Washington State University Athletics
Game time set for No. 23 Cougs NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament game vs. FGCU
March 13, 2023 | Women's Basketball
No. 5-seed Washington State will take on No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast this Saturday at 11:30 a.m. PT on ESPNU.
PHILADELPHIA – Game times have been set for first round matchups at the 2023 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament. The No. 23-ranked Washington State women's basketball team will take on No. 23-ranked Florida Gulf Coast this Saturday, March 18, at 11:30 a.m. PT from the Finneran Pavilion in Philadelphia. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
Washington State came in at No. 23 in this week's AP Top-25 Poll, marking the first time in school history that the Cougars have been ranked in the AP poll in consecutive weeks. WSU earned the No. 5 seed in the Greenville Regional 2 side of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, after winning the 2023 Pac-12 Women's Basketball Championship. It is the first Pac-12 title won by any female athletics team at Washington State in school history. The Cougars will challenge No. 12-seeded Florida Gulf Coast, a team that is ranked No. 23 in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll. The two will meet up for the first time ever in the City of Brotherly Love, as the Cougars and Eagles will tip off at 11:30 a.m. PT at Finneran Pavilion on the campus of Villanova. Saturday's game will be broadcast live on ESPNU, with John Brickley and Aja Ellison on the call.
Buy Tickets
Fans wanting to buy tickets for Washington State's NCAA Tournament games can do so through the host school, Villanova. Tickets are available for $30, and all tickets are mobile. To purchase tickets, click here.
How Washington State Got Here
Washington State earned an unprecedented third-straight bid into the NCAA Tournament after winning the 2023 Pac-12 Women's Basketball Tournament last week in Las Vegas. The Cougs defeated No. 19/16 UCLA, 65-61, in the Pac-12 Championship game to earn the conference's at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Cougars became the lowest seed to ever win the Pac-12 Tournament, as WSU was the No. 7 seed in the tournament and defeated four teams in five days to win the school's first-ever Pac-12 Championship in a women's sport.
The Cougars have won a program-record 23 games this season, as WSU went 23-10 overall this season. The 23 wins collected by Washington State broke a 44-year-long program record of 21 wins set by the 1978-79 team. Washington State heads into this year's NCAA Tournament looking for the program's first March Madness win, as WSU is 0-3 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Cougars have previously been to the 1991, 2021, and 2022 NCAA Tournaments.
A Look at Florida Gulf Coast
Florida Gulf Coast comes into the NCAA Tournament with an overall record of 32-3, winning both the ASUN regular season and tournament titles. The Eagles have won 14 straight games coming into Philadelphia, and like Washington State, FGCU will be playing in its third-straight NCAA Tournament. This will be Florida Gulf Coast's ninth March Madness trip overall since joining NCAA Division I in the 2011-12 season.
The Eagles average 78.1 points per game while shooting 47.8 percent from the field. Florida Gulf Coast is the top 3-point shooting team in NCAA Division I this season, as the Eagles make an NCAA-best 11.0 3-point field goals per game. In fact, 42 percent of the Eagles' made field goals this season have come from behind the arc. FGCU hits 32.5 percent on 3-point field goals and shoots an NCAA-best 33.8 3-point field goals per game. Fifth-year senior Tishara Morehouse leads the Eagles in scoring at 15.9 points per game. Morehouse, who was named the 2022-23 ASUN Player of the Year, has hit a team-best 75 3-pointer this season and is hitting a team-best 40.1 percent from behind the arc. Sha Carter was also an All-ASUN first-team selection after averaging 13.9 points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds per game.
What's at Stake
Washington State has never won an NCAA Tournament game, failing to make it out of the first round in each of its last three March Madness trips. The Cougars have played in an 8/9 game each of the last two seasons. WSU earned a No. 8 seed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, falling to No. 9 Kansas State 50-40 in the first round in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Cougs ended a 30-year NCAA Tournament drought in 2020-21 and picked up a No. 9 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The Cougars fell to No. 8 seed South Florida, 57-53, in the first round in Austin, Texas.
The winner of Saturday's game between Washington State and Florida Gulf Coast will take on the winner of No. 4-seed Villanova and No. 13-seed Cleveland State Monday, March 20, at Finneran Pavilion. Game time and television information for the second round of the NCAA Tournament will be announced at a later time.
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