After their Big Sky Conference tournament loss, the Idaho women’s basketball team will have a crack at revenge to open conference play. After a 13-17 (9-9) season in 2022-2023, which ended at the stingers of the Sacramento State Hornets, the Vandals head into the 2023-2024 season looking a little different.
With a new head coach in Carrie Eighmey, the Vandals top three players leaving, a whole new coaching staff and many new players, the Vandals will have much to prove and be excited about. Conference play begins for the Vandals on Dec. 28 with a trip to California to take on defending Big Sky champions Sac State, who beat Idaho three times last season, including in the Big Sky tournament quarterfinals.
After a trip to Sacramento, the Vandals will head to the Rose City to take on Portland State on Dec. 30. With the Vandals splitting the series last season, Idaho will look to beat the Vikings on the road after suffering a 53-43 loss to them last season on the road.
With the students returning from Christmas break, what better gift than for the Vandals to have their first home conference game? The Vandals will take on Eastern Washington on Jan. 13. With a regional rivalry out of the way, the Vandals move on to a state rivalry. The first game of the Battle for King Spud is on Jan. 18 when Idaho State comes to Moscow. The Vandals swept the Bengals last season and will look to do the same this time around.
The Vandals will close their home stint by welcoming in Weber State. The Vandals will then head south to face Northern Arizona, a team that dominated Idaho last season. Before heading home, the Vandals will take a stop in Greeley Colorado to take on the Northern Colorado Golden Bears.
Back at home, they will welcome Montana and Montana State before ending another three-game home stand against Sac State. The Vandals then flip that earlier three-game home stand and will travel to Cheney, Washington to take on EWU.
Just like they did earlier in the season, the Vandals will follow up their game against the Eagles with games against the Wildcats and Bengals. They head further south first to take on Weber in Ogden, Utah. After that game, they’ll head slightly north for the second edition of the Battle for King Spud in Pocatello on Feb. 17. Returning from Pocatello, the Vandals will host Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona before ending the season with a trip to Montana to take on the Grizzlies and the Bobcats.
The Vandals senior night will be against Portland State before they head to Boise for the Big Sky tournament. The Vandals return six players from last year’s team, which will bring experience to the newer players.
Those newer players include five transfers and three freshmen. These transfers, however, are proven and experienced players with three graduate transfers, including two from overseas and one from Florida International University.
With the experience of the transfers, the returning players and the talented freshman the Vandals have coming in, they are poised to make some noise this year in the Big Sky conference. Last season the Vandals fell short of their goals as they struggled early in the season.
This year, with Coach Eighmey at the helm, and some new players joining the crew, the Vandals will look to improve. They’ll also hopefully deliver Vandal fans, and themselves, an entertaining 2023-2024 season.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JaydenBarfuss10