Idaho State at Utah on Wednesday

Game Notes: Utah

BENGALS IN ACTION THIS WEEK
Idaho State (5-4) looks for its first victory at Utah (3-5) on Wednesday, Dec. 8 at 7:05 p.m. in the Jon M. Huntsman Center.  Utah leads the series 27-0, but the Bengals are hot on the trail pushing Utah to the first-ever overtime game between the schools last season before falling 66-50.  ISU's contest at Utah will be broadcast by KISU 91.1 FM and online at www.isubengals.com.  Fans can watch the Bengals live through web streaming and live stats at www.utahutes.com

ABOUT THE BENGALS
Idaho State has three players in double-figure scoring, led by senior guard Chelsea Pickering with 17.0 points per game, sophomore guard Kaela Oakes posts 12. 1 ppg and freshman guard Lindsey Reed with 11.2 ppg.  Five Bengals are shooting over 35 percent from the field while four are shooting better than 30 percent from the arc.  Sophomore forward Ashleigh Vella leads the Bengals in field goal percentage at 48.4 percent (31-of-64) from the field, followed closely by Reed with 41.3 percent (38-of-92).  Vella continues to lead the Bengals in rebounds at 6.3 per game.  Cydney Horton, a freshman forward, leads Idaho State with 11 blocked shots. 

PICKERING SECOND LEADING SCORER IN THE BIG SKY
Chelsea Pickering, a senior guard, is the second leading scorer in the Big Sky averaging 17.0 points per game.  Sacramento State's Kylie Kuhns hopped over the Bengal with back-to-back nights scoring 23 and 24 points, respectively over the weekend.  Kuhns now averages 17.6 ppg.  The Bengal's Kaela Oakes is ISU's next leading scorer averaging 12.1 ppg tied for the eighth best mark in the league.

ISU'S PRACTICE SCHEDULE
Monday - Film and practice, 2:30-6:00 p.m.
Tuesday - Film and practice, 2:30-5:30 p.m.
Wednesday- Game Day at Utah, 7:05 p.m.
Thursday - Film and practice, 2:30-6:00 p.m.
Friday - Film and practice, 1:00-4:00 p.m.

ABOUT UTAH
Utah averages 52.1 ppg and is 3-5 for the season having opened the season with victories over SMU and Weber State and later defeated Hartford.  The team is on a three-game losing streak after a 65-45 loss to Arkansas.  Utah hosts Westminster (Utah) on Monday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m.  The Utes are playing without preseason all-conference forward Taryn Wicijowski, who tore her ACL in practice after Utah's third contest.  Wicijowski was averaging 10.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per game before her injury.  Utah is led in scoring by Janita Badon with 11.5 ppg followed by Michelle Plouffe with 10.3 ppg.  Plouffe leads Utah in rebounding with 7.6 per game.  She also leads the Utes in free throw percentage hitting 78.9 percent (15-of19).

UTAH AND IDAHO STATE SERIES INFO
Utah leads the series 27-0 with Idaho State pushing Utah into its first overtime contest between the schools.  Utah overcame the Bengals 66-50 in overtime on Dec. 2 of 2009.  The Bengals are 0-15 on the road against Utah. 

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS-UTAH VALLEY
Senior guard Chelsea Pickering scored a game-high 20 points in 19 minutes during Idaho State's 68-56 victory over Utah Valley Saturday afternoon.  Pickering led the way for Idaho State to capture its seventh straight victory at home dating back to February of last season.  A knee injury and early foul trouble limited the Bengal to nine minutes in the first half, but she still scored eight points.  In her 19 minutes of play, Pickering hit 7-of-13 (53.8 percent) from the field, 1-of-3 (33.3 percent) from the arc and 5-of-6 (83.3 percent) from the line.  She recorded four rebounds and five steals before fouling out in the last 3:24 of the contest.

BENGALS LEAD THE BIG SKY FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
Idaho State leads the Big Sky Conference field goal percentage at 38.9 percent as well as field goal percentage defense holding opponents to 36.9 percent. 

ISU TOPS ATTENDANCE CHARTS
The Bengals lead the Big Sky in attendance averaged with 1,648 people per game.  Idaho State's largest attended game was against Texas Tech, in front of 6,030 people.  ISU's largest home attendance this season was 1,156 against Air Force.

RANDOM FACTS
    • ISU posts the second best conference record with a 5-4 (.556) mark, overtaken only by Portland State which holds a 4-3 (.571) mark. 
    • Pickering's 31 points at Texas State is a Big Sky game-high for the season.
    • Oakes posts the best three-point field goal percentage for a game with
        her 5-of-6 (83.3 percent) effort at UTEP.
    • Pickering and Oakes combined have recorded three five-steal games.
    • Idaho State has three players on the top-15 Big Sky scoring average
        for the season and three in the top-20 for rebounding.
    • Cydney Horton ties for the second most blocked shots in the Big Sky averaging 1.6 per game.
    • Idaho State has yet to post double-figures in the rebound category.  Both Vella and Horton have recorded nine rebounds in a game this season.     
    • Both Oakes and Pickering have hit a team-high 6-of-6 from the line (Oakes vs. Utah Valley and Pickering at Texas).
    • 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.

BENGALS STEADY AT THE LINE
Idaho State posted a season-high 90.9 percent from the free throw line against Utah Valley hitting 20-of-22.  The effort matched Idaho State's best mark under Head Coach Seton Sobolewski.  The Bengals were 20-of-22 against Portland State at Reed Gym during the 2009-10 season.  The Bengals post the second best free throw percentage in the conference with a 76 percent accuracy.

PICKERING TIES CAREER-HIGH AT TEXAS STATE
Senior guard Chelsea Pickering scored a career-high tying 31 points to lead the Bengals to a 69-52 victory over the Bobcats.  Pickering hit 10-of-22 from the field, 6-of-10 from the arc and 5-of-7 from the line.

OAKES SETS CAREER-HIGH VS. HIGH POINT
Oakes topped herself during the consolation game of the Thanksgiving Tournament.  She posted back-to-back career-high nights recording 27 points in Idaho State's 62-55 victory over High Point Saturday afternoon at the Don Haskins Center.  She hit 8-of-13 from the field (61.5 percent), 2-of-4 (50 percent) from the three-point line and a career-high 9-of-10 (90 percent) from the line.  Oakes improved upon her previous career-high of 20 points scored against UTEP the night before.

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.