No break for women’s basketball

While most students are relaxing during winter break, the Idaho’s women’s basketball team will be going full bore, playing five games before school is back in session.

The Vandals are off to a rocky start so far this season. Things will only get tougher for the Vandals during break when they play some of the tougher teams in the region as part of their tough preseason schedule that will test the young Vandals squad.

The first big test for the young Vandals will be a trip to Seattle to play Washington on Dec. 19. Last year the Huskies beat the Vandals in Moscow 66-49. This year the Huskies are off to a quick start with a 6-1 overall record. The Vandals have only beaten Washington once in the program’s history.

The Vandals will follow that up with another tough matchup on Dec. 20 when they travel to Gonzaga. The Zags smoked the Vandals last year in a 91-42 blowout victory. The Bulldogs are the defending WCC champions and will be looking for more this year and bring back nine letter winners. While Gonzaga has ruled the series against Idaho in recent years, the Vandals hold an all-time series lead of 19-13.

After that the Vandals will return to Moscow for the first time in more than a month to open up a three-game home stand and conference play against WAC newcomer Seattle U. The Redhawks beat the Vandals 80-72 in their meeting last season and the overall record between the two schools is 3-3. The Redhawks were independent last season and amassed a record of 20-12.

Next up for Idaho will be San Jose State on Jan. 3. The Spartans had the best record they’ve had in recent years last season going 11-19 in coach Tim La Kose’s first year before the Vandals eliminated the Spartans in the first round of the WAC Tournament. The two teams split the season series last year, but the Spartans only return one starter from a year ago. The biggest loss for the Spartans was Brittany Johnson, who led the conference in scoring last season.

The Vandals will face another familiar foe on Jan. 5 when Utah State comes to Moscow. The Vandals lost both games against the Aggies last season. The Aggies are led by senior guard Devyn Christensen who was an All-WAC selection a year ago and a preseason All-WAC pick this season. Idaho leads the all-time series over Utah State narrowly 12-10. It will be the end of the short home stand for Idaho before they go back on the road.

Kevin Bingaman can be reached at [email protected]

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