#10 COLORADO (15-14, 5-13) vs. #7 WASHINGTON STATE (11-18, 6-12)
6:00 p.m. | Thursday | March 2, 2017
Seattle, Wash. | KayArena (17,072)

WSU OPENS PAC-12 TOURNEY AGAINST COLORADO
Earning the No. 7 seed in 2017 Pac-12 Women's Basketball Tournament and will face off against No. 10 Colorado (15-14, 5-13), Thursday in the first-ever meeting between the two on a neutral court. The tournament matchup between the Cougars and the Buffaloes will be the second contest between the two teams in less than a week after both squared off in the regular season finale Saturday afternoon in Pullman. The Cougs won the afternoon matinee at Beasley, 67-56, to even the season series with Colorado. The Buffs had previously won in Boulder, 70-58, with a big fourth quarter comeback against WSU. The No. 7 seed for the Cougars matches their best seed in the Pac-12 tournament which dates back to 2002. WSU has advanced out of the tournament's first round four times, most recently in 2015 after defeating No. 10 Oregon, 66-64, in another 7-10 matchup.

LAST TIME OUT
Just two weeks after setting the Washington State women's record for blocks in a game, redshirt-sophomore Nike McClure annihilated her own mark as the Tenino native sent away 12 Colorado shots to lead the Cougars to an impressive 67-56 win Saturday afternoon at Beasley Coliseum. In all, McClure finished the game with her first-career double-double as she grabbed 12 rebounds to go with her record 12 blocks. The big rim-protector just missed posting the Cougs' first-ever triple-double as she came up with six points while taking just four shots. Alexys Swedlund led the scoring for the Cougars with 20-points on 5-of-12 shooting including hitting 4-of-9 from deep and 6-of-8 from the line. Juniors Pinelopi Pavlopoulou and Caila Hailey joined Swedlund in double-figures with Pavlopoulou scoring 13 while Hailey finished with 10.

WASHINGTON STATE IN THE REGULAR SEASON
The Cougars finished the regular season with a 12-18 overall record, including a 6-12 mark in Pac-12 Conference play earning a tie for 7th after being picked to finish 10th in the preseason. Most recently, WSU split its final regular-season series, falling to Utah, 74-57, Thursday before defeating Colorado, 67-56, Saturday on senior day. The Cougars lost six games this season that were decided by two possessions (six points) or less or in overtime. Washington State defeated one nationally-ranked opponent this season, upsetting #9/7 UCLA, 82-73, on Jan. 6 in the program's biggest upset ever. WSU is in line for a third postseason berth in four years as the Pac-12's possible automatic qualifier into the WNIT. The top team from the conference that does not make the NCAA earns a spot in the WNIT and heading into the Pac-12 Tournament, the top six teams have been projected into the field of 64.

MOLINA AND HAILEY GARNER ALL-PAC-12 RECOGNITION
Freshman Chanelle Molina and junior Caila Hailey received All-Pac-12 honors as voted on by the conference's 12 coaches. Despite playing just six conference games, Molina made her mark in the minds of the Pac-12's coaches as she was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. Hailey continued to be recognized as one of the conference's top defenders as she received an honorable mention to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team for the second-straight season.