WASHINGTON STATE (7-5, 0-0) at #10/10 OREGON (11-2, 0-0)
3 p.m. | Friday | Dec. 29, 2017
Eugene, Ore. | Matthew Knight Arena (12,364)
MATCHUP NOTES
Pac-12 play begins on the road as the Cougs head to Eugene to take on the #10/10 ranked Oregon Ducks. Despite Oregon holding the all-time advantage in the series at 64-19, the Cougs have held the recent edge winning five of the last seven match ups including the last two in Eugene. Last season, the injury depleted Cougs went into Eugene on New Years Day and beat the Ducks, 75-59, in the two teams lone match up of the season. In the victory the Cougars saw four players score in double-figures led by
Chanelle Molina who scored 20 points for the first time en route to earning Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors.
LAST TIME OUT
Behind another double-double from
Louise Brown (12 points, 12 rebounds) and a balanced effort on both sides of the floor Washington State (7-5) came away with a wire-to-wire win at Nebraska (9-4) Friday afternoon at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The 73-61 victory for the Cougs closed out non-conference play with a pair of wins for WSU while snapping the Huskers' five-game winning streak. From the outset the Cougs took the crowd of 4,404 Husker faithful out of the game as WSU ran out to a 23-12 first quarter lead and never looked back. The Cougs would push their lead to as much as 20 early in the third-quarter before the Huskers close the gap with an 11-0 run before an
Alexys Swedlund three snapped the Cougs out of their funk. Swedlund would finish the day tied with
Borislava Hristova for the team high with 16 points. Despite taking the Huskers best shots, the Cougs would never see their lead fall below three possessions with Nebraska closing to within seven with 8:28 to play in the game before WSU's defense clamped down. Over the next eight minutes, WSU allowed just four points in the run of play including a layup on the Huskers' final possession to close out the victory.Â
ABOUT THEÂ DUCKS
The Ducks enter Friday's game second in the Pac-12 standings at 11-2 after non-conference play while posting the No. 3 ranked offense in the country at 88.8 points per game. Oregon was picked to finish second in the preseason coaches' poll. The Ducks are led into the week by the back-to-back, and four-time overall, Pac-12 Player of the Week, Sabrina Ionescu. She is averaging 18.0 points per game to lead a squad of five ducks averaging 10+ points per contest. As a team, the Ducks are outscoring opponents by 28 points per game.
IN THEÂ TWITTERVERSE
FOLLOW THE COUGS ON SOCIAL MEDIA ALL SEASON LONGÂ
Get all the info, photos, and videos a true Coug Fan could want by following the team on Facebook (facebook.com/wsuwomenshoops), Twitter (@WSUWomensHoops) and Instagram (WSUWomensHoops).
