SAN FRANCISCO – The Washington State women's basketball team (RV) will hit the road for the first time in the 2022-23 season, as the Cougars will head down to the Bay Area to take on the University of San Francisco this Friday, November 11. Tip-off against the Dons is set for 1 p.m. PT and will stream live on WCCSports.com.
WASHINGTON STATE (1-0, 0-0 Pac-12) vs. San Francisco (1-0, 0-0 WCC) | Friday, Nov. 11, 2022 | 1 p.m. | War Memorial at The Sobrato Center
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STARTING FIVE
>> Washington State and San Francisco will be meeting for the second-straight season, as the Dons made the trip to Pullman last year. The Cougars scored the 72-58 victory on Dec. 2, 2021, to record their eighth-straight win over USF. Charlisse Leger-Walker scored a game-high 27 points, while Bella Murekatete added 16 points.
>> Friday's matchup will be the 11th all-time meeting between Washington State and San Francisco in a series that dates back to 1982. WSU leads the all-time series 8-2, with the Cougars having won eight-straight games over the Dons.
>> Washington State's eight-game winning streak over San Francisco is the longest active winning streak for WSU over a single opponent. Washington State has not lost a game to USF in nearly 40 years, as the last Cougar loss in the series came back on Feb. 12, 1983, in San Francisco.
>> WSU will be seeking its fourth straight 2-0 start to open a campaign. If the Cougs were to pick up a win over the Dons on Friday, it would mark the first time in program history that Washington State has begun four-straight seasons with back-to-back wins.
>> Washington State is 23-16 against non-conference opponents in the Ethridge Era. The Cougars will be seeking back-to-back non-conference wins to open the 2022-23 season, after WSU picked up a 93-41 win over LMU in Monday's season opener.
Record-Breaking Debut
Freshman Astera Tuhina dished out eight assists in her WSU debut on Monday in the win over LMU. The eight assists set a WSU record for most assists by a freshman in their Washington State debut.
Offensive Explosion
Washington State put up 93 points in its season opener against LMU. The 93 points are the fourth-most scored by the Cougars under head coach Kamie Ethridge.
Winning Big
Washington State's 52-point win over LMU in Monday's season opener was the largest margin of victory for WSU under head coach Kamie Ethridge. It was the first time the Cougars had won by 50-or-more points since the 2014-15 season, when Washington State picked up an 84-34 win over Idaho State on Nov. 17, 2014, in Beasley.
Picking Up a Vote
Washington State earned one vote in the Associated Press Preseason Top-25 poll.
Chasing 1,000 Points
Junior Charlisse Leger-Walker enters Friday's game against San Francisco 49 points shy of scoring her 1,000th career point. When she does, Leger-Walker will become the 21st player to score 1,000 career points at Washington State.
Scouting San Francisco
The Dons come into Friday's matchup against the Cougars fresh off a 79-66 win over Cal State East Bay on Monday to kick off their 2022-23 season. San Francisco enters this season fresh off a 17-16 season, in which USF earned a bid into the WNIT. The Dons finished third in the West Coast Conference last season after going 10-8 in league play. San Francisco is expected to do well again this season, as USF was projected to finish fourth in the 2022-23 WCC Preseason Poll.
San Francisco returns six players that started at least seven games last season. The Dons are led by redshirt junior Ioanna Krimili, who is a two-time All-WCC selection. Krimili brings back a team-best 19.4 points per game from a season ago. She is one of two double-digit scorers that return to the fold for San Francisco this season, as senior Jasmine Gayles brings back 11.6 points per game.
USF averaged 67.9 points per game last season while shooting 42.1 percent from the field. The Dons hit 33.1 percent of their shots from behind the arc a year ago. Defensively, San Francisco gave up 67.8 points per game in 2021-22, with the opposition hitting 39.5 percent of their shots from the field.
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