📍 Missoula, Mont. | Dahlberg Arena (7,000)
🗓 Thursday, Jan. 8, 6 p.m. PT
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MISSOULA, Mont. – The Idaho Vandals Women's Basketball (10-4, 1-0) heads out for one of its biggest road trips of the year, taking on the Montana Grizzlies (3-10, 0-2) in Dahlberg Arena on Thursday.
 
The 68^th meeting between the two longtime rivals will tipoff at 6 p.m. in Missoula and can be seen online on ESPN+. It can also be heard on the radio with the Voice of the Vandals, Doug Taylor, broadcasting the game.
 
The marquee matchup features the Vandals, who were picked in third place in the preseason conference polls, and Montana, which was picked second. Idaho is currently the second highest Big Sky team in the NET, coming in at 119, while Montana is at 247 as of this writing. 
 
Idaho's ability to rebound has been a crux of Head Coach Arthur Moreira's tenure in Moscow. The Vandals are, once again, among the nation's best in crashing the glass, ranking fourth in the country in rebounds per game (48.1), seventh in defensive rebounding (31.4), 15^th in offensive rebounding (16.6), and 18^th in rebound margin (10.9). UI leads the Big Sky in all of those categories.   
 
The mighty Vandal offense also leads the conference and is among the nation's elite in scoring offense, putting up 81.6 points per game, ranking in the top 25 in the nation. The UI attck is led by all-conference guard, Hope Hassmann, who is putting up 13.9 points per contest. Kyra Gardner is also contributing 12.7 points to the Vandal offense and leads the team with four double-doubles. In Idaho's game against Western Oregon, Gardner put up 12 points, grabbed 12 boards, and dished out 10 dimes to give her the first Vandal triple-double in seven years.
 
Montana has played a very difficult schedule to this point of the year. The Grizzlies' 2025-26 non-conference slate has included the likes of Oregon, Washington, South Dakota State, BYU, Utah, and Houston. Last week, the Griz took one of the more difficult road trips in the Big Sky, going to Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado, ultimately going 0-2 to start conference play. After the last weekend of games, the Griz were 12^th in the nation in three pointers per game, making 9.5, which also leads the Big Sky Conference.  

IDAHO NOTES 

• The Vandals have made 103 three-pointers this season, and have made a three ball in 558 consecutive games.
• With Arthur Moreira at the helm, Idaho has the first Brazilian head coach in Division I history. The Vandals also have the most Brazilians on roster of any team in Division I with three.
• Idaho has one of the youngest coaching staffs in Division I, with an average age of 32.
• UI has scored 80 or more points nine times this year, and is 8-1 in those contests.

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

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