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BENGALS IN ACTION THIS WEEK
Idaho State women's basketball (6-5, 1-1) hits the road this week for conference match-ups against North Dakota and Northern Colorado. The Bengals face UND Thursday, Jan. 3 at 7 p.m. in Grand Forks, N.D. ISU then takes on the Bears for the first time since defeating NC in the Big Sky Tournament final last season. Idaho State plays NC Saturday, Jan. 5 at 2:05 p.m. in the Butler-Hancock Sports Pavillion.
LAST WEEK IN BENGAL BASKETBALL
Last week, Idaho State lost its last non-conference contest to Pac-12 opponent Arizona State. Idaho State kept the contest close and tied the game with 3:30 remaining but a late ASU run led the Sun Devils to a 60-53 win. Senior forward
Ashleigh Vella led the Bengals with 15 points while fellow senior forward
Jessa Jeppesen played a big part in ISU's second-half comeback as she netted all 10 of her points in the final 20 minutes of play.
ABOUT THE BENGALS
Idaho State is 6-5 on the season and 1-1 in Big Sky play. Junior guard
Lindsey Reed leads ISU with 11.4 points per game. Forward
Ashleigh Vella is close to averaging a double-double with 11.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.
The Bengals are shooting 36.9 percent from the field and 30.7 percent from 3-point range. ISU is averaging 60.6 points per game and allowing just 54.6 points from opponents.
ISU is leading the conference in scoring defense (54.6), free throw percentage (72.5) and field goal percentage defense (.353).
The Bengals are ranked 48th nationally in blocks per game (4.7), 49th in scoring defense (54.6), 58th in free throw percentage (72.5), 73rd in turnover margin (2.82) and 83rd in field goal percentage defense (36.2). Junior forward
Cydney Horton is 44th individually in blocks per game (1.91).
MULTIMEDIA INFORMATION
Fans can listen to game action at 91.1 KISU or online via web-streaming audio at
www.isubengals.com with play-by-play action provided by
Mark Liptak. Live stats for the contest are available at
www.undsports.com. and
www.uncbears.com Score updates will also be available through ISU's social media outlets at Facebook and Twitter as well as in text message alerts. Both contests can be viewed online at
http://www.americaonesports.com/bigsky.asp.
THE MID-MAJOR TOP 25 POLL
ISU has dropped out of the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 but is still receiving votes. ISU's highest rating of the season was No. 21. Fellow Big Sky school Montana State received one vote this week. 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. Throughout her career, Vella has recorded 1,078 points, 623 total rebounds and has the fifth most made free throws in program history with 282. She played her 100th game as a Bengal against Carroll College on Dec. 14. She is the 12th player in program history to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in her career at ISU.
Vella is currently 10th in program history in career points (1,078), field goal percentage (44.2) and free throw percentage (74.8). She is ninth in career rebounds with 623.
SEASON DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Junior forward
Cydney Horton recorded her second straight double-double of the 2012-13 season and the fifth of her career 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 seven. Senior
Jessa Jeppesen has one that she recorded last season and junior guard
Lindsey Reed has one she recorded during the 2010-11 season.
SOBOLEWSKI MOVING UP IN COACHING RECORDS
With a 74-60 career record, ISU Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski has been at the helm of the ISU women's basketball team for 134 games, the fourth most in program history. He will pass Ardie McInelly and move into third place in his 140th game on Jan. 19 at Northern Arizona. McInelly coached 139 total games over her five-season career at ISU. Ahead of Sobolewski will be Jon Newlee (2002-07) with 175 games and Ted Anderson (1988-95) with 214 games.
With four more victories, Sobolewski will surpass McInelly and Anderson in career wins and will be the second most winningest coach in ISU program history behind Jon Newlee who had 93 wins in his six seasons with the Bengals.
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 MOVING UP CAREER CHARTS
With 930 career points, senior guard
Kaela Oakes is 70 points away from recording her 1,000th career point. If she meets the mark, Oakes would become the 16th player in program history to meet the achievement.
Oakes currently has 252 total rebounds, 261 assists and 91 steals. For her career, she is shooting 36.9 percent from the field and 35.2 percent from 3-point range.
Oakes is currently seventh in program history in career free throw percentage (79.4) and is eighth in career 3-point field goals made (106) and assist to turnover ratio (1.19). She is also 10th in career assists with 261.
BLOCK THAT SHOT
Junior forward
Cydney Horton is just eight blocks away from recording her 100th career block. Horton would become the sixth ISU player in program history to reach the mark.
Horton is currently seventh in ISU history in career blocks as she has posted 92 so far in her career.
During the 2011-12 season, Horton posted the seventh most single-season blocks in program history as she tallied 47 in her sophomore campaign.
Horton currently has 21 blocks this season and is tied for second in the conference averaging 1.91 blocks per game.
MARACIGAN MAKING HER MARK
Senior guard
Abyee Maracigan has become a strong presence off the bench for Idaho State this season.
During the 2011-12 season, Maracigan appeared in just 10 contests and averaged 0.9 points and 0.8 reboubds per game.
This season, Maracigan has appeared in all 11 contests and started in two. She is averaging 5.0 points and 4.5 rebounds for ISU and in her last five contests has averaged 7.2 points and 6.8 rebounds.
ABOUT NORTH DAKOTA
North Dakota is 5-6 on the season and 0-2 in Big Sky play under first-year head coach J. Travis Brewster.
UND is 3-2 at home and is coming off a big road game win against Pac-12 opponent Utah. UND defeated the Utes 62-56.
Madi Buck leads UND with 10.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
UND is third in the Big Sky and just above Idaho State in blocks per game, averaging 4.9 per contest.
Emily Evers is third in the conference in field goal percentage (54.4) while Madi Bucks is fourth in free throw percentage (87.5).
Nationally, UND is 38th in blocks per game while Evers is 74th individually in blocks (1.73) and Buck is 32nd in free throw percentage (87.5).
Last season, UND finished first in the Great West conference with a 9-1 league record. UND finished 21-11 overall. UND won its first DI conference tournament last season with a 69-56 win over Utah Valley in the final. North Dakota earned a berth to the Women's Basketball Invitational where the squad dropped a first-round contest to Seattle 61-47.
This will be the first meeting between the two programs as North Dakota joined the Big Sky this season.
ABOUT NORTHERN COLORADO
Northern Colorado is 4-6 on the season and 1-0 in Big Sky play with a win over North Dakota. The squad is also a perfect 4-0 at home this season under seven-year head coach Jaime White who became the winningest coach in program history earlier this season and has compiled 85 wins during her career at NC.
The Bears have won two straight, including a record-setting performance against DIII opponent Johnson and Wales last week when NC tallied a 102-33 win.
D'shara Strange leads NC with 14.8 points (third best in Big Sky), 6.1 rebounds and 3.2 steals (second best in Big Sky) per game.
The Bears lead the conference in rebound defense (33.2) and defensive rebound percentage (72.5). Northern Colorado is second to ISU in scoring defense (55.1).
Nationally, NC is 52nd in rebound margin (6.7) and 56th in scoring defense (55.1). Strange is 31st individually in steals per game (3.2).
NC was selected second behind ISU in the preseason polls and received one first-place vote in the coaches poll and four in the media poll.
SERIES INFO AND LAST MEETING WITH THE BEARS
Idaho State leads the series between the two programs 14-1. NC's only victory against Idaho State came on Feb. 28, 2011 in a 73-49 final decision in Greeley. The Bengals have won four straight since then.
Saturday's meeting will be the first time the two schools have played one another since ISU defeated Northern Colorado in the 2012 Big Sky Tournament final. Idaho State won the contest 49-46 and earned its third program conference tournament title and third berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Chelsea Pickering and
Ashleigh Vella led ISU with 12 points apiece in the last contest against the Bears.
Cydney Horton led the rebound effort with nine for Idaho State and recorded a game-high five blocks.
Lindsey Reed also scored in double digits for the Bengals, notching 10 in the contest.
