📍 Norman, Okla. (Lloyd Noble Center)
🗓 Friday, Mar. 20, 7 p.m. PT
📺  ESPN
📻 Listen Live (Game can also be heard on Boise KFXD 630 AM, and 105.5 FM, as well as the Varsity Network App)
📱 Instagram • Facebook • X • YouTube 
GAME NOTES (PDF) 

NORMAN, Okla. – For the first time in a decade, the Idaho Vandals Women's Basketball team is dancing. As the No. 13 seed, the program's best in the modern era, the Vandals will take on the host team and the No. 4 seed Oklahoma Sooners. 

Idaho's game will be aired on ESPN on Friday, Mar. 20 and is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. PT with Sam Gore and Tamika Catchings on the call. Doug Taylor, the Voice of the Vandals, can be heard on the Vandal radio network and the Varsity app. The Vandal radio broadcast can also be heard in the Boise area on AM 630 and 105.5 FM KFXD. 

Following a historic season in which the Vandals hoisted two trophies and cut down a pair of nets as the outright Big Sky regular-season champions and won the conference tournament, Idaho heads to the big dance for the fifth time in program history. Head Coach Arthur Moreira and the Vandals have broken all kinds of records this year, in what can likely go down as the best season in program history. 

Idaho won a program record 29 games this season, including opening the season with a historic comeback win against Washington State to open the year, and a pair of victories against Montana State, which was the defending Big Sky champion. 

The last time Idaho lost a game was Jan. 10, and from then on, Idaho went on an 18-game winning streak, which is the longest in the program's NCAA era. During that 18-game stretch, Idaho's average margin of victory was 14.7 points. Hope Hassmann, the Vandals' star guard, averaged 15 points per game during that stretch, and Debora Dos Santos notched half a dozen double-doubles. 
During the 2025-26 season, Idaho tied the program record for most home wins in a season with 14. In those 14 victories, the Vandals beat opponents by an average of 20.4 points per game. Idaho also set a new record for most wins in conference action, picking up 17 wins along the way. 

To close out the regular season, the Big Sky Conference coaches named Moreira the unanimous Coach of the Year. Kyra Gardner was selected as the unanimous Newcomer of the Year, and Dos Santos was voted as the Top Reserve in the conference. Gardner and Hassmann were selected to the First Team All-Conference, Dos Santos received Second Team All-Conference accolades. 
In last week's Big Sky Conference tournament, the No. 1 seed Vandals picked up wins against Weber State, Sacramento State, and Montana State en route to cutting down the tournament nets for the first time since 2016. Dos Santos, Kyra Gardner, and Hassmann were selected to the All-Tournament Team, and Hassmann was named the tournament's MVP. 

With over 77 points per game, the Vandals led the Big Sky in scoring all season long and currently rank 25^th in the nation. Idaho was also the top rebounding team in the conference, grabbing 46.94 boards per game, which is fourth-best in the entire country. 

Oklahoma finished the year with a 24-7 record and ranked No. 10 in the AP Top 25 and No. 9 in the Coaches Poll. The Sooners are the third-highest scoring team in the country at 86.7 points per game, and they grab the second most rebounds of any school in the nation. They are led by Reagan Beers, who was named an All-American by multiple outlets, as well as Aaliyha Chavez, who was the No. 1 player coming out of high school and was selected as the national Freshman of the Year. 

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