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OPENING TIP
The Portland State women's basketball team (3-0 overall) heads out on the road this weekend for the Saint Mary's Hilton Concord Thanksgiving Classic Nov. 23-24 where they will take on University of Tennessee (3-0) at Chattanooga and Butler University (2-2).

Portland State and Chattanooga will play on Friday, Nov. 23 at 12 p.m. PT. PSU and Butler will play the following day, again at 12 p.m. The game can be heard streaming live online at GoViks.com/Showcase with Teri Mariani calling the action.

The Vikings are coming off a 67-52 win over Corban University Tuesday night at the Peter W. Stott Center. Senior Courtney VanBrocklin scored a game-high 17 points while junior Angela Misa recorded her first double-double of the second with 11 points and 12 boards.

THE SERIES: UT Chattanooga holds the all-time advantage at 1-0 having won its only meeting with Portland State 81-61 on Dec. 15, 2006. The game was the first for the Vikings at the Paradise Classic in Honolulu, HI. Kelsey Kahle led the Vikings with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Chattanooga led by seven at the half, 36-29, but outscored Portland State 45-32 in the second half to win it 81-61. Saturday's game with Butler will be the first ever meeting between the two schools.

THE LADY MOCS: UTC defeated the Tennessee Volunteers 80-71 to open the season in front of 8468, the fourth largest attendance in program history. Taylor Hall led all scorers in the game with 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting. The Lady Mocs then defeated Belmont 84-54 before defeating East Tennessee State 81-48 in their last game. Hall leads the team in scoring averaging 17.3 points per game. She also leads the team in rebounds with 6.3 per game. UTC is shooting .472 as a team while holding their opponents to .333 this season.

THE BULLDOGS: Butler enters the weekend 2-2 on the season having won its last game against Valparaiso 69-55. The Bulldogs are scoring 61.5 points per game but are allowing their opponents 61.0 per game. The Bulldogs and their opponents are shooting .387 from the field this season. Taylor Schippers leads the team with 18.8 ppg while Daress McClung is next with 18.5 ppg. 

COMING UP: Following this weekend in Moraga, The Vikings return home for a Sunday, December 2 showdown with cross-town rival the University of Portland. The game will start at 2 p.m. at the Peter W. Stott Center.

RECENT GAME: Vikings Take Care of Warriors, 67-52
PORTLAND – Senior Courtney VanBrocklin led all scorers with 17 points as the Portland State women's basketball team took care of Corban University by a score of 67-52 Tuesday night at the Peter W. Stott Center.

VanBrocklin scored her 17 points in just 17 minutes on 7-of-9 shooting to lead the Vikings. Junior Angela Misa recorded her first double-double of the season with a career-high 11 points along with 12 boards.

VanBrocklin, just six seconds into the game, stole the ball and laid it in to give the Vikings an early lead. She then added two more buckets and the Vikings led 6-2 just over two minutes into the game. She scored eight of the Vikings first 15 points.

Portland State (3-0 overall) struggled in the first half shooting 33 percent on 15-for-45 from the floor and 1-for-10 from beyond the arc. Despite not shooting particularly well, the Vikings went up by as much as 13 points in the first half and went to the break leading 36-27.

VanBrocklin was a perfect 5-for-5 in the first half for 13 of her 17 points while Misa had seven points and six boards. Portland State outrebounded Corban 30-to-20 in the half and ended the game with a 53-to-36 rebounding advantage.

The Vikings shot better in the second half at 40.6 percent on 13-of-32 with three different players knocking down three pointers.

“Our zone offense was more in sync in the second half,” Head Coach Sherri Murrell said following the win. “We were more patient and people were hitting shots. We didn't see a lot of zone last year with a three-point threat like Eryn Jones. I didn't play Courtney a lot, who is a shooter and Karley is a better shooter than she showed tonight. We're going to see zone a lot so it's nice to get that practice.”

PSU started the second half on a 12-2 run to open up a 17-point lead at 48-31 with less than 14 minutes remaining. A Lariel Powell three-pointer with 6:52 on the clock gave the Vikings their largest lead of the game at 60-38. Corban ended the game on a 14-7 run of its own but it was too little and too late as Portland State took the game 67-52.

Portland State led in the paint 34-to-24 and outscored Corban 22-to-9 in second chance points. Freshman Emily Easom scored a career-high seven points while junior Allie Brock recorded a season-high 10 rebounds, one short of her career best.

With the win, the Vikings move to 3-0 to start the season. It is the first time they've started 3-0 since the 2007-08 season. That team went 9-1 over its first 10 games and finished 22-9 overall and made it to the Big Sky Tournament championship game.

NEWS & NOTES
POTW FOR VANBROCKLIN: Senior guard Courtney VanBrocklin was named the Big Sky Conference's Women's Basketball Player of the Week for Nov. 13-19 it was announced by the league office Tuesday. The award is the first for VanBrocklin and the Vikings this season, and the second of her career. VanBrocklin scored the final two points for the Vikings as time expired to defeat the Oregon Ducks 87-85 in double-overtime last week. Her final bucket tied her career high in points with 26. She also recorded a team-best 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the 2012-13 season, while adding three assists and three steals. She scored her 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the line. Her 10 field goals made was also a career best.

PSU SIGNS THREE TO NLIs: Portland State women's basketball coach Sherri Murrell has announced the signing of three players to National Letters of Intent for the 2013-14 season. The 2013-14 recruiting class consists of Lauren Holt (San Jose, Calif./Leigh HS), Jackie Lanz (Vancouver, Wash./St. Mary's Academy), and Yaremi Mejia (Medford, Ore./South Medford).
• Holt, a 5-11 guard out of San Jose attends Leigh High School and as a junior last season was an All-Central Coast second team section. She was voted team MVP after leading the team in scoring with 16.5 ppg, in rebounding (11.2 rpg), and in assists (2.5 apg).
• Lanz, a 5-8 guard from Vancouver, Wash. played at Prairie High School for her first three years and last year led the team to a 27-1 record and a Washington State 3A Championship and was named to the State All-Tournament first team. Prairie had made it to the championship game in each of the previous two seasons and finished as runner up. After a coaching change at Prairie HS, Lanz decided to transfer and play her senior season at Portland's St. Mary's Academy.
• Mejia is a 5-7 point guard out of South Medford High School. She led her team to a 30-0 record and the OSAA 6A Championship last season. Mejia was named the Player of the Game after leading the team with 16 points. She was also an All-State second team selection.

THREE STRAIGHT: With the Vikings win against Corban Tuesday, they are 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 champion.

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).

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 overtime 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-6.3 in turnover ratio this season. The Vikings are forcing an average of 23.7 turnovers this season.

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.

DOMINANT AT THE STOTT CENTER: Over the past five-plus seasons under Sherri Murrell, the Vikings have posted a 61-14 overall record (.813) and 32-8 Big Sky mark (.800) inside the Stott Center. The Vikings have won 39 contests by double-digits, including 16 victories by at least 20 points. This year, PSU is 2-0 at home.

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 88-10 (.898) when outshooting its opponent, including 76-7 (.916) 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 2-0 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.

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.