WASHINGTON STATE (4-19, 3-7 WCC) vs. Gonzaga (15-7, 7-2 WCC)
Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026 // 7 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 to host Gonzaga on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Trevor Williams and Ernie Kent on the call.

NEXT UP
The Cougars are in Southern California next week, beginning in San Diego to take on the Toreros on Thursday, Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. and then at Pepperdine on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 1 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
WSU is 3-7 in West Coast Conference play and 4-19 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 1,332 career points, 13th all-time in program history, one from moving up to 12th (1,333).
>> Villa has 134 career made threes, 10th all-time at WSU and seven away from 9th (141).
>> Villa has also made 524 career field goals, 13 from joining the WSU all-time top-10 list (537).
>> At 3,135 career minutes played, Villa is 188 from top 10 all-time at WSU (3,323).
>> Alex Covill has 139 career blocks, sixth all-time in program history and 8 blocks shy of fifth (147).
>> Covill also has 234 career rebounds, 16 away from 250, and 436 career points, 64 from 500.
>> Charlotte Abraham has 407 career points, 93 away from 500.
>> Abraham has 149 rebounds this season, 88 away from top-10 all-time at WSU in a single-season (237).
>> Abraham's 236 career rebounds puts her 14 shy of 250.

SERIES HISTORY
In 35 meetings all-time between these two programs, the Cougs lead 22-13 dating back to their first meeting in 1977. WSU has won two of the last four matchups with an overtime win in Pullman in 2023 and a win up in Spokane in 2021, although the Bulldogs have won their two most recent bouts last season, 69-61 in Pullman and 73-69 (OT) in Spokane.

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 (336), 20th in made field goals (157), 27th in total points scored (405) and 59th 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 25.4 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 81-of-188 from the field, shooting 43.1 percent with 85 rebounds, 12 blocks and 15 steals this season.

Entering Friday, Ruud's .431 field goal percentage (81-188) is 30th in the nation among all true freshmen with 81 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).