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BENGALS IN ACTION THIS WEEK
Idaho State women's basketball (11-8, 6-4 BSC) hosts Northern Colorado (9-9, 6-3 BSC) and North Dakota (8-11, 3-7 BSC) this week at Reed Gym. The Bengals take on the Bears Thursday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. and UND Saturday, Feb. 2 at 2 p.m.
LAST WEEK IN BENGAL BASKETBALL
Idaho State split with Montana and Montana State at home last week. The Bengals fell to Montana 57-52 before rallying to defeat conference-leading MSU 63-55 on Saturday afternoon. Senior guard
Kaela Oakes scored her 1,000th point against Montana as the led ISU with 18 points. Junior forward
Cydney Horton also recorded her 100th career block against the Griz. Senior guard
Ashleigh Vella led ISU with a season-high 22 points against Montana State.
ABOUT THE BENGALS
Idaho State is 11-8 on the season and 6-4 in Big Sky play. Senior forward
Ashleigh Vella leads the Bengals, averaging 12.1 points per game. She also averages 6.2 rebounds per contest, just behind junior forward
Cydney Horton who leads the Bengals with 6.3 rebounds per game.
The Bengals are shooting 37.3 percent from the field and 34.9 percent from 3-point range. ISU is averaging 61.4 points per game and allowing just 56.0 points from opponents.
ISU is leading the conference in free throw percentage (75.1) and is second in scoring defense (56.0), 3-point field goal percentage (34.9), rebounding defense (36.3) and defensive rebound percentage (.703).
The Bengals are ranked 26th nationally in free throw percentage (75.1), 27th in 3-point field goal percentage (34.9), 60th in scoring defense (56.0), 87th in blocks per game (4.0), 88th in field goal percentage defense (36.8) and 99th in scoring margin (5.4).
MULTIMEDIA INFORMATION
Fans can listen to game action at 91.1 KISU or on-line 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.isubengals.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 on-line 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. Idaho State and Montana State are the only Big Sky schools ranked or 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. Throughout her career, Vella has recorded 1,187 points, 663 total rebounds and has the fourth most made free throws in program history with 310. 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 eighth in program history in career points (1,187) and career rebounds (663). She is 10th in field goal percentage (44.3) and ninth in free throw percentage (76.0).
Her 3-point field goal percentage (43.4) is second best in the Big Sky and ranks fifth all-time in ISU history for a single season. She is also fourth in the conference in free throw percentage, shooting 80.2 percent.
SOBOLEWSKI MOVING UP IN COACHING RECORDS
With a 79-63 career record, ISU Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski has been at the helm of the ISU women's basketball team for 142 games, the third most in program history. He passed Ardie McInelly and moved 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 is Jon Newlee (2002-07) with 175 games and Ted Anderson (1988-95) with 214 games.
Sobolewski has surpassed McInelly and Anderson in career wins (79) and has the second most wins for an ISU coach 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 NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST
Senior
Kaela Oakes has been named one of 60 women's basketball players from around the country as a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award. 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.
Oakes became the 16th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points with her 20-point performance against Montana. Oakes now has 1,019 career points.
Oakes, who played her 100th game as a Bengal against Portland State on Dec. 20, currently has 277 total rebounds, 284 assists and 95 steals. For her career, she is shooting 37.0 percent from the field and 35.4 percent from 3-point range.
Oakes is currently seventh in program history in career free throw percentage (80.2) and 3-point field goals made (112). She is eighth in assist to turnover ratio (1.21). She is also ninth in career assists with 284 and eighth in career free throws with 251.
Oakes is currently second in the Big Sky Conference in free throw percentage (86.9) and is 20th in the country in the same category.
BLOCK THAT SHOT
Junior forward
Cydney Horton became the sixth player in ISU history to record 100 career blocks with her one block against Montana.
Horton is currently sixth in ISU history in career blocks with 100.
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 29 blocks this season and is fifth in the conference, averaging 1.5 blocks per game. She is 93rd in the nation in the same category.
MARACIGAN MAKING HER MARK
Senior guard
Abyee Maracigan has become a strong presence off the bench for Idaho State this season.
Maracigan has appeared in all 19 contests and started in two. She is averaging 5.3 points and 4.9 rebounds for ISU and in a five-game stretch from the Utah Valley game through Arizona State, she averaged 7.2 points and 6.8 rebounds. Against Southern Utah (1/10) she posted her first career double-double with a career-high 21 points and 10 rebounds.
REED STEPPING UP
Junior guard
Lindsey Reed has become an offensive force for Idaho State this season.
Reed averages 11.6 points per game and 11.5 points in conference contests. Last season, she averaged 10.7 points and 10.3 in Big Sky games.
With 445 career rebounds and 868 career points, Reed is well on her way to becoming the 13th player in ISU history to record 500 rebounds and 1,000 points.
ABOUT NORTHERN COLORADO
Northern Colorado is 9-9 on the season and one game ahead of Idaho State with a 6-3 Big Sky record. The Bears are undefeated at home at the Butler-Hancock Pavilion but are just 1-9 on the road this season under seventh-year head coach Jaime White.
The Bears have won two straight with victories over Northern Arizona and Sacramento State. The squad is averaging 58.6 points per game and allow just 55.8.
This week's Big Sky Player of the Week, Lauren Oosdyke leads NC with 13.6 points per game and 15.7 points per Big Sky contest. She scored more than 20 points in both of NC's last two contests. D'shara Strange leads the Bears in rebounds, averaging 6.7 per game and is second to Oosdyke in scoring with 13.2 points per contest.
The Bears lead the conference in scoring defense (55.8), rebounding defense (32.4), rebound margin (+6.8) and defensive rebound percentage (.737).
SERIES INFO AND LAST MEETING WITH THE BEARS
Idaho State leads the series 14-2 and the Bears won the last meeting earlier this season 71-63 in Greeley, Colo., on Jan. 5.
Junior forward
Cydney Horton led the Bengals in the last contest against NC. Horton scored 18 points, pulled down eight rebounds and posted three blocks in the contest.
The Bengals led for most of the first half and boasted a seven-point lead with less than seven minutes remaining in the half before Northern Colorado used an 18-2 run to end the period with a 38-29 lead.
ISU came out slow again in the second half and the Bears extended their lead to as much as 18 points before ISU began a second-half comeback that got the Bengals to within three points with 8:30 left to play in the game.
ABOUT NORTH DAKOTA
North Dakota is 8-11 on the season and is 3-7 in Big Sky action under first-year head coach Travis Brewster. UND is 2-8 on the road this season.
North Dakota is averaging 59.7 points per game and allow an average of 63.1 points for its opponents.
Madi Buck leads UND with 11.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Emily Evers is second in the Big Sky in field goal percentage (54.5) and tied for second in blocks per game (1.8).
SERIES INFO AND LAST MEETING WITH UND
North Dakota leads the all-time series 1-0 and this will be the first time UND plays at Reed Gym.
UND won the first meeting between both teams 64-59 in Grand Forks, N.D., on Jan. 3.
Junior guard
Lindsey Reed led the Bengals in the contest with 18 points, 16 scored in the second half alone. Reed also pulled down three rebounds and posted one assist and one steal in the contest.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half with ISU going 29.6 percent from the floor and UND going 9-25 for a 36.0 shooting percentage. Both teams shot 25 percent from 3-point range. ISU went into the locker room at the half with a narrow three-point lead.
In the second half, ISU extended its lead to eight before a shooting slump led to an 11-0 UND run to put North Dakota back in the game.
