Washington State University Athletics
Cougars Travel to Desert to Face Sun Devils
February 17, 2016 | Women's Basketball
COUGARS TRAVEL TO DESERT TO FACE SUN DEVILS
The Washington State women's basketball team (12-13, 3-11 Pac-12) continues its four-game road trip with a matchup in Tempe, Ariz., Friday, Feb. 19 against No. 9/10 Arizona State (22-4, 13-1 Pac-12). The game is slated to tip off at 4 p.m. PT/5 p.m. MT inside Wells Fargo Arena. Cindy Brunson and Tammy Blackburn will provide commentary on the Pac-12 Networks, 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 SUN DEVILS
Arizona State is currently ranked No. 9/10 in the AP Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Poll, respectively. ASU boasts a 22-4 overall record and 13-1 record in conference play. The Sun Devils are led by head coach Charli Turner Thorne in her 19th season in Tempe. Under Turner Thorne's direction, the Sun Devils have one player in double-figure scoring. Sophie Brunner leads the way with 10.2 points per game. The Devils are nearly as deep as the Cougars, with 11 players having appeared in 20 or more games this season and seven players averaging over 5.0 points per game. The Cougars and Sun Devils met once previously this season, as then-No. 14 ASU beat WSU 63-45 in Pullman. In the series history between WSU and ASU, the Sun Devils have won 41 out of 59 contests, including the previous three meetings.
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 CITY
WSU has swatted away 106 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 four 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 12th 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 122 games under her belt (t-fifth in school history) and 104 career starts (t-fifth in school history), the Hawaiian native has found her name sprinkled throughout the WSU record book. Awa leads the team in assists (79) and steals (42) this season and currently sits seventh in school history with 343 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 16.7 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 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
Washington State's Valentine's Day would prove a heartbreaker as the Cougars dropped another close loss, falling to USC, 64-62, at the Galen Center. WSU was led in scoring and rebounding by senior Dawnyelle Awa with 16 points and six rebounds. The Cougars also shot over .500 from the field for the second time this season, but were unable to put the Trojans away.
COMING UP
WSU conclude their Pac-12 road competition with a matchup against Arizona, Sunday, Feb. 21, at noon in Tucson, Ariz.
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 16.7 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 4.7 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 25 games, and nine players are averaging over 10 minutes per game. WSU's bench players have outscored the opponent's bench 20 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 102-174 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 415-388 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 four assists in WSU's game at USC, Feb. 14, putting her comfortably into seventh place in school history with 343 career assists. Awa, along with senior Mariah Cooks, have each played in 122 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 four 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 104th career start against the Trojans, tied for 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.
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.
