COUGARS IN TUCSON FOR ROAD FINALE
The Washington State women's basketball team (12-14, 3-12 Pac-12) concludes a four-game road trip with its final road contest of the regular season, Sunday, Feb. 21, in Tucson, Ariz. The Cougars will battle Arizona (11-16, 2-13) inside McKale Center at 1 p.m. MT/noon PT. Fans can watch a webcast of the game on wsucougars.com or tune in to the Washington State IMG Sports Network with Steve Grubbs. Fans can also follow along on Twitter with @WSUWomensHoops.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Arizona is led by seventh-year head coach Niya Butts. The Wildcats own an 11-16 overall record and a 2-13 record in Pac-12 play record, sitting one spot back from WSU in 11th place in the conference. The Wildcats boast two double-digit scorers in LaBrittney Jones (11.6 ppg) and Malen Washington (10.9 ppg). Arizona is nearly as deep as Washington State's, as 12 players have appeared in at least 13 of Arizona's competitions this season. In the series history between WSU and U of A, the Wildcats own a 33-26 advantage, including a 25-12 advantage in Tucson. However, the Cougars have won the last four contests between the teams, most recently handing Arizona a 67-46 defeat in Pullman in January.
TWO MINUTE DRILL
Ten times this season Washington State has played a game that was within two possessions (six points) in the final two minutes. In six of those games the Cougars were leading, and in four games they were trailing, but WSU has just a 4-6 record in such games. The Cougars are 4-2 when leading in the final 120 seconds and 0-4 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. The Cougars are 1-5 in games decided by five points or fewer.
BLOCK PARTY
WSU has swatted away 110 attempts by opponents this season, averaging 4.2 blocks per game. The total is more than all but one team in WSU history and with three regular-season games to play and at least one Pac-12 Tournament game, the Cougars are on pace to break the school record by over 13 blocks. Redshirt-freshman Nike McClure headlines the Cougar frontline with 24 blocks this season, fourth-most by a freshman in program history and 13th in the conference this season.
AWA FINDING HER FLOW
Senior Dawnyelle Awa has proven to be a competent leader on the Cougar hardwood over the past four seasons. With 123 games under her belt (t-fifth in school history) and 105 career starts (fifth in school history), the Hawaiian native has found her name sprinkled throughout the WSU record book. Awa leads the team in assists (80) and steals (46) this season and currently sits seventh in school history with 344 career assists.
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 16.1 points per game, second-best in the conference by a freshman and sixth-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 22 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. In addition, the freshman needs three made free throws to move atop the WSU all-time freethrow percentage list (50 made FTs).
LAST TIME ON THE HARDWOOD
The Cougars struggled to find an offensive rhythm against No. 9 Arizona State, falling in Tempe, 61-39. Freshman Alexys Swedlund led 11 WSU scorers with nine points. The Cougars forced the top-ranked Sun Devils into 20 turnovers, but failed to capitalize, scoring just eight points off the errors.
COMING UP
Washington State will return to Pullman to conclude its 2015-16 regular season. The Cougars will host Colorado Friday, Feb. 25 at Beasley Coliseum before welcoming Utah for Senior Day, Sunday.
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 16.1 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 4.2 rebounds per game and 5.2 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 4.8 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 26 games, and nine players are averaging over 10 minutes per game. WSU's bench players have outscored the opponent's bench 21 times this season and the Cougar reserves are currently outscore opponent reserves by an average of 14.7 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 102-175 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 415-389 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 at Arizona State, Feb. 19, putting her comfortably into seventh place in school history with 344 career assists. Awa, along with senior Mariah Cooks, have each played in 123 games during their time on the Palouse. The mark pushes the duo into a tie for fifth place in career games played at WSU. If both seniors play in the three 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 105th career start against the Sun Devils, fifth-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.
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.