The Vandal women’s basketball team will be busy through winter break as the team looks to put some wins together before the conference season starts.
It has been a rocky start for the Vandals so far, but they have shown improvement recently. Shortly after most students leave Moscow, Idaho will compete against Wyoming at 2 p.m. Dec. 18 in Cowan Spectrum. The visiting Cowgirls own a 4-2 series advantage over Idaho and beat the Vandals in their only meeting last season, in which Wyoming went 24-9. The Cowgirls return one starter and have struggled so far this season.
The Vandals then travel to Cheney to take on the Eastern Washington Eagles. The Vandals hope to cut into the Eagles’ all-time series lead, which currently stands at 33-27. Eastern Washington returns three starters from last season in which the Vandals won 70-50.
The Vandals play North Dakota twice over the break, first at the Lady Griz Holiday Classic Dec. 29 in Missoula and again Jan. 3 at home. North Dakota blew out the Vandals 84-54 earlier in the year, so the Vandals will be looking for revenge.
While in Missoula, the Vandals will also face Southern Mississippi. The two teams have never met, and the Golden Eagles finished fifth in their conference last season with a 10-20 record.
The Vandals hit the road to face future WAC opponent, Seattle University. The Vandals own a 3-2 series lead over the Eagles, but lost to them last season 62-43 in Seattle. The Eagles finished 8-22 last season, and return three starters. The game against Seattle U will be the last game before the conference season starts.
The Vandals begin the conference season Jan. 12 on the road against Louisiana Tech.