WASHINGTON STATE (4-18, 3-6 WCC) at Santa Clara (17-5, 7-2 WCC)
Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026 // 6 p.m. PT
Santa Clara, Calif. // Leavey Center
Watch | ESPN+
Listen | WSUCougars.com/Pullman Radio KQQQ, 1150 AM (Steve Grubbs pXp)
Live Stats | Statbroadcast


Washington State women's basketball has a road-home split this week, starting at Santa Clara on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Joe Ritzo and Thomas Dunn on the call.

NEXT UP
The Cougars will hurry back home to host Gonzaga on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. The games will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Trevor Williams and Ernie Kent on the call.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
WSU is 3-6 in West Coast Conference play and 4-18 overall 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, Miami (OH) and Penn. As of Jan. 27, all 10 of these teams that WSU faced are top 100 in the NET Rankings, six are top 50, and two are top 25 in LSU (5) and Oregon (24) with Texas Tech just outside of that at 27.

RECORD BOOK CLIMBERS AND MILESTONE CHASERS
>> Eleonora Villa has 1,314 career points, 13th all-time in program history and 19 from moving up to 12th (1,333).
>> Villa has 132 career made threes, 1 away from joining the WSU all-time top-10 list (133).
>> Villa has also made 516 career field goals, 21 from joining the WSU all-time top-10 list (537).
>> At 3,106 career minutes played, Villa is 217 from top 10 all-time at WSU (3,323).
>> Alex Covill has 138 career blocks, sixth all-time in program history and 9 blocks shy of fifth (147).
>> Covill also has 229 career rebounds, 21 away from 250, and 426 career points, 74 from 500.
>> Charlotte Abraham has 403 career points, 97 away from 500.
>> Abraham has 144 rebounds this season, 93 away from top-10 all-time at WSU in a single-season (237).
>> Abraham's 231 career rebounds puts her 19 shy of 250.

SERIES HISTORY
Santa Clara leads the all-time series 6-5 over WSU, with the Broncos winning the most recent matchup earlier this month in Pullman, 98-92. Prior to last season's WCC play, the two programs had last met in the 2024 WBIT, seeing the Cougs win 73-47 for their first win over the Broncos since 1985.

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 17th in field goal attempts (322), 22nd in made field goals (149), 27th in total points scored (387) and 58th in points per game (17.6). In the WCC she ranks first in field goal attempts, and second in made field goals, total points and points per game.

HOW RUUD
True Freshman Malia Ruud has burst onto the scene early, averaging 8.6 points over 26.1 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 79-of-184 from the field, shooting 42.9 percent with 80 rebounds, 12 blocks and 15 steals this season.

Entering Tuesday, Ruud's .429 field goal percentage (79-184) is 27th in the nation among all true freshmen with 79 or more made field goals.

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.

On the same note 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).