26_1_10 WSU WBB Malvina Haziri goes up for a shot against Santa Clara
Ashley Davis

Cougs Ready to Host San Francisco Saturday

| By:
WASHINGTON STATE (4-16, 3-4 WCC) vs. San Francisco (10-7, 3-3 WCC)
Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026 // 6 p.m. PT
Pullman, Wash. // Beasley Coliseum
Watch | ESPN+
Listen | WSUCougars.com/Pullman Radio KQQQ, 1150 AM (Steve Grubbs pXp)
Live Stats | Statbroadcast


Washington State women's basketball returns home after a Thursday win at Saint Mary's to host San Francisco on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Trevor Williams and Stephanie Freeman on the call.

NEXT UP
The Cougars play just one game next week, a road bout at Pacific on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
WSU is 3-4 in West Coast Conference play after a difficult non-conference slate, and a few key injuries, put the team at 1-12 entering WCC competition. Starting center and leading shot blocker Alex Covill missed 13 games while transfer forward Lauren Glazier missed time early in the season, and starting guard and leading scorer Eleonora Villa was held to limited minutes in a pair of games due to lingering cramps.

On top of that, the difficult 13-game non-conference schedule included No. 5 LSU, (RV) Stanford, (RV) Texas Tech, Oregon, Missouri, BYU, UNLV, Seton Hall, Penn and Miami (OH). As of Jan. 13, all 10 of these teams that WSU faced are top 100 in the NET Rankings, five are top 50, and three are top 25 with LSU (5), Texas Tech (20) and Oregon (24).

RECORD BOOK CLIMBERS AND MILESTONE CHASERS
>> Eleonora Villa has 1,285 career points, 15th all-time in program history and 3 from moving up to 14th (1,288).
>> Villa has 132 career made threes, 1 away from joining the WSU all-time top-10 list (133).
>> Villa also has made 504 career field goals, 33 from joining the WSU all-time top-10 list (537).
>> At 3,031 career minutes played, Villa is 292 from top 10 all-time at WSU (3,323).
>> Alex Covill has 133 career blocks, seventh all-time in program history and 2 blocks shy of sixth (135).
>> Covill also has 224 career rebounds, 26 away from 250, and 402 career points, 98 from 500.
>> Charlotte Abraham has 383 career points, 117 away from 500.
>> Abraham has 138 rebounds this season, 99 away from top-10 all-time at WSU in a single-season (237).
>> Abraham's 225 career rebounds puts her 25 shy of 250.

SERIES HISTORY
The Cougars and Dons have met 13 times dating back to their first meeting in 1981. USF won the first two matchups with wins in 1981 and 1983, both in San Francisco, but the Cougars have won all 11 games they've played since. Their last meetup was last season on Feb. 20 in Pullman which saw WSU win 67-59.

ELEONORA È ECCELLENTE!
Eleonora Villa has taken another step forward in her game this year, becoming one of the more dominant players in the nation. Among national ranks, the junior guard is 13th in field goal attempts (295), 19th in made field goals (137), 19th in total points scored (358) and 56th in points per game (17.9). In the WCC she ranks first in field goal attempts, and second in total points, points per game and field goals made.

HOW RUUD
True Freshman Malia Ruud has burst onto the scene early, averaging 9.2 points over 27.7 minutes per game, including an impressive game-high 11 points against Stanford (11/14) and a career-best 19 against Oregon (11/19). She is 76-of-173 from the field, shooting 43.9 percent with 75 rebounds, 12 blocks and 14 steals this season.

Entering Friday, Ruud's .439 field goal percentage (76-173) is 16th in the nation among all freshmen with 76 or more made field goals, and 13th among all true freshmen.

20-20 VISION
The Cougars had 3 different players score 20+ points in their game vs. Santa Clara on Jan. 10, the first such game in program history since at least the 1999-2000 season.

Speaking of 20-point games, WSU has had four different players record 20-point games this season:

Eleonora Villa (9 times)
Charlotte Abraham (2)
Alex Covill (2)
Keandra Koorits (1)

ROTATING ROTATIONS
Due to injury and youth this season, the Cougars have had 8 different starters this season, and seven unique starting lineups this season.

HOT START FOR KOORITS
Redshirt freshman Keandra Koorits scored 23 points in her WSU debut on Nov. 3, the most by a WSU freshman since Charlisse Leger-Walker (23 pts, 1/1/21). Koorits inaugural performance is also good for the fourth-most points in a freshman debut in program history, and the most since Lia Galdeira scored 33 at Minnesota in her debut on 11/10/12. Galdiera's 33 points stands as the most in program history both by a freshman, and in a debut.

YOUNGEST IN THE FAMILY
Freshman guard Malvina Haziri from Kosovo is the youngest active player in NCAA Division I basketball. After beginning her freshman season at the young age of 16 years old, she just recently turned 17 on Dec. 30, 2025.

PRESEASON POLL
The Cougs were picked to finish third by the WCC coaches and media this year, the second-best conference preseason pick in program history after being picked second ahead of last year's 2024-25 second-place prediction. Prior to that WSU was picked fifth in 2023-24 (Pac-12) and 1991-92 (Pac-10).

ETHRIDGE INKS EXTENSION
WSU Athletics announced on March 4, 2025 that Head Coach Kamie Ethridge has signed a one-year contract extension keeping her in Pullman through the 2030-31 season.

Single-game tickets for the 2025 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 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).

 
Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Related Stories