WSU CROSSES CASCADES FOR WASHINGTON RIVALRY
The Washington State women's basketball team (12-6, 3-4 Pac-12) will look to build upon a home-split against a pair of top-25 teams, as it travels to Seattle, Saturday, to face the Washington Huskies (14-4, 5-2 Pac-12) at Alaska Airlines Arena. The Cougars wrapped up a four-game home stand in which they recorded victories over Arizona and then-No. 25 USC. Saturday's matchup, which is slated for a 2 p.m. tipoff on the Pac-12 Networks, is the second this season between the longtime rivals. Earlier this season the Huskies traveled to Pullman to open conference play, handing WSU a 64-79 defeat, Dec. 29. Guy Haberman and Rosalyn Gold-Onwude will provide television commentary, while Steve Grubbs offers play-by-play action on the Washington State IMG Sports Network. Fans can also follow live updates on Twitter with @WSUWomensHoops, and catch live stats online at wsucougars.com.
ABOUT THE HUSKIES
Washington is led by head coach Mike Neighbors in his third season at the helm of the women's basketball program. Neighbors has guided the team to a 14-4 record and 5-2 mark in conference play. The Huskies enter the week after knocking off a pair of then-top-25 teams in UCLA and USC. Junior Kelsey Plum, the country's leading scorer, directs UW's high-powered offense. Plum currently averages 27.6 points per game, and is assisted by redshirt-senior Talia Walton averaging 16.9 ppg.
THE WSU-UW SERIES HISTORY
The Huskies own a 69-20 record all-time record against the Cougars, including a 34-13 advantage in Seattle. Head Coach June Daugherty has found significant success on both sides of the series. As the coach at Washington from 1996-2007, Daugherty guided the Huskies to a 22-game unbeaten streak against the Cougars. After jumping to the other side of the state to lead WSU, Daugherty snapped UW's streak against the Cougars, handing the Huskies an 82-80 loss in 2014. Daugherty has guided WSU to victories in three of the last five meetings between the schools for the first time since 1979-83.
BORISLAVA 'BOBI BUCKETS' HRISTOVA
True freshman Borislava Hristova has turned heads in her first season with the Cougars. The Varna, Bulgaria native is averaging 17.3 points per game, second-best in the conference by a freshman and fifth-best overall. Her scoring average is currently the sixth-best by a freshman in the entire country. Hristova dropped 30 points on San Jose State, becoming just the second freshman in WSU history to reach the 30-point plateau. She is shooting .474 (128-of-270) from the floor as a small forward. Most recently, Hristova scored 21 points against No. 25 USC, marking her seventh 20-point performance of the season. The accomplishment is a WSU freshman record that had previously stood for over 26 years. She is on pace to set the program's freshman records in total points, points per game, free throw percentage, and field goals made. Hristova is the reigning Pac-12 Freshman of the Week after averaging 20.0 against a pair of then-top-25 teams in USC and UCLA. She has earned the conference's freshman honor twice this season.
JENSEN IMPLEMENTS STINGY DEFENSE
With the introduction of first-year assistant coach Rod Jensen to the staff, the Cougars have seen their defensive rankings soar. The Cougars currently average 4.7 blocks per game and are on pace to break the school record for total season blocks by nearly 40. Redshirt-freshman Nike McClure has already found her way into the freshman record book, with 17 blocks this season. The Tenino, Wash., native averages 1.1 block per game, 10th in the Pac-12, and is on pace to finish third in WSU freshman history for total season blocks. The Cougars are also leading the Pac-12 Conference in average steals per game with 10.7, a mark that ranks 22nd in the country.
DAUGHERTY REACHES 100 WSU WINS
Head coach June Daugherty earned her 100th-career win at Washington State with the Cougars' 74-66 victory at Colorado, Jan. 4. Daugherty has guided the WSU program to a 102-167 record over nine seasons in Pullman, becoming the third coach in Cougar history to reach 100 WSU wins. Sue Durant boasted a 134-99 record in nine seasons (1974-82) and Harold Rhodes guided the Cougars to 194 wins over 17 years at WSU (1983-99). Daugherty is no stranger to success, having reached 400-career wins last season, and currently owns a 415-381 record over her 27-year coaching career.
DAUGHERTY DOMINATES FOR DECADES
Head coach June Daugherty has proven to be successful across the Pac-12 Conference and beyond. When she earned her 100th win last Monday, she became the first coach in conference history to win 100+ games at multiple Pac-12 schools (Washington). Daugherty also became one of three active coaches at a Power-5 conference school to have guided three different Division-I programs to 100+ wins. Daugherty boasted a 191-139 record while at Washington and registered 122 wins in her time at Boise State.
LAST TIME ON THE HARDWOOD
Washington State dropped a heartbreaker to then-No. 17 UCLA, falling at home, 73-75. The Cougars had a chance to send the game to overtime, but a last-second shot went halfway down before coming back out as the buzzer sounded. Borislava Hristova led WSU with 19 points, as the Cougars outscored UCLA 37-34 in the paint, 22-19 off of turnovers, 13-6 in fast break points, and 31-6 off the bench.
COMING UP
Washington State will continue its three-game road trip with a visit to the Bay Area. The Cougars are slated to face California, Friday, Jan. 29, before traveling to Stanford, Calif., to face the Cardinal, Sunday, Jan. 31.
THE “UNITED NATIONS OF BASKETBALL”
The 2015-16 Cougar basketball team is represented by student-athletes from seven different countries and five different states. Head coach June Daugherty regards the team as the “United Nations of Basketball.” The Cougars have five student-athletes from Europe compared to six for the rest of the Pac-12 Conference combined. Of the conference's six Australian student-athletes, two of them don WSU uniforms.
RECORD WATCH
Senior Taylor Edmondson has made 76.5 percent (78-of-102) of her free throws during her WSU career. The mark is currently ninth-best in school history, after the New Mexico native began the season tied for seventh with a .769 clip. Fellow senior Dawnyelle Awa recorded four assists in WSU's game against UCLA, Jan. 17, putting her career mark at 318 assists, currently ninth-best in WSU history. Awa, along with senior Mariah Cooks, have each played in 115 games during their time on the Palouse. The mark pushes the duo into the WSU record book, tied for ninth place in career games played at WSU. If both seniors play in the 11 remaining regular-season games, they will sit in a tie for third on WSU's all-time games-played list (126 games), and just three games shy of the school record held by former teammate Sage Romberg (129). Awa has started 97 games in her career, eighth all-time in school history. If Awa remains in the starting lineup for the duration of the season, she will finish tied for third all-time in school history for career starts.
COUGAR FRESHMEN CONTRIBUTING EARLY
Washington State welcomed one of its most talented recruiting classes in June Daugherty's tenure with the signing of its three 2015-16 freshmen. Borislava Hristova currently leads the team with 17.3 points per game. The Varna, Bulgaria native dropped 30 points on San Jose State, becoming just the second freshman in WSU history to reach the 30-point plateau. Maria Kostourkova has proven an inside threat, averaging 4.8 rebounds per game and 5.8 points per game. Kostourkova led the team with a career-high 17 points against Colorado, Jan. 4. Alexys Swedlund dropped four 3-pointers against San Jose State to aid the Cougars in victory, finishing with a career-high 16 points, and is currently averaging 4.8 points per game.
COUGARS' DEPTH SHINES
The Washington State women's basketball team is the deepest it has been in nine years, according to head coach June Daugherty. Ten Cougar players have played in all 18 games, and nine players are averaging over 10 minutes per game. WSU's bench players have outscored the opponent's bench 14 times this season and the Cougar reserves are currently outscore opponent reserves by an average of 12.3 points per game.
RACKING UP THE AIRLINE MILES
Washington State did its fair share of traveling during the nonconference season. The Cougars traveled a total of 15,728 miles during the 9-2 nonconference season, averaging 1,430 miles per game. WSU traveled to Honolulu, Hawaii for the Bank of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Classic, Nov. 20-22, flying 5,860 miles. After returning home for Thanksgiving and a single home game, the team turned around and began a nine-day trip to Oklahoma State, Boise State and San Diego, accruing 4,722 miles. WSU continued its travels with a trip to Moraga, Calif., to face Saint Mary's, adding an additional 1,758 miles. The Cougars closed the nonconference season accruing 3,308 miles with a trip to Lawrence, Kan., and a victory over the Jayhawks.
STARTING OFF STRONG
After beginning the season 5-0 for the first time since 1998, the Cougars recorded their first loss of the season at Oklahoma State. WSU responded with three-straight victories, improving to 8-1 for the first time since 1989-90, before falling at Saint Mary's, Dec. 12. The honor for the best start in school history goes to the Cougars' 1978-79 squad that started the season 10-0 before falling to Oregon.
YOUNG WSU TEAM LED BY FOUR SENIORS
With nine underclassmen, WSU is young this season. The Cougars entered the season with eight student-athletes that had played less than 300 minutes in their careers, but are led by a senior class that has played more than 6,000 minutes in Cougar uniform. Washington State returns two starters from last year after losing Shalie Dheensaw, Tia Presley, and Lia Galdeira (foregone senior year).
WSU PICKED TO FINISH 10TH
The Pac-12 Conference released the 2015-16 Preseason Coaches' Poll, Oct. 14, with the Cougars picked to finish 10th in the conference, receiving 30 points. The 2015-16 Preseason Media Poll also tabbed Washington State for 10th place, with 75 points, the conference announced Nov. 4.
LATE PRESIDENT FLOYD HONORED
Washington State University's late president Elson S. Floyd, who passed away in June after complications from colon cancer, is being honored this season by WSU student-athletes with a black 'ESF' patch on team uniforms. The Cougars' basketball uniforms don the patch on the right side of the chest.