WSU FACES USC IN SUNDAY SHOWDOWN
After falling to No. 14/16 UCLA Friday, the Washington State women's basketball team (12-12, 3-10 Pac-12) will travel across Los Angeles to play the University of Southern California (17-8, 5-8) Sunday at the Galen Center. The Valentine's Day showdown is slated to tip off at 4 p.m. with coverage on the Pac-12 Networks. Kate Scott and Maylana Douglas will have the television call, while Steve Grubbs offers play-by-play on the Washington State IMG Sports Network. Fans can also follow along on Twitter with @WSUWomensHoops.
ABOUT THE WOMEN OF TROY
USC enters Sunday's game with a 17-8 record and a 5-8 record in Pac-12 Conference play. The Trojans are led by third-year head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke. Earlier this season, the Cougars beat the then-No. 25 Trojans, 73-61, for their first top-25 win of the season. The victory was also the Cougars' last win, having dropped the last seven contests. The Women of Troy are led by a quartet of double-digit scorers, headlined by Temi Fagbenle (13.8 ppg). Jordan Adams (12.8 ppg), Sadie Edwards (12.1 ppg), and Kristen Simon (11.2 ppg) also score in double-digits. USC is a defensive-minded team forcing a conference-best 10.4 steals per game and pulling in 2.4 more rebounds than opponents on average. USC also boasts a conference-best +5.4 turnover margin, 11th-best in the country. The Trojans own a 43-17 advantage over WSU in the series history, but the Cougars have won the last four contests against USC.
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 21 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 12. Redshirt-freshman Nike McClure has already found her way into the freshman record book, with 22 blocks this season. The Tenino, Wash., native averages 1.0 blocks per game, 13th in the Pac-12, and is on pace to finish fourth in WSU freshman history for total season blocks. The Cougars are also averaging 10.0 steals per game and forcing 19.5 turnovers per game – the most in the conference.
LAST TIME ON THE HARDWOOD
The Cougars were unable to keep pace with No. 14/16 UCLA. After taking a two-point lead midway through the third quarter, the Bruins went on to outscore WSU 17-10 in the final quarter and secure a 73-61 victory. Three Cougars scored in double figures, led by freshman Borislava Hristova with 16 points.
COMING UP
Washington State will continue its four-game road trip in the desert, facing Arizona State, Friday, Feb. 19 in Tempe and Arizona, Sunday, Feb. 21 in Tucson. The Cougars' game against ASU will be televised 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 5.3 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 4.9 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 24 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 14.8 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 102-173 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 415-387 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 six assists in WSU's game at UCLA, Feb. 12, moving her into seventh place in school history with 339 career assists. Awa, along with senior Mariah Cooks, have each played in 121 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 five 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 103rd career start against the Bruins, the sixth-most all-time at Washington State. 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.
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.