In Case You Missed It ...
PULLMAN, Wash. –  In one of the most complete and dominating performances in program history, Washington State (9-16, 4-10) crushed their rivals from Washington (8-17, 1-12), 94-61, to complete the season sweep of the Boeing Apple Cup Series Friday night at Beasley Coliseum. From start to finish, the Cougars found a new level of sustained offensive excellence en route to the 33-point victory that was WSU's largest margin of victory over the Huskies in the NCAA era. For WSU, a 8-1 run to end the first quarter swung the momentum to the Cougars who hit their stride and never looked back. The late run was spurred by
Ula Motuga who scored five of her 10 first quarter points in the the final three minutes as the freshman dominated the early minutes of the game as the Huskies attempted to shut down the Cougars' veterans. With the lead in hand, the Cougars blitzed the Huskies in the second quarter, spreading the ball around and breaking the contest wide open with a 16-3 run that turned a five-point lead into a comfortable 17-point advantage. Unlike their game in Seattle just under two months prior, the Cougars would not take their foot off the gas coming out of the locker room as WSU scored the first 11 points of the new half to put down any thoughts of a late game comeback from the Huskies. WSU would replicate their second quarter performance in the frame with a 23-13 quarter, taking a 26-point advantage into the games final period. As the lead grew into the 30s the Cougars would finally call off the attack, as WSU went to its bench to finish off the game. With their young Cougars in the game, WSU would score 28 points in the final quarter, including a nine-point outburst from freshman
Shir Levy who did all of her damage in the game's final seven minutes.Â
Coach Ethridge Quote of the Game
"Well obviously a great performance by our team. I look at the stat sheet and kind of reflect, there's not a lot to complain about. I mean I could pick something but I really don't want to. I just loved how we shared the basketball. I loved how against a real kind of unique defense that we haven't seen and haven't practiced against we made great decisions. We shared the ball. We didn't force things. It's a beautiful thing when the ball goes in like it did. You know when no one really shoots more than 10 times in a game and yet you have these kind of numbers it says a lot about our how our team played with one another and took what the defense gave us."
Moments of the Game
Things You Need To Know
- WSU won back-to-back games for the third time on the year and swept the Huskies in the season series for the first time since 2014. It was just the second time since the mid 1970's the Cougars took both halves of the Boeing Apple Cup Series.
- The Cougars have scored 90+ points in back-to-back games for the second time on the year. Prior to the early season effort WSU had never accomplished the feat in program history.
- The 33 point win was the largest for the Cougars in the all-time series in the NCAA era and the most since 1975 when WSU won games by 42 and 36.
- The Cougars shot a season-best 60.7% (34-56) from the floor, the fourth-best single game percentage in WSU history. The last time the Cougars shot over 60% from the field came in 1997 when WSU hit 63.8% (37-58) of their shots against Southern Utah. The 60.7% was a program high for WSU in Pac-12 play.
- WSU dished out 29 assists on 34 made field goals. The 29 assists tied for the second-most in program history, one off of the record of 30 set in 1994. The 29 were the most since 1997.
- WSU put six in double-figures including all five starters, the first time since six Cougs scored in double-figures in WSU's win over Norther Iowa on Dec. 2, 1994 (WSU scored 112 points, the most against a Division I opponent in the NCAA Era).The last time five Cougars reached double-figures in a game was against Oregon, Feb. 11, 2018.
- Chanelle Molina and Borislava Hristova led the Cougars attack with 18 points each as the duo combined to shoot 13-of-19 from the field. In addition, the two combined for 17 assist with Molina grabbing her second career double-double with 18 points and 10 assists. The seven assists for Hristova were a career high.
- Molina was nearly perfect on the night as the junior finished the game with zero assists while adding four rebounds and four steals.
- Behind the Cougars' dynamic duo, Ula Motuga and Jovana Subasic each chipped in 12 points while the seniors Maria Kostourkova and Alexys Swedlund finished with 11. Kostourkova added a team best nine rebounds while Motuga grabbed a career-best seven rebounds and dished out six assists. Shir Levy just missed making it seven players in double-figures as the freshman scored nine points in seven fourth-quarter minutes.
- Kostourkova moved into the program's top-10 for rebounds in the game, finishing the night with 615 total rebounds.
- WSU will hit the road for its final regular season roadtrip beginning Friday, Feb. 22 at Colorado. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. PST.
