SEATTLE ---  The Washington Women's Basketball team opens the 2017-18 season on Sunday afternoon against Idaho State University at 1:00 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena. The game will be the first meeting between the two teams in nearly 30 years. Overall, the Huskies hold a 3-0 all-time advantage against Idaho State including an 87-51 victory when the teams last met back in the 1987-88 season. 

Head Coach Jody Wynn takes the reins of the UW program after a successful stint at Long Beach State where she posted an overall record of 114-108 in eight seasons, winning 20+ games the final three seasons. The former USC standout has 20 years of coaching experience and will be looking to rebuild the Huskies and return them to the level or prominence seen on Montlake over the past two seasons. 

Leading the way for Washington this season will be a handful of returners. Redshirt junior Hannah Johnson appeared in all 35 games for UW last season, averaging 3.5 points and 3.7 rebounds per contest. She is joined in the frontcourt by sophomore Mai-Loni Henson, who saw action in 31 contests in 2016-17 as a true freshman and junior center Deja Strother, who averaged 3.2 points and 2.6 rebounds last year.

In the backcourt, senior Jenna Moser likely will be called on to run the point. The former walk-on practice player received a full scholarship a month ago and looks to help operate the offense this season. Sophomore Amber Melgoza should help replace some of the offense lost last season with her scoring touch and can also play point guard as needed. Freshman guards Kierra Collier–who enrolled and began practicing with the team in the spring–and local product Missy Peterson could also see significant playing time in their first year at Washington.

Scouting the Bengals
Idaho State has a young squad with five freshman and just one senior. The Bengals are coming off a 19-14 season which saw them go 10-3 at home but just 5-9 on the road and finish sixth in the Big Sky with a 10-8 mark. ISU was picked to finish 8th in the conference by the Big Sky coaches and 7th by the media. Leading the way for the Bengals are their two top returning players from 2016-17 in Grace Kenyon and Saylair Grandon. Each averaged 10.8 ppg while Kenyon added 6.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists as well. 
    The Bengals dropped an exhibition contest 95-87 against Northwest Nazarene University, an NCAA DII school on Nov. 4. Idaho State opened the season with a 74-69 victory at Seattle U on Friday. The Bengals had four players in double figures led by the 19 points of Estefania Ors. Sai Tapasa added 15 points and 12 rebounds.

All-Time Series Record
The two teams have met just three times all-time  with UW winning all three, but haven't faced each other in nearly 30 years.  Washington winning the three previous encounters. The Huskies won the first-ever meeting back in the 1980-81 season and cruised to a 101-54 win in the only other previous meeting in Seattle. The most recent game between the two came on Dec. 4, 1987, an 87-51 UW win in Boise.

Season Openers
Washington is 26-17 in season openers all-time and has won their last two, beating Eastern Washington 100-52 last year and defeating Santa Clara 100-55 the year before. Prior to that, the Huskies went 4-7 over the previous 11 seasons.

Home Openers
The Huskies have posted an impressive 33-10 overall record in home openers and have won their last three overall including the win over Eastern Washington last year. Overall, UW is 4-4 in lid-lifters since 2008-09. 

Versus The State of Idaho
The Huskies play all three DI programs in Idaho this season, facing Idaho State in their home opener before traveling to take on Idaho and Boise State in the Gem State in December. Overall Washington is 29-5 against the three Idaho schools in its history and has not lost to one since an 88-66 loss at Boise State on Dec. 7, 2007. The Huskies are 19-1 at home against the Idaho schools all time.

No Overtime, Please
Washington has an odd streak going, having played 123-straight games without overtime. The Huskies last overtime win came during the 2013-14 season when UW downed Utah 53-52 on Jan. 17, 2014. Over the last three seasons there have been 44 OT games involving Pac-12 teams with Cal and Stanford each playing six. Overall, UW is 18-18 all-time in overtime contests.

Huskies Ranked in the Preseason Polls
Washington opens the season ranked tied for No. 25 along with fellow Pac-12 foe California with 79 votes in the USA Today Coaches Preseason Poll and received four votes in the AP Poll.

Strength of Schedule
The Huskies are not shying away from playing tough teams in the 2017-18. The preseason polls have Washington taking on seven teams ranked in the top 25 with three others receiving votes in the AP poll. The Pac-12 conference boasts five teams in the AP top 25 (#8 UCLA, #10 Stanford, #11 Oregon, #19 Oregon State and #20 California). Outside of the conference, the Huskies will also square off against #2/6 Texas and #5/8 Ohio State in pre-conference games.

Up Next
Washington has a quick turnaround, hosting BYU on Wednesday, Nov. 15 at 7:00 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena. The Cougars were picked to finish third in the WCC by the conference coaches after posting a 20-12 overall record and earning a berth in the WNIT last season. BYU opens the season at home against Southern Utah on Friday, Nov. 10. The Huskies are 6-5 against the Cougars all-time including an 82-70 win in Provo last season. However, this will be just the third game between the two schools in Seattle and the first since the 2009-10 season.