COUGARS BEGIN ROAD TRIP AT NO. 14/16 UCLA
The Washington State women's basketball team (12-11, 3-9 Pac-12) will travel to Los Angeles, Calif., to face No. 14/16 UCLA (17-6, 9-3) at Pauley Pavilion, Friday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. The matchup is the first of four-straight road games for the Cougars, who are looking to snap a six-game losing streak. A free webcast of the game will be available online at wsucougars.com. Fans can also catch the radio call with Steve Grubbs on the Washington State IMG Sports Network and follow along on Twitter with @WSUWomensHoops.
ABOUT THE BRUINS
Entering the week as the No. 14 team in the AP Top-25 Poll, UCLA is seeking its 10th Pac-12 conference win of the season. The Bruins most recently defeated Arizona in Tucson, 73-39. Led by head coach Cori Close in her fifth season, UCLA boasts a 17-6 record, having lost just one game since the Cougars and Bruins last met. UCLA is led in scoring by senior guard Nirra Fields (16.3 ppg) and sophomore guard Jordin Canada (16.1 ppg). UCLA runs a high-powered offense, averaging a conference-best 76.4 points per game. The Cougars are seeking their eighth program win against the Bruins, who own a 51-7 advantage in the series history. The Bruins traveled to Pullman, Jan. 17, surviving an upset by holding on to 75-73 victory as the Cougars' game-tying shot fell in and out at the buzzer. WSU's last victory over UCLA came March 1, 2012, as the Cougars handed the Bruins a 76-65 defeat at Beasley Coliseum.
TWO MINUTE DRILL
Washington State has played nine games this season in which the game was within two possessions (six points) in the final two minutes. In six of those games the Cougars were leading, and in three games they were trailing, but WSU has just a 4-5 record in such games. The Cougars are 4-2 when leading in the final 120 seconds and 0-3 when trailing down the stretch. In addition, WSU was within two possessions of pulling off upsets of then-No. 16 Stanford and then-No. 9 Oregon State with less than four minutes remaining.
BORISLAVA 'BOBI BUCKETS' HRISTOVA
True freshman and three-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week Borislava Hristova has turned heads in her first season with the Cougars. The Varna, Bulgaria native is leading the team with 16.9 points per game, second-best in the conference by a freshman and fifth-best overall. Hristova was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for the third time this season the conference announced, Jan. 25. Hristova has reached double-digit scoring figures 20 times this season and already holds the WSU freshman record with eight 20-point performances. She is on pace to set the program's freshman records in total points, points per game, free throw percentage, field goals made, and field goals attempted.
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 4.2 blocks per game and are on pace to break the school record for total season blocks by 11. Redshirt-freshman Nike McClure has already found her way into the freshman record book, with 20 blocks this season. The Tenino, Wash., native averages 1.0 blocks per game, 14th in the Pac-12, and is on pace to finish fourth in WSU freshman history for total season blocks. The Cougars are also averaging 10.1 steals per game and forcing 19.3 turnovers per game.
LAST TIME ON THE HARDWOOD
Washington State was unable to complete the upset of No. 9/8 Oregon State, falling to the Beavers, 54-45. With the Cougars leading by six at the end of the third quarter, top-ranked OSU outscored WSU 26-11 in the final 10 minutes to secure the victory. WSU freshman Borislava Hristova led all scorers with 22 points.
COMING UP
WSU continues its four-game road trip in Los Angeles. The Cougars will face USC at the Galen Center, Sunday, Feb. 14. The game is slated to tip off at 4 p.m. with coverage on the Pac-12 Networks.
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 16.9 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 4.3 rebounds per game and 5.5 points per game. Kostourkova led the team with a career-high 17 points against Colorado, Jan. 4. Alexys Swedlund dropped four 3-pointers against California to aid the Cougars, finishing with a career-high 16 points, and is currently averaging 5.1 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 23 games, and nine players are averaging over 10 minutes per game. WSU's bench players have outscored the opponent's bench 19 times this season and the Cougar reserves are currently outscore opponent reserves by an average of 15.4 points per game.
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 102-172 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 415-386 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 Jan. 4, 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.
RECORD WATCH
Senior Dawnyelle Awa recorded one assist in WSU's game against Oregon, Feb. 5, moving her career total to 331 assists, which is currently eighth-most in WSU history. Awa, along with senior Mariah Cooks, have each played in 120 games during their time on the Palouse. The mark pushes the duo into a tie for sixth place in career games played at WSU. If both seniors play in the six remaining regular-season games and opening Pac-12 Tournament game, they will sit in a tie for third on WSU's all-time games-played list (127 games), and just two games shy of the school record held by former teammate Sage Romberg (129). Awa made her 102nd career start against the Beavers, moving her into sixth place all-time in school history. If Awa remains in the starting lineup for the duration of the season, she will finish third all-time in school history for career starts. 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.
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.
SIGNEES NOMINATED AS ALL-AMERICANS
Katie Campbell, Kayla Washington, and Chanelle Molina, incoming freshmen on the 2016-17 Washington State women's basketball team, were nominated as McDonald's All-Americans, the organization announced this month. The trio are a part of the Cougar class that is expected to be one of Coach Daugherty's most talented in her tenure at Washington State.
AWA TO PARTICIPATE IN WBCA PROGRAM
Senior guard Dawnyelle Awa was selected this month to participate in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's “So You Want To Be A Coach Program” program. The highly-competitive program is a collaborative effort between the WBCA and the NCAA to provide female student-athletes with an experience that becomes the foundation of a successful coaching career. The program assists female collegiate basketball players who are interested in pursuing a career in coaching women's basketball with professional development and career advancement through education, skills enhancement, networking, and exposure opportunities, while increasing awareness regarding the availability of talented female basketball players who want to coach.