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Portland State at University of OregonTuesday, November 25, 2014 • 6:00 p.m. PT • Matthew Knight Arena (12,369) • Eugene, OR
University of Oregon DucksRecord/Pac-12: 1-0/0-0
Head Coach: Kelly Graves (1-0/1st year)
Portland State VikingsRecord/Big Sky: 0-3/0-0
Head Coach:
Sherri Murrell (118-101/8th year)
Live Video Stream: http://pac-12.com/videos/university-oregonLive Stats: GoDucks.com Radio: KUFO 970AM (Oregon Broadcast)
THE OPENINT TIP The Portland State women's basketball team will stay close to home this week as it travels south on I-5 to take on the Oregon Ducks Tuesday, Nov. 25 at Matthew Knight Arena. Tip is slated for 6 p.m. It will be the second road game of the year for the Vikings. They will play seven of their next 10 games on the road.
The Vikings are 0-3 after dropping their second straight home game to the Corban Warriors, 74-64, Saturday night at the Stott Center. Senior G
Lariel Powell scored a career-high 21 points for the Vikings going 9-for-16 from the floor, both career highs. Powell scored all but three of her 21 points in the paint with three baskets coming on fast breaks. Junior G
Emily Easom added 17 points going 7-for-13 from the floor including a trio of three-pointers. Portland State shot .800 (8-10) from the free-throw line.
Oregon has played just one game this season, defeating Utah State 100-77 on Nov. 14. The Ducks host the North Carolina Tar Heels Sunday, Nov. 23 before hosting the Vikings Tuesday. Oregon played one exhibition match this season, defeating Westmont College 82-44. Oregon will play its first three games at Matthew Knight Arena.
Portland State head coach
Sherri Murrell is in her eighth year at Portland State. She is 118-101 overall and 65-55 in Big Sky play while at PSU. She is 265-294 in 19 years as a head coach. Kelly Graves is in his first season as Oregon's head coach and is 1-0. He is 428-202 all-time in 21 years as a head coach.
THE SERIES: PORTLAND STATE vs. OREGON•
ALL-TIME SERIES: Oregon Leads the all-time series 24-10 dating back to 1974. Oregon took the first meeting in '74 before the Vikings won eight straight from 1975-1977. Portland State has won just two games over the last 25 meetings. Portland State's last win was an 87-85 double-overtime win in Eugene on Nov. 15, 2012. The last five Portland State wins have all been in overtime.
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LAST MEETING, Dec. 14, 2013, Matthew Knight Arena, Eugene, OR: Oregon took the last meeting 113-78 last season. Oregon jumped out to a 33-point lead in the first half leading 68-35 at the half. Oregon had seven players in double-figures led by Chrishae Rowe's game-high 24 points.
Allie Brock led the Vikings with 20 points going 8-for-14 from the floor.
Angela Misa added a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) coming off the bench. Misa added three steals and three blocks. Portland State out-shot Oregon .451-to-.432 in the game. Oregon tallied 59 rebounds, 25 offensive, compared to 40 by Portland State. The Ducks turned the 25 offensive boards into 28 second-chance points.
THE OREGON DUCKS The Ducks are 1-0 after defeating Utah State 100-77 in their season opener. Oregon will host North Carolina Sunday before hosting Portland State Tuesday. The Ducks defeated Westmont College 81-44 in their only exhibition game of the season. Oregon went 16-16 overall and finished 10th in league play with a 6-12 conference mark. Oregon lost to Washington State in the Pac-12 Tournament but made it into the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). The Ducks defeated Pacific in the first round of the WNIT (90-63) before falling to Washington, 93-85, in the second round.
Oregon returns an extremely experienced squad with 11 upperclassmen. The Ducks return three of their top five scorers from a year ago including JR F Jillian Alleyne. Alleyne averaged 21.4 points and 16.2 rebounds per game as a sophomore. They also return SR G Katelyn Looper (13.7 ppg) and JR G Lexi Petersen (9.9 ppg). Oregon averaged 93.2 points per game as a team a year ago.
Looper led the Ducks with 33 points against Utah State. She went 12-for-19 from the floor against the Aggies including 8-for-12 from three-point range. Looper's eight three-pointers was one shy of the Oregon all-time record for a single game that she holds with another player. Alleyne tallied 20 points and 12 rebounds for her 42nd career double-double. Petersen added 13 points with six assists while FR G Lexi Bando scored 13.
Oregon shot .667 (21-31) from the floor and .650 (13-20) from three-point range in the first half. The Ducks cooled off in the second half and ended up shooting .548 from the floor and .531 from three-point range for the game. Oregon
COMING UPPortland State returns home for two straight games beginning Saturday, Nov. 29 when it hosts the Long Beach State 49ers. Tip is slated for 1 p.m. They will then host the United States Naval Academy on Friday, Nov. 5. Portland State will play seven of its next 10 games on the road.
WHO IS HOT?• SR G
Lariel Powell posted a career-high 21 points going 9-for-16 from the floor and matched her career high in assists with seven against Corban (11/22).
• Powell leads the team with 13.7 points per game and is shooting a team-best .514 from the floor.
• FR F
Cici West leads the team with 7.0 rebounds per game off the bench.
• JR G
Emily Easom has scored over 15 points in each of the last two games ... She scored 16 points with four three-pointers against South Dakota (11/19) and 17 points with a trio of three-pointers against Corban (11/22).
NOT SO HOT• Portland State is 0-3 to start the season for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
• Portland State is averaging 56.0 ppg while opponents are averaging 71.3 ppg (-15.3).
• Portland State is shooting .571 (24-42) at the free-throw line.
BY THE NUMBERSPORTLAND STATE • PSU is 0-3 overall and 0-0 in Big Sky play this season.
• PSU 0-2 at home, 0-1 on the road, and 0-0 at a neutral site.
• PSU is 1-4 in its last five games and 2-8 in its last 10 dating back to last season.
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON• UO is 1-0 overall and 0-0 in Pac-12 Conference play this season.
• UO is 1-0 at home, 0-0 on the road, and 0-0 at a neutral site
• UO is 3-7 in its last five games and 2-3 in its last 10 dating back to last season.
BIG SKY BATTLES• PSU is 132-154 all-time in Big Sky Conference games
• PSU is 82-61 in home games and 50-93 in road games
• PSU is 6-6 all-time at the Big Sky Tournament
NEWS & NOTESPOWELL ON THE RUN: Senior G
Lariel Powell scored a career-high 21 points going 9-for-16 from the floor with a three pointer and a pair of free throws against Corban University (11/22). Powell scored 18 of her 21 points in the paint with six coming on fast breaks. Powell now leads the team with 13.7 points per game. She is also averaging 5.7 assists per contest.
EASOM FINDING HER STROKE: After a slow start in the Vikings' season opener, JR G
Emily Easom has come on over the last two games scoring 16 points against South Dakota (11/19) and 17 points against Corban (11/22). Over the past two games, she is shooting .500 (13-26) from the floor with a team-high seven three-pointers.
RIVARD's big game: Senior F
Mikaela Rivard scored 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the floor with a pair of three-pointers against South Dakota (11/19). It was Rivard's third career 20-point game, first of the season. Rivard has led the team in scoring in each of the first two games and is averaging 16.5 ppg this season.
BLOCK PARTY: Portland State tallied six blocks against South Dakota (11/19). It is tied for the second most by a team in the Big Sky Conference this season. Five different Vikings tallied blocks against the Coyotes.
HOME OPENERS: Portland State is 11-8 in home openers since joining the Big Sky Conference for the 1996-97 season. In seven previous home openers under Head Coach
Sherri Murrell, the Vikings are now 6-2 with home opener losses the past two seasons.
RIVARD READY TO GO: After missing most of training camp and the Vikings' first exhibition game due to a health issue, SR F
Mikaela Rivard showed no ill effects from the time off scoring a team-high 13 points on 6-of-13 shooting with seven rebounds. She also connected on her only three-point attempt.
DISHING IT: Senor G
Lariel Powell tied her career high with seven assists at Seattle U (11/6). Powell added 10 points in the game going 4-for-11. Powell again tallied seven assists Corban (11/22). She is averaging 5.7 assists per game this season.
CARLINE SIDELINED: Junior C
Alicia Carline will be sidelined for the first few weeks of the regular season after suffering a hand injury in the Vikings' first exhibition game against George Fox. Carline scored 21 points with 10 rebounds against the Bruins before being injured diving for a loose ball.
LOST FOR THE YEAR: Sophomore PG
Yaremi Mejia will miss the entire 2014-15 season after suffering a knee injury prior to the start of the season.
THIN ROSTER: With the loss of SO PG
Yaremi Mejia for the season, the Vikings are down to a nine-man roster. Junior C
Alicia Carline is still out with a hand injury while Junior F
Danah Haley is still coming back from a knee injury a year ago while at Blue Mountain CC. Sophomore PG
Montana Walters is sitting out due to NCAA Transfer Rules.
2014-15 PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS TEAM NOTES• Portland State returns eight letterwinners and two starters from a year ago. The Vikings add six newcomers to the roster including three freshmen and three transfers.
• The Vikings add six newcomers for this season. They add FR PG
Nele Aha (Göttingen, Germany), FR C
Shelby Sanders (Hermiston, OR), and FR F
Cici West (Seattle, WA). Portland State also adds JR C
Alicia Carline (Fielding, New Zealand), SO F
Danah Haley (Los Angels, CA), and SO G
Montana Walters.
• S PG
Montana Walters will have to sit out the 2014-15 season due to NCAA Transfer Rules after transferring from Santa Clara.
• For the first time under Head Coach
Sherri Murrell, the Vikings have not one but two foreign players on the roster: FR G
Nele Aha (Göttingen, Germany) and JR C
Alicia Carline.
• Portland State lost a trio of starters following last season. The Vikings lost forwards
Angela Misa and
Allie Brock along with guard
Kate Lanz to graduation. All three were in the top four for PSU in scoring and rebounding. Lanz averaged 11.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per game a year go. Misa nearly averaged a double-double (10.9 ppg, 9.0 rpg) in 12 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury for the second consecutive season. Brock averaged 10.5 points and 5.5 rebounds.
• In her eight seasons at Portland State, head coach
Sherri Murrell ranks second all-time in wins at Portland State with 118. 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 71-32 overall and 39-21 in the Big Sky at the Peter W. Stott Center.
• Portland State's all-time leading scorer, Kelsey Kahle, was inducted into the Portland State athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday, Nov. 22. She is the 11th women's basketball player to make it into the Hall as an individual. Kahle is the Vikings' all-time leader in points and rebounds.
• Fans can follow the Vikings online all season long. A live video stream will be available for all but two games non-conference games this season. Every Big Sky Conference can be seen live online at WatchBigSky.com or via the Watch Big Sky App.
• Portland State basketball fans will have the opportunity to Get Stuffed again this winter at the Stott Center. Any fan purchasing a ticket for a seat at the Peter W. Stott Center will receive free concessions. That's right, all the food you can eat from the concession stand. Portland State students, with a student ticket, can also take advantage of this promotion. It's that simple. Buy your ticket and you eat for free. Last year, more than 15,000 free hot dogs were eaten at Portland State men and women's basketball games.
• Portland State signed two players to National Letters of Intent on Nov. 13, 2014. The Vikings signed Corey James, a guard out of West Albany High School, and Bree Shepard, a guard out of San Diego's Helix High School.
