MOSCOW, Idaho – The Vandal women's basketball team hits the road to take on Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado this weekend. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and
available to listen on AM 840 KMAX or GoVandals.com.
ABOUT IDAHO: The Vandal women's basketball hit a rough patch this past week at home, dropping both games 61-56 to Idaho State and Weber State.
Sarah Brans stepped into the lineup to fill for Hope Butera, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear at Chicago State. Brans scored a total of 31 points on the weekend, shooting 44.4% (12-27) from the field and 41.2% (7-17) from three. She tied her career-high of 16 points against Idaho State on 1/18. Kennedy Johnson led the Vandals in points, rebounds, steals, and blocks against Weber State on 1/20. She scored 18 points, going 7-16 (43.8%) from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line. She recorded eight rebounds, two blocks, and four steals on defense.
The Vandals have been the most at ease on the road this season, boasting a 7-1 record away from home, and hope to turn their conference season around this weekend against the No. 2 and No. 3 ranked teams.
ABOUT NORTHERN ARIZONA: Northern Arizona is 12-6 overall and 4-1 in conference. Their sole conference loss was to Montana, 89-84 on 1/13.
The Lumberjacks finished last weekend 2-0 on the road at Portland State and Sacramento State. NAU defeated PSU 73-65 and Sac State 83-66.
Leia Beattie tallied 27 points in the victory over the Vikings while Sophie Glancey picked up 24 over the Hornets and a double-double with 13 rebounds. The Lumberjacks finished the weekend shooting over 40% from the field in both games.
ABOUT NORTHERN ARIZONA: Northern Colorado is 9-7 overall and 4-1 in conference. The Bears' lone conference loss was to NAU, 76-72 on 12/30.
The Bears finished the last weekend 2-0 as well against the Vikings and the Hornets. Northern Colorado defeated Sacramento State 72-59 followed by Portland State, 71-54. They will face Eastern Washington on Thursday before hosting the Vandals.
The Bears are running on a five-game win streak with wins over Montana and Montana State and defeated Denver in the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge.
Aniah Hall and Delaynie Byrne both dropped 37 points on the weekend at Sacramento State and Portland State. Hall came off the bench and scored 24 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, both career-highs, in the win over Portland State.
SERIES HISTORY
Idaho has a 23-16 record over Northern Arizona. The teams first met in 1988, where the Lumberjacks won 79-66. Last season, NAU defeated the Vandals both at home and on the road. The last meeting on 2/18/23 ended in an 87-78 loss for Idaho.
The series history between Northern Colorado and Idaho is relatively new considering the lengthy history with the other Big Sky teams. The Bears led the series, 9-8 overall since the first meeting in 2015. Last season, the teams split the two matchups, both winning away from home. On 2/16/23, the Vandals defeated Northern Colorado 73-70.
