Weber State University Athletics
Wildcats Host Think Pink Game Saturday
2/15/2008 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Wildcats host Vikings Saturday
Weber State will welcome Portland State Saturday at 2:00 p.m. when the ?Cats host the Vikings. The Wildcats (10-12, 4-6) are coming off a 73-58 win over Eastern Washington Thursday night, the first home Big Sky win of the season for the Wildcats. PSU (18-6, 8-3) is coming off a 81-63 win at Idaho State Thursday night and the Vikings are currently in second place in the league standings.
Saturday is Think Pink Day
The Weber State women's basketball team is joining over 900 colleges and universities across the nation in participating in National Think Pink Week, sponsored by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).The WBCA's "Think Pink" is a global, unified effort across the nation to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond.
Weber State's Think Pink game will be this Saturday when the Wildcats host Portland State at 2:00 p.m. All fans wearing pink will be admitted free to the game and 300 pink T-shirts and 500 Think Pink bracelets will be given away. In addition, tuition assistance will be given away to three WSU students at the game.
Fans are encouraged to donate to the American Cancer Society, which will be in attendance at the game. Following the game there will be a program honoring cancer survivors and those that have lost loved ones to cancer.
Tuomi posts career-high in win over Eagles
Weber State senior Sara Tuomi posted a career-high and continued her free throw perfection in WSU's win Thursday night over Eastern Washington. The Billings, Montana native scored a career-best 28 points on 8-13 shooting from the field and a perfect 12-12 from the free throw line. The 28 points breaks her previous career-high of 26 points, set last year at Utah State. Tuomi has scored in double figures in all 22 games this season and has scored 24 or more points in four of the last five games. She also moves into tenth place on Weber State's career scoring list. She finished Thursday's win with a team-high eight rebounds and needs just two more to move into tenth on that list.
The 12-12 shooting from the free throw line is tied for the third best single-game free throw shooting in WSU history. In addition, Tuomi has now made 43 consecutive free throws, making now seven straight games without a miss. She has made 55 of her last 56 free throws, and is currently ninth in the nation in free throw percentage.
Big Sky standings update
Montana moved into solo possession of first place in the Big Sky standings after a win at Sacramento State Thursday and Idaho State's loss to Portland State. The Lady Griz are 8-2 in league play followed by Portland State at 8-3. Idaho State is now tied with Montana State at 7-3. With a 4-6 conference record Weber State is now in sixth place with six conference games remaining.Turnovers make a difference
Eastern Washington committed 29 turnovers in WSU's win Thursday night, the most by a WSU opponent in nine seasons. The last time an opponent had more turnovers in a game was December 20, 1999 when Montana State committed 34 turnovers. WSU improved to 10-1 this season when committing fewer turnovers than its opponent. They are 0-11 when committing more.
Wildcats still first in defense, last in offense
WSU remains first in the Big Sky in scoring defense, allowing 61.3 points per game. However the ?Cats are last in scoring offense at 59.0 points per game. Saturday's opponent Portland State leads the conference in scoring offense at 75.3 a game, meaning Saturday will feature the top scoring offense against the top scoring defense.
60 is still the magic number
The ?Cats improved to 10-1 this season when holding their opponents under 60 points. They are 0-11 when the opponent scores over 60 points. Weber State is also 9-4 when scoring it scores 60 and 1-8 when scoring less.
?Cats host welcome Vikings Saturday
The Wildcats will host the Think Pink game as part of the game against Portland State this Saturday, February 16 at 2:00 p.m. at the Dee Events Center. The game will be broadcast live on KWCR 88.1 FM with Eric Knighton calling the action. Audio and live stats are available at weberstatesports.com and the game will be broadcast live at bigskytv.org.
About Portland State
Portland State enters Saturday's game with a 18-6 overall record and an 8-3 record in Big Sky play. The Vikings are coming off a 81-63 win at Idaho State on Thursday. In that game PSU had five players score in double figures and sophomore Claire Faucher set a new Big Sky record by posting 19 assists. She currently leads the nation in assists at 8.8 per game.
The Vikings started the season winning five straight and nine of their first ten games. They are 11-0 at home this season and 6-6 on the road, including a 3-3 road record in Big Sky games.
Portland State is also led by junior Kelsey Kahle who ranks fourth in the Big Sky in scoring at 16.7 and fourth in rebounding at 8.1 per game. She also leads the conference in field goal percentage, shooting 54.5 percent and ranks second in steals at 2.4 per game.
The Vikings lead the Big Sky in scoring offense at 75.3 points per game, which ranks 14th in the nation. They are also tops in the league in field goal percentage at .442, three-point field goal defense, assists, and steals.
Head coach Sherri Murrell
The Vikings are coached by Sherri Murrell who is in her first season with the Vikings. She spent the previous five seasons as head coach at Washington State. WSU head coach Carla Taylor is 14-11 all-time against PSU.
All-time series
Weber State leads the all-time series 20-13 over Portland State. Despite losing earlier this season, the Wildcats have won eight of the last ten games played against the Vikings. In games in Ogden, Weber State leads 12-3 all-time. The last PSU win in Ogden was in March 2003.
Earlier this season in PortlandPortland State picked up a 64-49 win over the Wildcats January 10 in Portland, giving WSU it's fifth straight loss at the time. Faucher led PSU with 19 points and Kelsey Kahle added 14 points and ten rebounds. Tuomi paced the Wildcats with 12 points as WSU shot just 28 percent from the field.
Looking ahead
After Saturday's game the ?Cats will make the trip to the Big Sky state next week as they play at Montana on Thursday, February 21 and at Montana State on Saturday, February 23.
