📍 Reed Gym (Pocatello, Idaho)
🗓 Thursday, February 27, 7:00 p.m.
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GAME NOTES (PDF)

POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho Vandals Women's Basketball team (17-9, 9-6) heads to Pocatello with its eyes set on splitting the season series with the Idaho State Bengals (11-15, 6-9). This is the 57^th overall meeting between the two teams, the Vandals own a commanding 37-19 record in the all-time series.

The game can be seen on ESPN+. The game can also be heard on the Vandal Athletic Network with Doug Taylor working as the play-by-play. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Idaho is led by first-year Head Coach Arthur Moreira who is the first Brazilian head coach in division one history. In the Vandals' victory against Northern Colorado, Moreira tied legendary head coach Tara Vanderveer for most wins in a season by a first-year Idaho head coach (17).

The Vandals enter the week looking to lock up third place in the Big Sky with the conference tournament getting closer. Idaho has established itself as one of the best rebounding and defensive teams in the nation. Idaho leads the conference and is ranked seventh in the nation in field goal percentage defense, limiting opponents to shoot an abysmal 35% from the field.

The Vandals are one of the best rebounding teams in the country. Moreira's squad ranks sixth in NCAA women's basketball with 43.2 rebounds per game, and they rank fifth in the nation with 30.7 defensive rebounds per game. That effort is led by Jennifer Aadland who has been one of the best rebounders in college basketball this season. Aadland leads the Vandals with 9.5 rebounds per game and ranks 13^th in the country with 7.7 defensive rebounds per outing.

An offensive juggernaut of a backcourt has been the catalyst for the Vandal offense this season. Olivia Nelson is coming off of the best game of her career. Against Northern Colorado, Nelson tallied a career-high 31 points – tied for the most points any Big Sky player has scored in a single game this season - on 11-15 from the floor and 4-4 from outside. She's second in the Big Sky in scoring throughout conference play (17.0 PPG). Sophomore guard Hope Hassmann is adding an additional 12 points per game and leads the Vandals with over three assists per contest.

The Bengals come into the week ranking fifth in the conference, but they are still jockeying for seeding in the upcoming Big Sky Conference tournament. Idaho State won its games against Portland State and Sacramento State last week and has won three of its last four contests. Tasia Jordan leads the Bengals with a 10.2 PPG scoring average.

TICKETS: Tickets can be purchased here or by calling the Vandal ticket office at (208) 885-6466.

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