FINAL SCORE: Idaho 59, Sacramento State 51
RECORDS: Idaho (28-5, 17-1), Sacramento State (15-18, 8-10)
IDAHO LEADERS: Hope Hassmann (15 points), Debora Dos Santos (12 rebounds), Hassmann (three assists)
 
NOTABLES:

• Idaho continues its historic win streak with its 17^th consecutive win
• With its 28^th win of the season, the 2025-26 Vandals tie the 1984-85 Vandals for most wins in a season in school history
• The Vandals will play in the Big Sky Championship for the first time since 2018 (Idaho won the semifinal in 2020, but the tournament was canceled before a championship could be played)
• The Vandals sweep the season series from Sacramento State. This is the first time Idaho has beaten Sacramento State three times in a season in series history
• Debora Dos Santos recorded her seventh double-double of the season
• Idaho was +15 on the glass in the second half
• This was the last time the two teams will meet as Big Sky Conference opponents
• Dos Santos recorded her first start of the season
• Idaho forced five shot-clock violations

BOISE, Idaho – In a nail-biting, back-and-forth Big Sky Conference semifinal on Tuesday, the Idaho Vandals Women's Basketball team clinched a spot in Wednesday's championship game with a 59-51 victory over the Sacramento State Hornets.

The Hornets struck first to take the game's first lead, but the Vandals immediately punched back. Hope Hassmann and Ella Uriarte hit back-to-back threes to give Idaho the edge at 8-5, but Sac State would make three free throws to tie things up. Kyra Gardner came down on the other side and knocked in Idaho's third three-ball of the quarter to regain the lead, and the Vandals were 3-4 from outside at the first media timeout, holding Sacramento State to just 2-9 from the field up to that point. Debora Dos Santos scored two of her 14 points on a pull-up jumper at the :56 mark in the first, closing out the scoring for both teams and giving Idaho a five-point lead at the end of the first. 

Idaho got on the board at the 8:10 mark of the second quarter, as Hassmann knocked home a mid-range jumper from just outside the paint. The Hornets brought the ball up the court, where Idaho forced a stop, and Dos Santos snagged the rebound. Gardner brought the ball up the court and splashed home a floater in the paint to give the Vandals a nine-point edge, forcing the Hornets to call timeout. Following the timeout, Dos Santos finished a layup through contact and converted on a free-throw to make it 24-12, forcing the Hornets to call another timeout. Sacramento State hadn't scored a bucket since the 1:09 mark in the first quarter, but following their second timeout of the second quarter, that drought ended at the 5:01 mark. The Hornets went on a 13-0 run on 5-6 shooting from the floor to take the lead from the silver and gold, and Head Coach Arthur Moreira called time.

Out of the timeout, the Vandals dumped the ball down low to Dos Santos, who made a layup to break the Hornet run and give the Vandals the lead. With the game at 28-25 in the waning moments of the first half, Hassmann put up a layup with three seconds left but couldn't connect. Dos Santos corralled the board and scored as the horn sounded to give Idaho momentum going into the locker rooms. 

It was the Vandals who kick-started the scoring in the second half, as Ana Pinheiro muscled up a layup through contact on the first possession of the third quarter. The two sides exchanged the lead as the Hornets hit a three at 4:49 to take the lead, but a Gardner middy gave the lead back to Idaho. Sacramento State snatched the lead back, but the advantage exchanged sides for a ninth time when Hassmann leaned in from the right block to lay it in for two, making it 42-41 for Idaho. On the next possession, Idaho forced a fifth shot-clock violation against the Hornets, and Gardner came back down the other side, made a pair of free throws, and the Vandals took a 44-43 lead to the fourth. 

In the final quarter, Idaho got a defensive stop on the first possession. On the other end, Gardner whipped an overhead pass into the paint for a waiting Lorena Barbosa, who towered over her defender and scored a layup for Idaho's first bench points of the game. Barbosa went on to score six points in the fourth and went 4-4 from the free-throw line. With the game at 47-46, Pinheiro stepped into a catch-and-shoot three from the left break that gave Idaho a 50-46 lead. The Vandals continued to knock in clutch free throws down the stretch, and it was Idaho who reigned victorious with a 59-51 semifinal win on Tuesday and will advance to its first Big Sky Championship game since the 2018 season (Idaho won the semifinal in the 2019-20 season and clinched a spot in the championship game, but the title was ultimately canceled due to the COVID pandemic). 

UP NEXT: The No. 1 seed Idaho Vandals will play the winner of the No. 2 Montana State and No. 6 Eastern Washington game. The title game will tip off on Wednesday, March 11 at 2 p.m. PT, and can be seen on ESPNU.

TICKETS: Tickets to the Big Sky Conference tournament can be purchased here.

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