WATCH LISTEN LIVESTATS NOTES
MOSCOW, Idaho- The University of Idaho women's basketball team returns to action on Wednesday Dec. 23 after a quick turnaround from Monday's 105-96 win over Seattle U. The Vandals (3-2) hit the road for their third Power 5 matchup of the season as they take on the undefeated and No. 6 ranked Arizona Wildcats at 11 a.m. PT on Wednesday.
Fans can watch the game live on the
Arizona Live Stream and listen to the game with Doug Taylor at Govandals.com/listen and on KMAX 840 AM. Live Stats can
be found here.
The Vandals (3-2, 2-0) are coming off a thrilling win at home over Seattle U 105-96. The win comes after a week off for finals week. Prior to the win the Vandals dropped their first two games on the road this season against Texas and Washington State. Texas is ranked No. 20 in the latest associated press top-25 poll.
Beyonce Bea and
Paris Atchley combined for 59 of the Vandals 105 points on Monday while junior
Gina Marxen offered 23.
Idaho is still leading the Big Sky in rebounding and is one of the better rebounding teams in the nation. The Vandals are averaging 48.4 rebounds per game which ranks 13
th across NCAA Division I. If this pace continues this years' Vandal squad would set a program record for rebounds per game in a season. In addition, the Vandals lead the Big Sky and are 13
th in defensive rebounds per game with 33.5. After Monday's 105 point outpouring the Vandals vaulted to the top as the number one scoring team in the Big Sky with 77.2 points per game. The Vandals' 105 points against Seattle U was the highest point total Idaho has scored since totaling 107 points against Sacramento State in 2016.
Bea is the leading scorer for the Vandals five game into the season averaging 17.4 points per game. The sophomore for Washougal, Washington is one of five Vandals scoring in double-figures this season. Graduate transfer
Gabi Harrington is averaging 14 points per game this season while guards
Sydney Gandy and
Gina Marxen have each contributed 13.6 points per game. Rounding out the top scorers is
Paris Atchley who has 13.0 points per game to begin her career. Senior
Natalie Klinker continues to lead Idaho's dominant effort on the boards averaging 11.5 per game despite missing last game. Bea is right behind Klinker averaging 9.6 per game. Atchley leads the Vandals from the field shooting 44 percent on the season. Idaho shot 50 percent from the field in the win over Seattle U. Marxen is leading the Vandals from beyond-the-arc with 15 made threes on the season for a rate of 3.0 per game which ranks second in the Big Sky. Ball control has been key to the Vandals' early success this season. Marxen leads the team and the Big Sky 4.8 assists per game and has committed just seven turnovers. She ranks first in the Big Sky with a 3.43 assist-to-turnover ratio. Idaho is averaging just 13 turnovers per game, which ranks second in the Big Sky.
Aari McDonald leads Arizona with 21.7 points per game this season as one of two players averaging double-digit points per game. Cate Reese is averaging 14.2 points per game and leads the team on the boards at 6.8 per game.
Idaho and Arizona have played just once all-time. The last meeting was in the Sweet 16 of the WNIT Tournament in 2019. The Wildcats downed Idaho 68-60.
The Vandals were picked to finish first in the Big Sky Coaches' and Media polls announced last month, earning 16 first place votes in the media poll and four in the coaches' poll. Marxen and Bea each earned Big Sky Preseason All-Conference recognition. Arizona was picked to finish second in the PAC-12 and earned one first place vote behind Stanford. The Wildcats were 24-7 last season and 12-6 in the conference play.
FOLLOW: Fans can follow the Vandals all season long on Twitter and Instagram, @VandalsWBB and with the Voice of the Vandals, Doug Taylor, at
GoVandals.com/Listen. The game will air on
https://pac-12.com/live/university-arizona
