 games she appeared in. Both VanBrocklin and Lanz earned Big Sky Top Newcomer honors their first year with the Vikings.