FARMINGTON, Utah — A new-look Big Sky Conference women's basketball schedule dropped Wednesday that will see Portland State play an 18-game, double round-robin during the upcoming 2022-23 season.
 
It's a departure from the format from the previous few years when teams played 20 league games in an 11-team Big Sky Conference. Southern Utah's departure from the conference this offseason allowed for a more manageable 18-game schedule, which will also lighten the load on Portland State and other teams during the meat of the schedule in January and February.
 
The schedule in January and February turned into a whirlwind for the Vikings last year, as they only once had more than two days off between games from Jan. 15 to the end of the season, not counting pauses for COVID-19 outbreaks. The Vikings closed the season with nine games in 19 days between Feb. 17 and March 7, and played five different Monday games during their conference season.
 
In contrast, the Vikings are only scheduled to play one Monday game during league play in 2022-23. That'll come at the end of the regular season when the Vikings play at Sacramento State on Monday, Feb. 27. That same weekend will also be the only time the Vikings play three times in a week, something they did six times last season.
 
The 18-game schedule also means the opening of conference play will return to New Year's weekend rather early December when the team had its conference opener last year. The Vikings will open conference play at home against Sacramento State on Dec. 31, part of five home games out of their first seven league games.
 
Additionally, the 10-team conference format means a change to the Big Sky tournament schedule, which will take place March 4-8 at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho. The men's and women's tournaments will run concurrently this year as opposed to years past when the women's tournament would start before the men. That created a short turnaround for the women from the end of the regular season to the start of the tournament in years past, but every team will have at least five days before their first tournament game this season.
 
The tournament schedule now sees the bottom four seeds (7 vs. 8, 9 vs. 10) face each other in the first round on Saturday, March 4. The 7/8 winner will then face the second seed while the 9/10 winner faces the top seed the following day on Sunday, March 5. The winners of those games will jump to the semifinals on Tuesday, March 7, when they'll face the winner of the 3/6 and 4/5 games that will be played Monday, March 6. The championship game will be played Wednesday, March 8, and will be broadcast on ESPNU for the first time in conference history.
 
To view the Vikings' full 2022-23 conference schedule, click here. The non-conference portion of the team's upcoming schedule will be released later this summer. Season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here.