Women's Basketball | 03/22/2017

HOUSTON--Idaho women's basketball continues its path in the Women's Basketball Invitational on Thursday. The Vandals will faceoff against Rice in the semifinal round inside Tudor Filedhouse. 

The game is set for 5 p.m. PT and will be streamed across the CUSAtv network. 

About The Vandals: Idaho advanced to the semifinal round with its first win in Cheney since 2003. Idaho defeated EWU 74-67. Mikayla Ferenz led the way with 33 points. Taylor Pierce added 16 points in the win. Idaho led by as many as 14 in the third quarter, but trailed 51-50 headed to the fourth. Idaho shot 9-of-17 in the final quarter to hold off the EWU comeback. 

About Rice: The Owls scored a 73-63 win over UTRGV in the WBI quarterfinals. The win gave Rice its first 20-win season since 2004-05. Jasmine Goodwine totaled 23 points and 14 rebounds in the win. Lauren Grigsby added a game-high 24 points to propel the Owls.  

The Match-Up: The two schools will meet for the just the second time in series history. Rice owns the 1-0 advantage. Idaho traveled to Rice for the two game tournament in 1994. Idaho played Rice and Xavier in Houston, dropping both games on the trip. 

Scouting the Owls: Rice led all teams in Conference USA in scoring defense, allowing 61.8 points per game. The Owls 526 total assists also lead the C-USA and ranks 28th in the nation. They average 15.9 assists per game, good for 30th in the NCAA.

Guard Maya Hawkins has been good with the ball this season. She distributed 168 total assists this season, averaging 5.1 per game (2nd C-USA). She is third in the conference with a 2.00 assist/turnover ratio. 

Senior Jasmine Goodwine was a Second Team All-Conference selection.

On This Date
Idaho is 0-1 when playing on March 23. Idaho last played on this date in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament. The Vandals fell to Louisville, 88-42, in Iowa City.

Postseason W's
Idaho's win over Utah State was its first postseason win since a 100-91 win over NW Louisiana in the 1986 WNIT Championship game. The Vandals are 2-1 all-time in the WBI.

150
Idaho's win over Eastern Washington in the WBI Quarterfinals marked win No. 150 at Idaho for head coach Jon Newlee.