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POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State women's basketball team faces Southern Utah on Jan. 9 at 6:30 p.m. (MST) in Cedar City, Utah.

The games will feature live stats, video, and audio brought to you by Mark Liptak and KISU 91.1. The pregame show will begin approximately 20 minutes before game time.

Scouting Southern Utah
The Thunderbirds roster includes four players coming off a redshirts, three seniors, three juniors, and three international players from Australia and Brazil. The projected starters are Rebecca Cardenas, Shalyn Fano, Harley Hansen, Claudia Armato, Jessica Chatman. 

Cardenas was named to the Big Sky All-Conference team last season, the first T-Bird to do so since 2016-17. She currently leads the Big Sky in scoring, averaging 17.3 points per game while going 73-178 (.410) from the floor. She also leads the conference in steals with 29, averaging 2.4 per game. She leads SUU in scoring, steals, and assists with 50.

Fano is fourth in the conference in field-goal percentage (.522), going 48-92 from the floor. She is also third in three-point percentage (.457), going 16-35 from three. She leads SUU in boards with 73. Hansen is the team's second leading scorer, shooting 56-125 (.448) from field-goal range and 20-51 (.392) from three. She also also recorded a team second-best 20 steals.

Armato has a team second-best 49 assists while shooting 21-75 (.280) from the floor. Chatman has only seen five starts for SUU. She is 17-52 (.327) from field-goal range and has an impressive .808 free-throw percentage.

SUU, who was picked ninth in the coaches' pre-season poll and tenth by the media, has tallied a 7-5 record so far in the 2019-20 season, just one win away from matching last year's win total. They are 1-2 in the Big Sky with losses against Montana State (91-65) and Montana (81-74) and a victory over Portland State (71-58). The Thunderbirds are 6-0 at home. Overall, the team is shooting 301-754 (.399) from the field, 81-253 (.320) from three, and 165-241 (.685) from the free-throw line. 

The Thunderbirds finished their 2018-19 season with an 8-23 overall record and a 4-16 conference finish. SUU won their first Big Sky Championship Tournament game since 2013-14, taking down Montana (64-56) in the first round before falling to UNC (82-50). The team is led by second-season Head Coach Tracy Sanders. During her first season, the team improved their previous season total by more than double. Their eight total wins and four conference wins were the most the team had had since 2014-15. 

Idaho State defeated SUU in both of their match-ups last season with the last meeting on Feb. 9, 2019 in Pocatello. ISU outscored the Thunderbirds 22-8 in the second quarter and 27-20 in the fourth to take an 80-47 home victory. The Bengals scored 46 points in the paint and had 34 points coming off the bench. 10 different Bengals scored in the game.

ISU leads the all-time series, 37-13. ISU has won seven of the last ten and four of the last five meetings. Head Coach Seton Sobolewski is 11-5 in his career vs. Southern Utah.

All-Time Series Results
ISU vs. SUU
Overall: 39-13, Home: 23-4, Away: 14-9, Neutral: 2-0    
01/24/75    A    L    60-82    
02/20/76    H    W    53-46    
01/21/77    A    L    73-78(OT)    
02/19/77    H    W    85-83    
01/20/78    A    W    81-71    
02/10/78    H    L    68-91    
02/02/79    H    W    74-67    
03/02/79    A    W    81-79    
1980-81    A    W    72-57    
02/15/82    H    W    108-66    
11/28/83    H    W    81-68    
11/29/86    H    W    76-69    
12/30/86    A    L    68-69    
11/28/88    H    W    58-49    
12/28/88    A    W    79-66    
02/27/90    H    W    79-62    
12/04/90    A    W    84-56    
12/15/90    H    W    84-56    
02/09/91    N    W    76-60    
01/18/92    A    W    78-54    
03/06/92    H    W    80-60    
12/30/92    A    W    53-50    
01/19/93    H    W    71-58    
12/01/93    A    L    50-64    
02/16/94    H    L    66-75    
12/17/94    A    L    61-90    
12/30/94    H    W    65-59    
12/02/95    H    W    78-70    
11/21/97    H    W    58-55    
12/13/97    A    W    80-67    
12/11/98    H    W    64-54    
12/30/02    H    W    83-75    
12/02/03    A    W    98-65    
12/02/04    H    W    79-69    
12/06/05    A    L    75-80    
12/20/07    H    W    82-57    
11/25/08    A    L    61-75    
12/21/09    H    W    61-48    
01/10/13    H    W    80-71    
02/09/13    A    W    60-50    
01/18/14    A    W    69-65    
02/13/14    H    L    70-66    
01/15/15    H    L    61-68    
02/14/15    A    L    75-76    
01/28/16    A    W    71-67    
02/20/16    H    W    64-47    
02/04/17    A    W    71-68(2OT)    
01/04/18    A    L    76-70    
02/03/18    H    W    66-39    
3/05/18    N    W    59-49    
1/3/19    A    W    69-57    
02/09/19    H    W    80-47

Big Time Bengals
National Rankings 
Idaho State is No. 40 in the nation in assists per game with 16.3 per game, No. 26 in three-point field goal percentage (.367), and No. 45 in three-point field goal defense (.270).

Big Sky Rankings
ISU leads the Big Sky in field-goal percentage (.438), assists (195- 16.3 per game) and offensive rebound percentage (.362). The Bengals are second in three-point field goal percentage (.367).

Callie Bourne is fourth in the BSC in rebounds with 92 for an average of 7.7 per game and third in defensive boards with 70. Dora Goles is third in steals with 27, averaging 2.3 per game, tied for third in 3-pointers made with 26, and fifth in 3-point percentage at .413. Ellie Smith is third in blocked shots with 22.

Recap: Sacramento State
ISU defeated Sacramento State, 80-62, on Saturday afternoon in Reed Gym, marking the program's 600th win. ISU shot 45 percent from field-goal range and 46 percent from three, hitting a season-high 12 3's highlighted by Dora Goles with a career-high-tying five 3s.

ISU held the Hornets to just 20 percent (7-32) from three and out-rebounded them 46-42, led by Ellie Smith with a career-high eight boards. Smith also had four of the team's five blocks. The Bengals recorded 17 assists led by Konate who tossed a career-high six assists and Goles with a season-high-tying five assists. Goles led the Bengals with 17 points followed by Bourne with 11 and Delaney Moore with 10. Barrientos recorded a career-tying eight points. 

The Bengals return home to host Northern Arizona on Saturday, Jan. 11, at 2 p.m. (MST).