WASHINGTON STATE (20-12, 14-6 WCC) VS. PORTLAND (28-3, 17-3 WCC)
Monday, Mar. 10, 2025 // 2:30 p.m. PT
Las Vegas, Nev. // Orleans Center
Watch | ESPN+
Listen | Pullman Radio KQQQ, 1150 AM (Steve Grubbs pXp)
Live Stats | Statbroadcast


Washington State women's basketball continues in the 2025 Credit Union 1 WCC Championship to take on No. 2-seeded Portland in the Semifinals on Monday, March 10 at 2:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Ann Schatz and Mary Murphy on the call.

NEXT UP
With a win, the Cougars would advance to the Championship to take on the winner between No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 4 Oregon State on Tuesday, March 11 at 1 p.m. With a loss, WSU would be eliminated from the tournament.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
One of the top-blocking teams in the nation, WSU is 20-12 overall, and ended the regular season at 14-6 in WCC play. Through the strong 11-game non-conference schedule, the Cougs tallied wins over Eastern Washington, Idaho, Saint Martin's, Norfolk State and Virginia. The Cougars have been impressive defensively and elite in blocking as the team ranks third in the nation with a program record 195 total blocks, and with 6.1 blocks per game. Offensively, the Cougs are shooting .424 from the field and .323 from deep while averaging 67.9 points per game.

RECORD BOOK CLIMBERS AND MILESTONE CHASERS
>> Tara Wallack has 1,267 career points, ranking 14th in program history.
>> Wallack ranks second all-time at WSU with 159 career blocks.
>> Wallack has played 3,907 career minutes, second all-time at WSU.
>> Wallack is also 53 minutes away from matching the most in program history.
>> Wallack has 658 career rebounds, ninth all-time at WSU.
>> Alex Covill has 107 career blocks, eighth all-time in program history.
>> Head Coach Kamie Ethridge has 198 career wins as a head coach, two away from 200.

SERIES HISTORY
Portland leads the series 8-2 over their 10 all-time meetings, with UP winning the most recent matchup earlier this season, 67-59 on Feb. 15 in Portland. Prior to this year, WSU beat the Pilots in 2022, 69-63 in Portland. Before that, UP won five-straight meetings from 2000 to 2010, and before 2000, the two programs had met only two other times with WSU winning 84-71 in 1985, and Portland winning 83-58 in 1984.

STACKING BLOCKS
WSU has been one of the top blocking teams in the nation, ranking third in all of NCAA DI with 195 total blocks behind only Southern California (209) and Kentucky (199), and third in blocks per game (6.1) also behind Southern California (7.0) and Kentucky (6.9). The team's 195 blocks lead the WCC by a margin of 57 blocks over Pacific (138), and WSU's 6.1 blocks per game is 1.8 blocks ahead of the second-highest number of 4.3 per game, held by Portland.

THE BEST ABILITY IS AVAILABILITY
Senior Tara Wallack has started 102 consecutive games, having started every game for the Cougs dating back to the team's 2022-23 season opener.

PASS IT ON
Junior point guard Astera Tuhina has a career-high 118 assists this season, ranking fifth in the WCC. She has recorded 100+ assists in back-to-back seasons, finishing last year with an even 100.

GOOD FROM DOWNTOWN
As a team, the Cougars have made a program-record 230 threes this season, breaking the program's single-season record of 225 set in last year's 2023-24 season.

NEW FACES, NEW PLACES
WSU has six players this season earning minutes for the first time in a Cougar uniform as junior transfer Jean Chiu, redshirt freshman Candace Kpetikou, and true freshmen Charlotte Abraham, Marta Alsina, Alice Dart and Dayana Mendes have all made an impact already in 2024-25. Of these new faces, Mendes and Abraham have accrued the most minutes thus far, averaging 17.6 and 17.0 minutes, respectively. Mendes is averaging 8.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting at a 42.5 percent clip from the floor, and has recorded three double-doubles this season. Abraham is shooting 38.6 percent from the floor and 36.6 percent from deep. Kpetikou has seen an increase of playing time as the season has gone on and recorded her first career double-double against Saint Martin's. She is shooting 42.6 percent from the floor in 11.3 minutes per game. Alsina is a plus defender with 20 steals and 13 blocks at 11.2 minutes per game, and has played in all 32 games for the Cougs this season. Dart is averaging 1.4 points, shooting 45.0 percent from the field over 5.0 minutes per game, and Chiu is averaging 0.9 points over 6.7 minutes per game.

POSTSEASON AWARDS
Washington State women's basketball had five named All-WCC, headlined by Tara Wallack with an All-WCC First Team nod, while Eleonora Villa was named Second Team, Astera Tuhina was Honorable Mention, and Charlotte Abraham and Dayana Mendes were each named to the All-Freshman Team. The Cougs also had five earn WCC All-Academic. Eleonora Villa led the way, being named to the WCC All-Academic Team, while Alex Covill, Astera Tuhina, Jenna Villa and Tara Wallack all earned All-Academic Honorable Mention.

PRESEASON POLL
The Cougs were picked to finish second by the WCC coaches and media this year, the best conference preseason pick in program history after being picked fifth ahead of the 2023-24 (Pac-12) and 1991-92 (Pac-10) seasons.

ETHRIDGE INKS EXTENSION
WSU Director of Athletics Anne McCoy announced on March 4 that Head Coach Kamie Ethridge has signed a one-year contract extension keeping her in Pullman through the 2030-31 season.

For all the latest WSU women's basketball news, photos and videos, like the team on Facebook (facebook.com/WSUCougarWBB), or follow on Twitter (@WSUCougarWBB) and Instagram (@wsucougarwbb).