BIG SKY ROAD TRIP
After capturing a 79-71 win over Sacramento State its last time out, Southern Utah will take its 3-1 Big Sky record north this week for road contests at Idaho State and Weber State. SUU visits preseason favorite ISU (6-7,1-3) on Thursday at 7 p.m. before meeting with in-state rival Weber State (0-13, 0-4) for the first time as conference foes on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. The Bengals are coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance after winning the Big Sky Tournament last year while the Wildcats  are looking for their first conference win since the 2010-11 season. Coverage of this week's games can be found on www.suutbirds.com.

ABOUT THE BENGALS
Idaho State was the preseason favorite after capturing the Big Sky championship last year, but has struggled out of the gate going 1-3 in its first four conference games after suffering road losses at North Dakota and Northern Colorado last week. Junior guard Lindsey Reed leads the team with 12.3 ppg and is also the Bengals biggest threat from three where she is shooting 36.7 percent. Head Coach Seton Sobolewski is in his fifth season at ISU where he has compiled a career record of 74-62. The Bengals lead the series with SUU, 29-8 and took a 61-48 win in Cedar City during the 2009-10 season in the two teams' last meeting.

ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Weber State has lost its last 32 games dating back to Dec. 10 last season and is 0-4 in the BSC this year after suffering defeats against EWU, PSU, UNC and UND. All of the Wildcats 13 losses this season have been by more than ten points. Freshman Jalene Carpenter is the team's leading scorer with 8.4 ppg. Bethann Ord took over at WSU prior to last season. SUU claimed a 66-53 win in the last meeting between the schools back in 2010 to even the all-time series at 11-11.

HAWKINS, SUU DOWN SAC STATE
Senior forward Kimie Hawkins scored a career-high 22 points to help Southern Utah pick up a 79-71 win over visiting Sacramento State on Saturday night. The T-Birds had four players score in the double-figures, as along with Hawkins 22, SUU got 13 from Funk, 12 from Jackson and a double-double from Anderson who finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Sadie Clements went 5-9 from three for a team-best 17 points for the visitors while Kuhns recorded 13 and 11 for the Hornets.

NEW BIRDS
The Southern Utah University women's basketball team has received its first commitments of the 2013 recruiting class as Madison Wright of Spokane, Wash. and Mary Klapperich of Palmer, Alaska have signed NLIs and will join the Thunderbirds next fall.
“We have been recruiting Madi for several years now and were absolutely thrilled when she committed to play here at SUU,” commented SUU head coach JR Payne. The 5'10” point guard from Gonzaga Prep HS was named to 4A all-state tournament team last year after averaging 11.8 points a game in the playoffs to go follow up her season average of 9.7 ppg.
“Mary's work ethic and determination will be a tremendous asset to our program from the minute she steps on campus next fall,” said Payne. “We believe that Mary's versatility and skill set will give her the opportunity to have an immediate impact on our perimeter play next season.” The 6'1” guard has received all-state honors in each of the past two years, and was a final candidate for the ESPN Gatorade State Girls Basketball Player of the Year following her junior season.

LIGHTING UP THE “SCORE-BIRD”
The T-Bird offense has been putting up big numbers this season, twice eclipsing 90 points and averaging over 70 points a game. That number puts SUU in the top 50 among the nation's scoring offenses. Southern Utah also ranks in the top 45 in the NCAA with a team three-point field goal percentage mark of 36.0%.

SHARP SHOOTER
Sophomore guard Hailey Mandelko has hit 24 of her first 61 attempts from three to start the season, including a 6-10 performance in Southern Utah's 93-82 win at San Jose State. Mandelko's three-point shooting percentage currently sits at 39.3 percent, which ranks 45th in the country. Mandeko's hot shooting helped her to be named the Big Sky Player of the Week on Dec. 10.

BATTLE ON THE BOARDS
The Thunderbirds have proved themselves to be a strong rebounding team and are currently averaging 45.5 boards a game. SUU also holds a +7.5 rebounding margin advantage over its opponents, which is the 36th best mark in the nation. Senior forward Kimie Hawkins has been the top T-Bird on the glass so far this season with her average of 7.5 rpg.

SUU ELEVENTH IN PRESEASON POLL
The Southern Utah University women's basketball team has been picked to finish eleventh in its first season a member of the Big Sky Conference. Defending champion Idaho State received eight first place votes to come out on top of the coaches polls followed by Northern Colorado and the University of Montana. Northern Arizona and Weber State were slotted ninth and tenth respectively, just ahead of SUU.

TEAM NOTES
• After starting the year 2-4, Southern Utah has won six of its last seven games and ran off five-straight wins in the month of December.
• The Thunderbirds have nine different players playing over 12 minutes a game and no one averaging more than 26 minutes (Marquelle Funk, 25.9 mpg).
• In its eight wins this season SUU is averaging 77.9 points a game and shooting over 42 percent. It their five losses the T-Birds are scoring just under 60 points a game and shooting 36 percent from the field.