PULLMAN, Wash. (Oct. 16, 2024) – Washington State Women's Basketball was picked to finish second in the West Coast Conference (WCC), coming in just one point shy of first place Gonzaga, while senior Tara Wallack and sophomore Eleonora Villa were named to the All-WCC Preseason Team, the league announced Wednesday morning.

Wallack and E. Villa both return for the 2024-25 season coming off the heels of a WBIT semifinal berth last year. Wallack posted 19 double-digit scoring games to average 10.5 points per game, along with 4.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 blocks per game. She shot 45.7 percent from the field (133-291) and 35.6 percent from beyond the arc (37-104) and ended the year with 101 career blocks, tied for seventh in program history.

E. Villa was named to the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team after posting one of the greatest freshman seasons in program history. Among all-time freshman ranks in program history, Villa finished first in double-digit scoring games (29), second in consecutive double-digit scoring games (13), T-8th in 20-point games (3), second in total points (463), eighth in points per game (12.9), T-1st in games played (36), first in minutes played (1,199), second in made field goals (179), sixth in attempted field goals (411), eighth in field goal percentage (.436), third in made threes (54), fourth in attempted threes (158), seventh in 3-point percentage (.342), T-4th in free throw percentage (.739), and fifth in assists (81).

Washington State is set to host an exhibition game against Lewis-Clark State College on Sunday, Oct. 20 at noon before the team opens the 2024-25 season on Monday, Nov. 4 against Eastern Washington in Beasley Coliseum at 4 p.m. PT.

2024-25 WCC Women's Basketball Preseason Poll
Place   Team                       First Place   Points
1.        Gonzaga                 5                 92
2.        Washington State  2                 91
3.        Portland                  2                 84
4.        Oregon State           2                 77
5.        Pacific                                        63
6.        San Francisco                            53
7.        Santa Clara                                43
8.        Saint Mary's                               39
9.        San Diego                                  28
10.      LMU                                           20
11.      Pepperdine                                 15

2024-25 WCC Women's Basketball Preseason Team
Name                       Yr.       Pos.     School
Maisie Burnham        Sr.       G          Portland
Debora dos Santos   Sr.       F          San Francisco
Yvonne Ejim             5th       F          Gonzaga
Maud Huijbens          Gr.       F          Gonzaga
Anaya James           Sr.       G          Pacific
AJ Marotte                Sr.       G          Oregon State
Olivia Pollerd            Sr.       F          Santa Clara
Emme Shearer         Sr.       G          Portland
Eleonora Villa         So.      G          Washington State
Tara Wallack            Sr.       G          Washington State

Single-game tickets for the 2024-25 women's basketball season are on sale now. Fans wishing to purchase tickets can click on the link HERE, visit wsucougars.com to order online, or call the WSU Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-GO-COUGS.

For more information on the Washington State women's basketball team, follow @WSUCougarWBB on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.