GAME NOTES | LIVE STATS (SOUTH DAKOTA) | LIVE STATS (NEBRASKA) | AUDIO | TEXT ALERTS
BENGALS IN ACTION THIS WEEK
Idaho State (2-2) preps for a challenging road trip this week as the Bengals take on South Dakota and No. 19 Nebraska. ISU faces the South Dakota Coyotes Thursday, Nov. 29 at 4 p.m. MST in Vermillion, S.D., and the Nebraska Huskers Saturday, Dec. 1 at 1:05 p.m. in Lincoln, Neb. This is the second time ISU will face a ranked opponent this season. The Bengals faced No. 25 Kansas in the first week of the season and lost the contest 52-36 despite a strong defensive effort.
LAST WEEK IN BENGAL BASKETBALL
Last week, Idaho State won its second straight contest and handed in-state rival Boise State its first loss of the season as the Bengals defeated the Broncos 64-55 in Boise. Junior guard
Cydney Horton led ISU with 19 points and 13 rebounds, her second straight double-double this season.
ABOUT THE BENGALS
Idaho State is 2-2 on the season. Both losses came at the hand of Big 12 schools with one loss to a ranked opponent, No. 25 Kansas. Junior forward
Cydney Horton leads ISU with 12.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. Overall, ISU is averaging 59.2 points and is holding opponents to an average of 55.0 points per game.
MULTIMEDIA INFORMATION
Fans can listen to game action at 91.1 KISU on online via web-streaming audio at
www.isubengals.com with play-by-play action with
Mark Liptak. Live stats for the South Dakota game are available at
www.goyotes.com while the Nebraska game live stats are available at
www.huskers.com. Score updates will also be available through ISU's social media outlets at Facebook and Twitter as well as in text message alerts.
BENGALS AND THE MID-MAJOR TOP 25 POLL
Last week, Idaho State dropped out of the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll. Idaho State is still receiving votes in the poll. Portland State is the only other Big Sky member receiving votes. The Mid-Major Poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Great West, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast.
VELLA HITS 1,000TH POINT
Idaho State senior forward
Ashleigh Vella became the 15th player in ISU history to score 1,000 career points as she met the mark in ISU's 64-55 win over rival Boise State. Going into tonight's contest, Vella needed just nine points to notch 1,000 for her career and the Melbourne, Australia native recorded 14 in the game bringing her career total to 1,005. Vella also had eight rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Bengals in 29 minutes of play. Throughout her career, Vella has also recorded 578 total rebounds and has the seventh most made free throws in program history with 255.
HORTON DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Junior forward
Cydney Horton recorded her second straight double-double of the 2012-13 season and the fifth of her career Tuesday against Boise State. Against the Broncos, Horton tied her career best of 19 points and pulled down a personal best 13 rebounds. Against Air Force she posted a career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds. Horton recorded three double-doubles during the 2011-12 season. With five career double-doubles, Horton has the second most career double-doubles for current players behind senior forward
Ashleigh Vella who has six. Senior
Jessa Jeppesen has one that she recorded last season and junior guard
Lindsey Reed has one she recorded during the 2010-11 season.
HORTON NAMED BIG SKY PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior forward
Cydney Horton has been named co-Big Sky Player of the Week after posting her second straight double-double in ISU's 64-55 win over Boise State last Tuesday. Hortons' efforts helped ISU to defeat rival Boise State last Tuesday in a 64-55 decision. Idaho State improved to 2-2 on the season with the win and handed Boise State its first loss of the season as the Broncos fell to 3-1.
The win at Taco Bell Arena marked ISU's first win against BSU in Boise since Dec. 21, 2002 when the Bengals defeated the Broncos 63-49. ISU has now defeated Boise State two seasons in a row as ISU defeated BSU last season in an 84-75 decision in Pocatello. The last time ISU had back-to-back wins against the Broncos was in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons.
Horton shares the Player of the Week honors with Northern Arizona's Amy Patton who tied the conference single game scoring record of 41 last week against Bradley. The Lumberjacks lost the contest 95-83.
BENGALS TOP PRESEASON POLLS
The Idaho State women's basketball team has been selected to defend its Big Sky Conference title in both the coaches and media polls. The Bengals finished with 97 points and eight first-place votes in the coaches poll while the team earned 154 total points with eight first-place votes in the media poll.
OAKES NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE
Senior guard
Kaela Oakes has been selected as a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award. Oakes is one of 30 candidates selected and is the second straight ISU women's basketball player to earn the honor after
Chelsea Pickering was selected as a candidate last season.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.
Last season, Oakes helped lead Idaho State to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007. Oakes averaged 11.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.0 steals per game. She was selected Big Sky All-Conference First Team, was named to the Big Sky All-Tournament Team and named team MVP.
ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA
South Dakota, a member of the Summit League, is 2-4 on the season and 0-1 at home at the Dakota Dome. The Coyotes' most recent win came against Big East foe Seton hall (71-55). Nicole Seekamp leads USD with 13.7 points per game while Polly Harrington averages a team-leading 6.7 rebounds per contest. The contest between ISU and USD looks to be a defensive showdown as the Coyotes are averaging 57.3 points per game and allowing just 61.7 points per game. USD is shooting 36.3 percent from the field under first-year head coach Amy Williams. Last season, USD recorded its best season since moving up to the Division I leval (23-8). The Coyotes made their second straight post season berth last season, making a trip to the WNIT. USD defeated Drake in the first round before losing to Colorado in the second.
SERIES INFO AND LAST MEETING WITH THE COYOTES
South Dakota leads the series 1-0 as the Coyotes defeated Idaho State 66-54 last season in Pocatello. South Dakota's Tempestt Williams led the Coyotes with 19 points. ISU's
Chelsea Pickering led the Bengals with 20 points while
Jessa Jeppesen had a team-high eight rebounds.
ABOUT NEBRASKA
Nebraska is currently ranked No. 19 in the USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll and has moved up one position after being ranked No. 20 last week. The Huskers are 5-1 this season and 4-0 at home at the Devaney Center. Nebraska's lone loss came to South Dakota State (60-55). Jordan Hooper leads the Huskers with 16.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Nebraska averages 70.5 points per game and allows an average of 56.8 points from its opponents. The Huskers are shooting 39.7 percent from the field and 28.2 from 3-point range. Nebraska is returning four starters to a squad that finishd the 2011-12 season at 24-9 and was the runner up at the Big Ten Tournament. The Huskers faced Kansas in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament and lost 57-49.
SERIES INFO AND LAST MEETING WITH THE HUSKERS
Nebraska leads the series 1-0 after defeating Idaho State 88-41 in Lincoln on Nov. 19, 2009. This is the second time ISU seniors
Ashleigh Vella and
Kaela Oakes will make the trip to Lincoln. Vella posted seven points as a freshman against Nebraska. Vella hit all three of her shots from the line and posted 2-of-7 from the field. The Bengals held Nebraska to a single-digit lead for most of the first half in the last contest between the two schools.
We Are Your Bengals
