GAME NOTES | LIVE STATS | AUDIO | TICKETS | VIDEO
BENGALS IN ACTION THIS WEEK
Idaho State (22-7, 14-2 BSC) hosts the 2012 Big Sky Tournament sponsored by Idaho Central Credit Union. With the No. 1 seed, ISU will get a BYE for the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 8. The Bengals will face the lowest remaining seed from the quarterfinals in the semifinals on Friday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m. The championship game will be played Saturday, March 10 at 5 p.m. Fans can listen to Idaho State's games by tuning into 91.1 FM KISU or clicking on the audio streaming link at
www.isubengals.com. Live stats for all tournament games will be availabe at
www.isubengals.com. Video is available at
www.b2livetv.com. The championship game will be televised by Altitude Sports.
BIG SKY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT BERTH
Conference champion Idaho State has clinched the top seed in the conerence and will host the 2012 Big Sky Tournament sponsored by Idaho Central Credit Union. This is the third time Idaho State has hosted the tournament and the first time since 2006. Idaho State won the tournament in 2001 and 2007. This is the fourth straight time ISU has qualified for the conference tournament under ISU Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski and the ninth straight year overall, a program record. Northern Colorado has earned the No. 2 seed while Eastern Washington is No. 3. Montana State is the No. 4 seed, Montana is No. 5 and Sacramento State is No. 6.
TOURNAMENT TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for the 2012 Big Sky Championship are going fast. Ticket prices are $35 for adult reserved all session passes, $20 for youth reserved all session passes, $20 for adult general admission all session passes and $15 for youth general admission all session passes. Single session passes are $15 for adult reserved, $8 for youth reserved, $10 for adult general admission and $7 for youth general admission. College students from the participating schools as well as Idaho State students can receive single session passes for $5.
LAST WEEK IN BENGAL BASKETBALL
Idaho State (22-7, 14-2 BSC) played Eastern Washington in its final regular season game on Saturday, March 3. The Bengals defeated the Eagles 63-58 at Reed Gym on senior night. Junior forward
Ashleigh Vella led Idaho State with 17 points and recorded her third double-double of the season by adding 13 rebounds to her stat sheet in the contest. ISU shot 40.4 perdent from the field and 31.3 percent from 3-point range. The Bengals outrebounded the Eagles 44-31.
BENGALS ON THE MID-MAJOR TOP 25
The Bengals are currently No. 22 on the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. The Bengals earned 153 points in the poll and no other Big Sky school is ranked or receiving votes. ISU was previously ranked No. 21 on Feb. 28, No. 19 on Feb. 21, No. 23 on Feb. 14 and No. 25 on Jan. 21. 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 and West Coast.
PICKERING, OAKES AND VELLA NAMED ALL-CONFERENCE
The Big Sky Conference announced Monday that three Idaho State women have received all conference honors for the 2011-12 season. Senior guard
Chelsea Pickering and junior guard
Kaela Oakes were named All-Big Sky Conference First Team while junior forward
Ashleigh Vella received an honorable mention nod. This is the second straight first-team honor for Pickering as she made the list in the 2010-11 campaign. Both Vella and Oakes were named honorable mention last season.
VELLA NAMED BIG SKY PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior forward
Ashleigh Vella has been named Big Sky Player of the Week for her performance Saturday against Eastern Washington. Vella recorded her third double-double of the season with 17 points and 13 rebounds in the contest. Against the Eagles, Vella averaged 19 points and 9.5 rebounds. In Saturday's contest, Vella also tallied six assists, one block and a steal in 39 minutes of play. Vella was also named Bengal Athlete of the Week and College Sports Madness Big Sky Player of the Week.
VELLA HITS 500TH REBOUND MARK
At the 9:39 mark in the second half of the game against Weber State on Feb. 18,
Ashleigh Vella recorded her 500th career rebound. This season, Vella has pulled down 187 total rebounds and averages 6.4 per game. Vella has played in 89 total contests over her career as a Bengal and tallied 527 total rebounds, averaging 5.9 rebounds per game. Vella is currently sixth in conference play for the 2011-12 season in offensive rebounds, averaging 2.4 per game.
BLOCK THAT SHOT
With 64 career blocks, sophomore forward
Cydney Horton has become one of the best shot blockers in ISU history as she moves onto the ISU all-time top 10 blocked shots list, replacing Alison Verona who ended her career with 57. Mandi Carver owns the career record with 180. Horton is currently tied for sixth in blocks in Big Sky action, averaging 1.2 per game.
SOBOLEWSKI CONTINUES COACHING SUCCESS
This season is head coach
Seton Sobolewski's best year at Idaho State. With the win over Eastern Washington, Sobolewski and the Bengals notched the 22nd overall and 14th conference win of the 2011-12 season, the most overall and league wins in a single season under Sobolewski. Sobolewski also recorded his first regular season title with the Bengals. With 22 overall wins on the season, Sobolewski and the Bengals have tied for second for the most wins in a single season in program history. The 14 conference victories is the second most conference wins in a single season in program history.
PICKERING HITS 1,000 CAREER POINT MARK
With 10:33 remaining in the first half against Montana on Jan. 7, Pickering hit a jumper to break the 1,000-point barrier in her career. Pickering finished the contest with 12 points. Pickering has scored 278 points in 23 games this season, averaging 12.1 points per game. Over her career, Pickering has appeared in 95 total contests and averages 12.3 points per game. During the 2010-11 season, Pickering scored a career-high 487 points during the season, the seventh most points scored in a single season in program history. With a current total of 1,166 points, Pickering is now the seventh highest scorer in program history.
SOLID OAKES
Oakes led the Bengals in conference play this year, averaging 12.8 points per game. She leads the conference in 3-point field goal shooting with a 41.3 shooting percentage. The Chandler, Ariz., native averages 2.4 rebounds in Big Sky games. She is shooting 40.5 percent from the field and 77.8 percent from the free throw line. She has recorded 41 assists and 14 steals this season. Oakes was named co-Big Sky Player of the Week on Jan. 9.
PICKERING PICKING IT UP IN CONFERENCE PLAY
In her final season with the Bengals, Pickering averaged 12.4 points per game in league play. She shot 35.1 percent from 3-point range and 34.8 percent from the floor. She averaged 5.3 rebounds per game and led the team with 47 total assists. Pickering is seventh in the league in 3-point field goals made and assists, averaging 2.1 3-point field goals and 2.9 assists per contest.
VELLA A DEFENSIVE THREAT FOR ISU
Vella is ISU's top offensive rebounder, pulling down 38 in league play. The Melbourne, Australia native averages 11.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. She shoots a team-high 82.3 percent from the free throw line and is hitting 43.6 percent from the field. She has tallied 44 total assists, 13 blocks and 22 steals in Big Sky action. Vella is sixth in the Big Sky in offensive rebounds, averaging 2.4 per game. She is also sixth in free throw percentage. Vella was named Big Sky Player of the Week on March 5.
SOBOLEWSKI HITS CAREER MILESTONE
With the win against Montana on Jan. 7, ISU Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski has now defeated every team in the Big Sky Conference over the course of his four-season career at ISU. Sobolewski's career record at ISU is now 66-53 while he is 40-23 in Big Sky action.
