Idaho State on Four-Game Win Streak, Seven at Home

GAME NOTES: GREAT FALLS


BENGALS IN ACTION THIS WEEK
At the top of its game, Idaho State (7-4) is on a four-game win streak having defeated High Point, Utah Valley, Utah and Utah State to lead the Big Sky in victories during the non-conference season.  Idaho State looks to continue its seven-game home win streak when the Bengals host Great Falls (3-7, 0-1 Exhibition) on Tuesday, December 21 at 7:05 p.m. at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym.  The contest will be considered an exhibition game for the Argos.  Idaho State holds a 1-0 lead in the series having defeated Great Falls last season on Dec. 29 at Reed Gym 86-42.

MULTIMEDIA INFORMATION
ISU's contest will be broadcast by KISU 91.1 FM and online at www.isubengals.com.  The action will be brought to you by women's basketball play-by-play announcer Mark Liptak with color commentary from Brad Bugger.  Fans can follow along through video streaming online at www.bigskytv.com as well as through live stats at www.isubengals.com.  Fans can purchase tickets at www.isubengals.com or by calling 208-282-FANS.  Individual game tickets can also be purchased one hour before tip-off.

ABOUT THE BENGALS
Idaho State has four players in double-figure scoring for the second straight week.  Senior guard Chelsea Pickering not only leads the Bengals but the Big Sky Conference with 18.1 points per game.  ISU's other three players to average double-figures in scoring is sophomore guard Kaela Oakes with 11.6 ppg, sophomore forward Ashleigh Vella with 11.5 ppg and freshman guard Lindsey Reed with 10.8 ppg.  All four players are starters for the Bengals along with senior guard Andrea Blodgett who averages 5.3 ppg.  The Bengals are averaging 63.5 ppg and had their highest scoring game of the season during a 71-68 overtime victory over Utah on the road. 

ISU TOPS THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE
Idaho State leads the Big Sky conference in several categories including: victories (seven), non-conference record (7-4), win streak (four), free throw percentage (77.2 percent), field goal percentage (39.6 percent), field goal percentage defense (36.7 percent), scoring margin (+0.6), individual leading scorer (Chelsea Pickering with 18.1 ppg) and individual leading steals (Chelsea Pickering with 2.5 spg).

BENGALS SOLID AT THE LINE
Idaho State posts the 13th best free throw percentage in the nation with the team hitting 77.2 percent (146-of-189) from the line.  ISU still has its work cut out for themselves since the 2007-08 Idaho State women's basketball program set the NCAA all-time record, regardless of division and gender hitting 83.2 percent.  Idaho State Kaela Oakes leads ISU's effort knocking down 40 of her 49 attempts to hit 81.6 percent of her shots.  A clutch shooter, Oakes is a perfect 12-of-12 from the line in the final two minutes of games.  The Bengals are 27-of-32 (84.4 percent) from the line in the last two minutes. 

BENGAL STANDOUTS
The Bengals are led in scoring by Chelsea Pickering with 18.1 ppg.  She has posted a game-high in scoring for ISU six times.  Freshman Lindsey Reed and sophomore Kaela Oakes, both guards, have led the Bengals twice while sophomore forward Ashleigh Vella and senior guard Andrea Blodgett have each had their turns once this season.  Vella and Reed have led the Bengals in rebounding four times, followed by freshman forward Cydney Horton twice and freshman guard Kara Jenkins and Oakes once each. 

PICKERING LEADS BIG SKY IN SCORING AND STEALS
Chelsea Pickering, a senior guard, is the leading scorer in the Big Sky averaging 18.1 points per game.  She also leads the Big Sky in steals per game with Northern Arizona's Amy Patton averaging 2.5 per contest.

31 POINTS IS CAREER-HIGH FOR TWO BENGALS
Both Vella and Pickering hold a career-high 31 points.  Vella notched her career-high 31 points in a double-double effort with 11 rebounds at Utah in ISU's first program victory over the Utes with a 71-68 overtime victory.  Pickering tied her career-high 31 points at Texas State which is a Big Sky game-high for the season. Pickering hit 10-of-22 from the field, 6-of-10 from the arc and 5-of-7 from the line.  She posted her first 31 point game during the 2008-09 season when she hit 10-of-18 from the field against Portland State at Reed Gym on Jan. 10, 2009.  

BENGALS HIT CEILING WITH 31-POINTS
Senior guard Chelsea Pickering and sophomore forward Ashleigh Vella have each posted career-high 31 point performances this year to lead the Big Sky single game record for the season.  Pickering tied her career-high of 31 points to lead the Bengals to a 69-52 victory at Texas State.  She posted her first 31 point game during the 2008-09 season when she hit 10-of-18 from the field against Portland State at Reed Gym on Jan. 10, 2009.   Vella posted her first career-high 31-point performance at Utah in overtime to give the Bengals their first program victory over the Utes (71-68 OT).  Under Head Coach Seton Sobolewski three Bengals have posted a career-high 31 points: Vella, Pickering and Oana Iacovita who put up her 31 points at Montana State during the 2009-10 season to open Big Sky Conference play in a 77-73 overtime victory on Jan. 2, 2010.  Of the 31 point performances three have been on the road with one at home and two have been reached in overtime.  The single game record for Idaho State is 38 points held by Andrea Lightfoot versus Idaho on Dec. 10, 2005.

YOUNG SQUAD DOES NOT ACT INEXPERIENCED
Idaho State welcomed five freshmen this season: Sheryl Bitter, Cydney Horton, Kara Jenkins, Jessica Jensen and Lindsey Reed, while returning four seniors: Chelsea Pickering, Andrea Blodgett, Kari Green and Aralee Smith.  Though the senior to freshman ratio may look to balance out fans need only to examine the number of games played to see how truly young the ISU squad is this season.  Idaho State's most experience player, Chelsea Pickering, has competed in only 53 contests over her career, starting in just 40.  Sophomores Ashleigh Vella and Kaela Oakes are the second most experienced players each competing in 41 games with Vella starting in 40 while Oakes has started in 24.  Senior guard Andrea Blodgett follows having played in 30 games, starting in 20.  ISU players that have played in at least 20 games, but have never started are sophomore forward Shannon Byrne in 28 games, senior guard Aralee Smith in 27 games and senior guard Kari Green in 24 games.  Combined ISU's starters have played in a total of 176 games in their careers at Idaho State, just over what a single senior could average in a career assuming 30 games each year over four  years for 120 games.  However, even though the Bengals are young Idaho State is leading the Big Sky non-conference season with a 7-4 record.

FACTS ABOUT SENIOR GUARD CHELSEA PICKERING
• Granted a fifth year by the NCAA for the 2011-12 season to replace her freshman year (2007-08) where she competed in three contests for a total of 17 minutes.
• Has overcome numerous injuries including a season-ending ACL injury during the 2008-09 season that cut her year short after 16 games.
• Leads the Big Sky in scoring with 18.1 points per game.
• Leads the Big Sky in steals per game averaging 2.5.
• Posts the 10th best free throw percentage in the league with 78 percent.
• Is the most experienced player on the Bengal team having played 53 games and started in 40 over her career.
• Has recorded 600 points (in just three seasons of play) over her career.  Since 2003, her 600 points is the ninth best career mark at Idaho State.
• Is six steals away from posting 100 career steals, the fifth best mark since 2003.  • Over her career she has averaged 11.3 ppg, the sixth best mark since 2003.

BENGALS ON SEVEN-GAME HOME WIN STREAK
Idaho State is on a seven-game home win streak dating back to early February of last season.  It is the longest home win streak under Head Coach Sobolewski.  Idaho State's longest home win streak was 17 matches from the end of the 1999-00 season to the start of the 2001-02 season.  The Bengals were undefeated with a 15-0 home record in 2000-01 and posted an overall record of 25-5; ISU was 16-0 in conference play. 

THREE DIFFERENT BENGALS HAVE EARNED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Three players have earned Big Sky Player of the Week Honors this season: Chelsea Pickering, Kaela Oakes and Ashleigh Vella.  Each player received the award for the first time  It is the first time since the 2000-01 season when the Bengals finished with a 25-5 overall record and an undefeated 16-0 Big Sky record.  The most Big Sky Player of the Week awards ISU had received was six in 2000-01, 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08.  Natalie Doma tops the individual list having earned the award 13 times from 2005-08.

IDAHO STATE CAPTURES FIRST PROGRAM WIN OVER UTAH
Idaho State captured its first program victory over Utah in a 71-68 overtime contest with sophomore forward Ashleigh Vella  leading the way.  Vella scored a career-high 31 points and posted a game-high 11 rebounds, her first double-double of the season, at the Huntsman Center on Wednesday.  ISU's victory broke a 27-0 series record held by Utah over the Bengals.  ISU took Utah to its second consecutive overtime game between the schools.  Vella hit 12-of-18 from the field, 2-of-3 from the arc and 5-of-5 from the line.  Chelsea Pickering chipped in 17 points in and was 9-of-10 from the line. 

RANDOM FACTS
• Vella is the first Bengal to record a double-figure rebound game this season as well as ISU's first double-double when she posted a career-high 31 points and a game-high 11 rebounds at Utah.
• ISU has had five games of 80 percent or better at the line, five games of 40 percent or better from the field and four games of 50 percent or better from the arc.
• ISU has had four games with four players posting double-figures in scoring: Air Force, No. 16 Texas, UTEP and Utah Valley.  (ISU had back-to-back games with four scoring in double-figure points at Texas and at UTEP).
• ISU has four players in the top-20 Big Sky scoring standings: Pickering, Oakes, Vella and Reed.
• Though the Bengals are eighth in offensive rebounding and sixth in defensive rebounding in the league, Idaho State has three players in the top-20 for rebounding.
• Under Head Coach Sobolewski Idaho State has had three players post career-highs of 31 points: Oana Iacovita, Chelsea Pickering (twice) and Ashleigh Vella.
• Vella and Pickering's 31-point games leads the Big Sky single game record for the 2010-11 season.
• Vella leads the Big Sky with a game-high 12 field goals made at Utah.
• Both Pickering and Oakes have posted a team game-high 9-of-10 effort from the line (Oakes vs. High Point and Pickering at Utah).  They also hit a team-high 6-of-6 from the line (Oakes vs. Utah Valley and Pickering at Texas).
• Oakes posts the best three-point field goal percentage for a game in the Big Sky with her 5-of-6 (83.3 percent) effort at UTEP.
• Pickering recorded a career-high seven steals at Utah.  The seven steals is a season-high for the Bengals, she was one steal shy of tying the ISU single game record. 
• Pickering recorded a career-high eight rebounds at Utah.
• Reed, a freshman guard, led the Bengals in scoring in ISU's first two games of the season, with 21 points versus Loyola Marymount and 14 points at Boise State.
• Vella recorded a career-high three blocks and Oakes posted a career-high five steals against Utah Valley.
• Idaho State posted a season-high 34 points off turnovers against Utah Valley.  Utah Valley recorded 30 turnovers while Idaho State posted a season-low 12 turnovers.
• With victories over Air Force and Utah Idaho State is 5-17 against Mountain West teams.  ISU's victory over Utah Valley was the first program win against a Great West team and ISU's win over High Point was the first Big South victory.

ABOUT GREAT FALLS
Great Falls enters Reed Gym with a 3-7 season, 0-1 exhibition record.  The Argos come off a 72-50 victory over Alberta Concordia at home.  Great Falls has also captured victories over Warner Pacific College (62-58) and Walla Walla (65-39).  The team averages 61.6 points while hitting 36.8 percent from the field, 35.7 percent from the arc and 68.2 percent from the line.  ISU's contest with Great Falls will count for the Bengals but will be considered an exhibition game for the Argos.  Great Falls fell 72-41 at Montana in their first exhibition game of the season. 

ARGO STANDOUTS
Great Falls has three players averaging double-figures led by Syndnee Burke with 14.8 points per game, followed by Marissa Skogen with 11.4 ppg and Kezia Ford with 10.2 ppg.  Jamie Young and Aline Lino lead Great Falls in rebounding averaging seven a game.

UTAH STATE AND IDAHO STATE SERIES INFO
Idaho State holds a 1-0 lead in the series having defeated Great Falls last season on Dec. 29 at Reed Gym 86-42.  The Bengals tied the Idaho State single-game steals record with 22 against Great Falls, tying with their 22 steal effort against San Jose State in 1990.   Oana Iacovita led the Bengals with 19 points while Andrea Videbeck, Ashleigh Vella and Chelsea Pickering all chipped in 11 points.  Videbeck posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists.