MOSCOW, Idaho – The Vandal women's basketball team prepares to host three games in a five day span this upcoming week. Idaho will host Montana on Thursday at 6 p.m. followed by Montana State on Saturday at 2 p.m. and lastly Sacramento State on Monday at 6 p.m. All times listed are PST. The games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and available to listen on AM 840 KMAX or GoVandals.com.
ABOUT IDAHO: Idaho (10-9, 3-4 BSC) split the weekend with a loss to Northern Arizona on Thursday evening followed by a win at Northern Colorado on Saturday afternoon. The Vandals snapped their four-game conference losing streak at UNC, 60-54.
On Thursday night at NAU, four Vandals recorded eight points, including freshman Aspen Caldwell off the bench. She was joined by Ashlyn Wallace, Kennedy Johnson, and Asha Phillips with eight points apiece.
Saturday's win was a tale of two halves, as the Vandals dominated the first half before going cold in the second. Idaho shot right out of the gate, going up 9-2 early in the first quarter. The Bears scored a season-low four points in the quarter, while Idaho surged to 21 points. The third quarter proved to be a completely different story as the Bears clawed their way back into the game off a 12-0 run. Idaho could not convert, going scoreless for over five minutes.
Sarah Schmitt went off on Saturday, scoring a season-high 15 points including a 7-8 (87.5%) performance from the free throw line. Johnson was right behind Schmitt with 14 points featuring 100% (3-3) from the free throw line. Phillips led the team with seven rebounds as well as scoring 11 points overall. Skylar Bea came off the bench, recording a career-high two blocks and two assists, and tied her career-high of six points.
ABOUT MONTANA: The Lady Griz (14-5, 6-2 BSC) had an undefeated weekend, hosting Sacramento State and Portland State.
Montana went 14 for 27 from the 3-point line and shot 50 percent overall to post a 41-point victory over Portland State on Thursday night at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula. The Lady Griz won 87-46, scoring 87 points for the second consecutive game and 87 or more for the third time in four games.
Montana hit a program-record 19 three-pointers, marking 49 in the last three games, to shoot its way past Sacramento State on Saturday afternoon at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula. The Lady Griz led from start to finish and won 84-57, their third straight game with 84 or more points, and their fourth time with 84 or more in the last five games.
Montana ranks No. 2 in the NCAA with 10.8 three-pointers per game, No. 7 with 28.2 attempts per game, and No. 9 with a 38.5% shooting percentage.
ABOUT MONTANA STATE: The Bobcats (11-10, 5-3 BSC) also finished the weekend undefeated against Portland State and Sacramento State.
Montana State held off a late-charging Sacramento State squad to post a 60-54 win over the Hornets on Thursday night in Worthington Arena. Montana State owned a 19-point cushion 30 seconds into the final frame, but Sacramento State (1-17, 0-7) connected on 11-19 shots, while MSU went one-of-12 from the field. The Hornets chipped the Bobcat margin to five points with 19 seconds remaining, outscoring MSU 23-12 in the quarter.
Montana State had its second-best shooting game of the season and outrebounded Portland State 33-23 en route to a 71-50 win over the Vikings in front of 2,361 fans in Worthington Arena on Saturday afternoon. Montana State (11-10, 5-3) shot 60% from the field in the first half to build a 36-25 advantage at intermission. MSU led by as much as 20 points in the second quarter as sophomore Marah Dykstra sparked the Bobcats with 10 points.
The Bobcats will face Eastern Washington on Thursday before arriving in Moscow on Saturday.
ABOUT SACRAMENTO STATE: The Hornets (1-18, 0-8 BSC) were swept on the road at the Montana schools this past weekend.
On Thursday night, freshman Ayanna Jackson posted her first career double-double with 11 points on 5-of-7 from the field and a career-high 10 rebounds, while classmate Lina Falk scored 10 of her team- and career-high 12 points in the first half to help lead a balanced scoring effort for Sacramento State, which had five players finish with at least nine points for the game.
Senior Solape Amusan finished with a career-high tying 19 points and was joined in double figures by sophomore Irune Orio, who added 12 more. Amusan hit 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-6 from three-point range on her way to sharing game-high honors, reaching double digits for the fifth time this season, and surpassing her previous season high of 18 against Santa Clara back on Nov. 29.
The Hornets split the weekend at home and on the road, hosting Portland State on Saturday at 2 p.m. before heading to Moscow for the Monday night matchup.
SERIES HISTORIES: Idaho has a lot of work to do in the series history against Montana as the Lady Griz have a 45-16 record against the Vandals all time. The teams first met in 1976 ending in a 54-78 loss on the road in Missoula. Last season, the teams split the two meetings with both teams winning at home. In the most recent meeting on Feb. 27th, 2023, Idaho lost by three at Missoula, 85-82.
Montana State also leads the series, 39-22 all-time. The teams first met in 1975 resulting in a 81-50 loss at a neutral site. The Vandals split last season's meetings as well with the win at home. In the most recent meeting on Jan. 16th, 2023, Idaho lost 72-65 in Bozeman.
Idaho and Sacramento State have faced off 25 times in the past with the first meeting in 1994. Last season, the teams faced off three times, twice in the regular season and the first round of the Big Sky Tournament in Boise, Idaho. The Vandals dropped all three meetings to the Big Sky champs with the closest game 77-70 in Moscow on 2/4/23. In the matchup earlier this season, the Vandals earned a 37-point win, marking the largest Vandal victory over a Big Sky team since 2019, which was a 104-66 win over Sacramento State on Jan. 26th.
