PULLMAN, Wash. – The 2019-20 season unofficially gets underway for the Washington State women's basketball team on Thursday – Oct. 31 – as the Cougars host Beijing Normal University in exhibition action. Tip-off from Beasley Coliseum is set for 5:30 p.m. PT. Admission for Thursday's exhibition is free to the public.
OPENING FIVE
> Washington State enters year two under head coach Kamie Ethridge. The Cougars collected nine wins in Coach Ethridge's first season at the helm, which included only the second ever season sweep of instate rival Washington in program history.
> The Cougars return their top two leading scorers from 2018-19 in seniors Borislava Hristova (19.9 ppg) and Chanelle Molina (15.9 ppg). The duo collected All-Pac-12 honors a season ago, as Hristova earned first team accolades after finishing third in the conference in scoring, and Molina garnered an honorable mention selection on both the All-Conference and All-Defensive teams after placing fifth in the conference in assists at 5.1 per game.
> Senior Borislava Hristova looks to become the most prolific scorer in program history this season, as she needs just 268 points to become women's basketball's all-time leading scorer at Washington State. She only needs 301 points to become just the second WSU basketball player on either the men's or women's side to eclipse the 2,000-point plateau. Isaac Fontaine, the men's basketball's all-time leading scorer, is the lone Cougar to score over 2,000 points on the hardwood with 2,003 career points from 1993-97.
> Borislava Hristova was one of 20 players throughout NCAA Division I named to the 2020 Cheryl Miller Award watch list. It is the second-straight season that Hristova has seen her name on the Miller Award watch list, as she was one of 10 finalists for the honor last season after averaging 19.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Distributed by the National Basketball Hall of Fame and Women's Basketball Coaches Association, the Cheryl Miller Award is given to the top small forward in all of NCAA Division I.
> The Cougs are coming off one of their more prolific shooting seasons in program history with a 43.4% success rate from the floor in 2018-19, which was the fifth-highest field goal percentage in a single season. The last time Washington State shot over 40% from the field for a season was in 2013-14.
CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN WITH WASHINGTON STATE ATHLETICS
WSU has once again teamed up with ASWSU and the Center for Civic Engagement to put on the Seventh Annual Washington State Halloween Kids' Carnival. The Carnival will run from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on the Beasley Coliseum concourse. Fans can enjoy several student-ran trick-or-treat booths and participate in Halloween activities in a fun and family-friendly environment.
The first 500 kids in attendance will receive a free Butch tote bag to use for trick-or-treating at the Carnival. Each tote bag will include one ticket voucher for the WSU women's basketball game against CSUN on November 24 and one ticket voucher for a WSU men's basketball non-conference game of their choosing. There will also be a Best Decorated Booth contest with the winning student organization receiving a $500 pledge to the philanthropy of their choice.
2018-19 AT A GLANCE
Washington State finished its first season under head coach Kamie Ethridge with a 9-21 overall record, going 4-14 in the Pac-12. The Cougs picked up the first win of the Ethridge Era on Nov. 16, 2018 with a thrilling 87-84 double-overtime win against Nebraska. WSU swept the Apple Cup series with Washington in 2018-19, which marks only the second time in program history. The Cougs 33-point triumph over the Huskies in Beasley Coliseum on Feb. 15 marked the largest margin of victory by WSU over UW in the NCAA Era.
The 2019-20 SCHEDULE
The Cougars will play arguably one of the toughest schedules in the country in 2019-20. The Cougs will take on 16 teams that had an RPI inside the Top 100 last season, 14 of which qualified for the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
The non-conference slate features six teams that played in the NCAA Tournament, including games at Beasley against BYU (Nov. 9) and Gonzaga (Dec. 8). WSU will travel to a tropical climate for the holidays, as they travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam on November 28-30, before heading to Miami, Florida on December 20-21 for the Miami Holiday Classic. Washington State officially kicks off the 2019-20 season next Tuesday – November 5 – against Pepperdine.
The Cougars open Pac-12 play on December 29 in Pullman with an Apple Cup Series game against Washington. A pair of Sweet 16 teams from a year ago will challenge Washington State at home in Pac-12 play, as Stanford (Feb. 2), which advanced to the Elite 8, and UCLA (Feb. 21) travel to Friel Court.
FOLLOW THE COUGS ON SOCIAL ALL SEASON LONG
Get all the info, photos and videos a true Coug Fan could want by following WSU Women's Basketball on Facebook (facebook.com/wsuwomenshoops), Instagram and Twitter (@WSUCougarWBB).
