COMING UP: at Northwest Crossover Classic (Spokane, Wash.) – Saturday vs. Providence, 6 p.m.; Sunday vs. No. 3 Dakota State, 8 p.m.
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: Both games from the Northwest Crossover Classic will have Live Stats via OIT's SIDEARM Stats Portal. It is unclear whether either game from Spokane will be streamed – but the stream links, along with the stat links, available at OregonTechOwls.com.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – PROVIDENCE: The season opens Saturday night against the University of Providence from Great Falls, Mont. The Argos (15-14 in 2025-26) are three seasons removed from reaching the NAIA title game, part of a string of nine NAIA Tournament appearances in 12 years. UP returns three starters from last year's club that averaged 64.7 points per game, as top-scorer Brooke Dial (14.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg) leads the way. Fellow guards Eliannah Ramirez (10.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg), Katie Fleming (8.5 ppg) and Madi Reibel (6.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg) are back. It is the first-ever meeting between OIT and UP.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – DAKOTA STATE: For the third-straight season, the Lady Owls will meet a Top-3 opponent during the preseason, as defending national semifinalist and No. 3-ranked Dakota State makes the long trip from Madison, S.D. The Trojans (30-6) are the defending Frontier Conference champs and were picked to win the league in 2026-27 – as DSU returns a pair of all-conference guards in Caitlyn Dyer (11.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.2 spg) and Bri Wasmund (10.7 ppg, 3.3 apg, 2.3 spg). Also back are key forwards Cierra Watkins (9.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and Ella Carstensen (8.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg), part of a team that averaged 10 made 3-pointers a game last season and scored 82.5 points a night. It marks the first meeting between OIT and DSU.
 
ABOUT THE NORTHWEST CROSSOVER CLASSIC: The two-day Northwest Crossover Classic will be held at St. George's School in Spokane, with the event hosted by Montana State-Northern. Six teams from the Cascade Conference (OIT, Southern Oregon, Lewis-Clark State, Walla Walla, Eastern Oregon, Evergreen State) and six teams from the Frontier Conference (Rocky Mountain, Montana Western, MSU-Northern, Carroll, Providence, Dakota State) will meet in 12 games between Saturday and Sunday. Half the field competed last year in the NAIA National Tournament and half the field cracked the preseason NAIA poll (either in the Top-25 or receiving votes).
 
VS. THE FRONTIER: The tournament matches teams from the Frontier Conference, one of the four leagues that make up the NAIA West ARC. Prior to this season, the Lady Owls have played just two Frontier teams – Carroll and Rocky Mountain, going 1-3 against the Montana schools. This season, OIT will meet four Frontier clubs – squaring off this weekend against Providence and Dakota State, while traveling to Montana Western and Montana Tech in November. Tech's game vs. Dakota State marks the first ever meeting between the Owls and a South Dakota club.
 
EARLIEST OPENING GAME: Saturday's opener marks the earliest starting date for OIT women's basketball by four days. The Lady Owls previous early start was in 2014, when the team faced Simpson on Oct. 28. Tech will play four games in October this season, putting a 5-2 all-time record in the month on the line.
 
SEASON OPENERS: The 2026-27 season is the 25th season since women's basketball returned to Tech, with the Lady Owls 16-8 in their previous 24 season openers – including an 84-50 win last year in Ashland against Simpson. The Owls have played 11 season openers in Klamath, with this year marking the 14 road opener.
 
TECH STARTS SEASON IN TOP-25 FOR FOURTH-STRAIGHT YEAR: For the fourth consecutive season, OIT will open the season in the NAIA Top-25, as the Lady Owls earned the No. 23 spot in the first ranking of the year. Tech is joined in the poll by three opponents – No. 3 Dakota State, No. 16 Montana Tech and No. 22 College of Idaho, with Corban, Eastern Oregon and Lewis-Clark State all receiving votes in the poll. In the preseason Cascade Conference poll, C of I and OIT finished No. 1 and No. 2, with Corban, Eastern, LC and Southern Oregon – all NAIA Tournament teams – rounding out the Top-6.
 
LONG TRIP BEGINS: The trek to the Spokane Valley begins a 7-game road swing to start the season for the Lady Owls, who will play preseason games in four different states before their Basin opener on Dec. 12 vs. Simpson. OIT heads to California to close out October, before spending the second weekend in November in Montana, before a pre-Thanksgiving date at George Fox in Newberg closes out the pre-conference schedule. It marks the third time in four seasons that Tech will play just 1-of-8 preseason games in Klamath Falls.
 
RECORD BOOK: Five Lady Owls open the season ranked in the Top-50 of the OIT women's basketball record book, led by Tatum Schmerbach, who is No. 4 in field goal attempts (1,114), No. 5 in field goals made (521), No. 6 in rebounds (652), No. 8 in points scored (1,240) and assists (358), No. 16 in blocked shots (54), No. 26 in 3-point attempts (184), No. 29 in steals (84), No. 30 in 3-pointers made (49), No. 32 in free throw attempts (211), No. 33 in free throws made (149) and No. 34 in games played (94). Jozie Ramos is No. 5 in blocked shots (107), No. 6 in free throws made (244), No. 8 in free throw attempts (331), No. 13 in points (1,013), No. 14 in field goals made (377), No. 15 in rebounds (532), No. 23 in field goal attempts (745), No. 34 in games played (94), No. 43 in assists (123) and No. 44 in steals (66); Gabbie Gascon is No. 10 in free throws made (233) and steals (146), No. 12 in assists (274), No. 16 in free throw attempts (280), No. 17 in 3-pointers made (83), No. 19 in 3-point attempts (260), No. 23 in points scored (806), No. 37 in field goal attempts (601), No. 39 in field goals made (245), No. 41 in rebounds (315) and No. 45 in games played (79); Kendall Fealey is No. 15 in steals (129), No. 19 in blocked shots (43), No. 25 in assists (169) and No. 34 in games played (94); with Brooke Anderson No. 38 in 3-point attempts (90) and No. 43 in 3-pointers made (25).
 
UP NEXT: OIT heads to California for two games against Great Southwest Athletic Conference squads, meeting The Master's on Thursday (Oct. 29) and Hope International on Saturday (Oct. 31).