Complete Release in PDF Format

Saint Mary's: 1-0 • 0-0 • WCC • 0-0 away
Portland State: 0-0 • 0-0 BSC • 0-0 home

Live Audio Stream: http://208.67.186.169/psuwbb
Live Video Stream: WatchBigSky.com
     Play-by-Play: Teri Mariani
Live Stats: http://vikslive.statb.us

All-Time Series: First Meeting

Opening Tip
    The Portland State women's basketball team gets its 2013-14 campaign going Sunday, Nov. 10 when the Vikings host the Saint Mary's Gaels at the Peter W. Stott Center. Tipoff will be at 2 p.m.
     The game will be broadcast live online at WatchBigSky.com with Teri Mariani calling the action. A pregame show will start approximately 15 minutes prior to tip-off. It will also be available via live audio and live stats at GoViks.com.
     Portland State defeated George Fox in its final exhibition game by a score of 72-62 Friday night at the Stott Center. Three Vikings scored in double-digits led by SR F Allie Brock's 21 points. She added 12 rebounds for a double-double while shooting .500 (5-for-10) from the floor and 10-for-10 from the free-throw line. SR G Kate Lanz added 16 points and eight boards while going 7-for-15 from the floor. The Vikings out-rebounded the Bruins 25-to-15 on the offensive glass out-scoring them 22-to-6 in second chance points. PSU also forced 21 turnovers with 10 steals in the game.
     The Vikings are led by seventh-year head coach Sherri Murrell whose team went 12-17 overall and 6-14 in expanded Big Sky play last season. Murrell brings back three starters and eight letterwinners from a year ago.

The Teams: Portland State is coming off a 12-17 record after going 6-14 in Big Sky Conference play, missing the conference tournament for the second straight year. PSU returns three starters and eight letterwinners. Saint Mary's is 1-0 this season after defeating Washington 91-81 in its season opener Friday night. The Gaels went 23-11 overall in 2012-13 and 11-5 in West Coast Conference play. They made it to the Women's National Invitational Tournament quarterfinals before being edged by the Utah Utes 58-55. 
 
The Coaches: Portland State head coach Sherri Murrell is in her seventh year at Portland State. She is 110-77 overall and 59-41 in Big Sky play while at PSU. She is 257-270 in 18 years as a head coach. Head Coach Paul Thomas is in his eighth season at Saint Mary's and has a 126-95 record with the Gaels. He has a 361-253 career record in 19 years of coaching. The Gaels have made it to the WCC Tournament each of the last three seasons and to the WNIT two of the last three under Thomas.

The Series: Portland State and Saint Mary's have never faced each other in women's basketball. PSU head coach Sherri Murrell is 2-1 all-time against the Gaels.

The Gaels: The Gaels went 23-11 overall and 11-5 in West Coast Conference play in 2012-13. They made it to the Women's National Invitational Tournament quarterfinals before being edged by the Utah Utes 58-55.  SMC shot .389 from the floor a year ago while shooting .327 from beyond the arc a year ago. Saint Mary's outscored its opponents 64.3-to-61.8 (+2.5) and had a +8.2 rebounding margin and a -3.2 turnover margin last year.
     Saint Mary's won its season opener against Washington 91-81. The Gaels shot .522 from the floor and .500 from three-point range knocking down eight triples.  Jackie Nared scored 37 points in 40 minutes going 14-for-19 (.737) from the floor with five three pointers. She also added 11 rebounds. Danielle Mauldin added 23 points and 17 boards in 33 minutes. The Gaels out-rebounded the Huskies 50-to-34 (+16.0) in the game.

Gael's Returners: Saint Mary's returns 10 letterwinners and four starters from a year ago. SR G Jackie Nared was a WCC First-Team selection after averaging 16.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. She led the WCC in scoring for the season. SR F Danielle Mauldin was a WCC First-Team selection after averaging a double-double for the year with 13.6 points and 10.8 rebounds. SR G Kate Gaze is the team's top returning three-point shooter and averaged 11.0 points per game a year ago.

Coming Up
Portland State continues play at home on Nov. 22 against Seattle University. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. as the third game of a basketball tripleheader at the Stott Center as the men's basketball team is hosting a tournament that weekend. It will be the second of five consecutive regular season home games for the Vikings who will not play their first road game until Dec. 6 at Gonzaga.

By the Numbers
Portland State
• PSU went 12-17 overall and 6-14 in Big Sky play in 2012-13
• PSU went 6-8 at home, 5-8 on the road, and 1-1 at a neutral site in 2012-13
• PSU went 1-4 in its last five games and 3-7 in its last 10 of 2012-13

Saint Mary's
• SMC is 1-0 overall and 0-0 in West Coast Conference play
• SMC is 1-0 at home, 0-0 on the road, and 0-0 at a neutral site
• SMC is 1-0 in its last five games and 1-0 in its last 10

Big Sky Battles
• PSU is 126-140 all-time in Big Sky Conference games
• PSU is 78-55 in home games and 48-85 in road games
• PSU is 6-6 all-time at the Big Sky Tournament

Quick Notes for 2013-14
• Portland State returns eight letterwinners and three starters from a year ago. The Vikings add six newcomers to the roster including four freshmen, a junior transfer, and a Portland State volleyball player.
• Portland State lost a pair of starters following the season. The Vikings lost Courtney VanBrocklin who led the team in points 14 times last year and finished with a team-high 14.7 ppg. She finished her career as the 16th member of the Portland State 1,000-point club.
• In her six seasons at Portland State, head coach Sherri Murrell ranks second all-time in wins with 110. She led the Vikings to their only 20-win seasons at the DI level (2007-08, 2008-09 and 2010-11). Under Murrell, the Vikings have gone 65-22 overall and 35-15 in the Big Sky at the Peter W. Stott Center.
• Murrell has a knack for bringing in talented transfers. Over the past three seasons, Murrell has brought in three players that went on to be named the Big Sky's Top Newcomer. Courtney VanBrocklin (2010-11), Kate Lanz (2011-12), and Angela Misa (2012-13) all earned Top Newcomer honors under Murrell.

RECENT GAME - Portland State 72, George Fox 62

PORTLAND – Returners and newcomers alike were on display as the Portland State women's basketball team defeated George Fox University by a score of 72-62 Friday night at the Peter W. Stott Center. It was the final exhibition game for the Vikings who open up their regular season slate Sunday against Saint Mary's.
     Senior forward Allie Brock led the Vikings with a game-high 21 points. She added 12 rebounds for a double-double while shooting .500 from the floor. She went 5-for-10 while doing nearly half of her damage from the charity stripe going a perfect 10-for-10. Brock also hit one of the Vikings' three three-pointers in the game.
     "This was a Sacramento State type of team," Head Coach Sherri Murrell said following the game. "They want to pressure you the whole game. We settled down and ran our stuff in the second half which showed a lot of poise. Kate Lanz did a good job on getting rebounds and attacking the basket. It's the reason why we scheduled these teams, because this is what we're going to see during the season. We've done this without a couple of post players so we'll see what happens when they come back."
     Senior guard Kate Lanz added 16 points and eight boards in 36 minutes. She added a game-high five assists. Freshman Delanie Parry was the only other Viking in double-digit points with 10. She went 5-for-8 from the line and 2-for-6 from the floor including a three-pointer late in the game.
     Portland State out-rebounded George Fox 44-to-38. The Vikings had 25 offensive rebounds helping them to outscore the Bruins 22-to-6 in second chance points.
Sophomore Emily Easom hit a three-pointer right off the bat to give the Vikings an early 3-0 lead. PSU went up four at 6-2 before GFU scored four straight to tie it at 6-6. Neither team could build up more than a one-possession lead before the Bruins went up four by free throws from Megan Hays. Hays then hit a jumper to put the Bruins up six with 7:46 left in the first half.
     George fox went up by as much as eight points with 3:50 left in the first before the Vikings went on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 29-29. Lanz had a couple of buckets in the run before Parry tied it with a jumper. George Fox took the lead again and had a one-point advantage at 33-32 going into the break.
     Lanz scored 12 of her 16 points in the first half going 6-for-8 from the floor. She also had four rebounds. Easom was the other top scorer for the Vikings with seven in the first half. She finished the game with nine points.
     Like Easom in the first half, Brock hit a three-pointer in the first minute of the second half to give the Vikings a two-point lead at 35-33. After the Bruins briefly tied the game at 35-25, the Vikings went on a 9-3 run to go up 44-38 on a Brock layup with Lanz assisting on the play.
     George Fox would not go away and tied the game at 44-44. The Bruins held a one-point advantage at 48-47 but that would be the last time they held the lead. Lanz hit a jumper to put the Vikings up 49-48 before Brock pushed the lead to three. Parry hit a pair of free throws to put the Vikings up five at 53-48 with 11:48 left to play.
     The Bruins came within one at 53-52 but the Vikings went on a 6-0 run over the next four minutes to go up 59-52 on a Keaton McFadden jumper in the paint. George Fox hung in there but Portland State continued to extend its lead with a three-pointer from Parry and some late free throws. The Vikings closed it out and took the win by a final score of 72-62.
     After pulling down eight offensive boards in the first half, the Vikings pulled down 17 in the second, which led to 12 second half second chance points.
     The Vikings did not play either Angela Misa or Mikaela Rivard in the game Friday night. Misa is returning from a season-ending knee injury a year ago and Rivard is nursing an injury of her own.