Cougar women prepare for Huskies
The women's basketball notebook (below) takes a quick look at Washington State with the Huskies visiting Pullman for a televised game on Friday.
Eastern's Kyla Evans is the Big Sky Player of the Week and Gonzaga's Courtney Vandersloot was recognized by the West Coast Conference.
For more about Angie Bjorklund coming off the bench for Tennessee, check out the link and especially the comments part. See a Hall of Fame coach come under fire.
Weekly polls are in. My vote was:
1, UConn. 2, Stanford. 3, Notre Dame. 4, Tennessee. 5, Ohio State. 6, Nebraska. 7, Texas A&M. 8, Duke. 9, Xavier. 10, West Virginia. 11, Georgia. 12, Oklahoma State. 13, Oklahoma. 14, North Carolina. 15, Florida State. 16, Georgetown. 17, Baylor. 18, Iowa State. 19, LSU. 20, Gonzaga. 21, TCU. 22, Virginia. 23, St. John's. 24, Hartford. 25, SMU.
By Dave Trimmer
davet@spokesman.com; (509) 927-2154
There isn’t a hint of frustration in June Daugherty’s voice.
Her
In one game a slow start doomed a fast finish, in the other they couldn’t finish down the stretch.
The losses were by three and 10 points.
“They’re getting better; we’ve seen great improvement,” Daugherty said. “No doubt we’re capable, it’s just matter of doing it. The team understands that, they want to do it.”
This would be a good time to put it together, it’s Husky Week – or as the coach corrected, Cougar Week.
But for the always enthusiastic Daugherty, every week is Cougar Week. This week her young team plays the Washington Huskies in a 5 p.m. game on Friday that will be broadcast on Fox Sports.
It’s an important game for the development of a team that has no seniors and just one junior that has played in every game. Although hopes were high for the talented youngsters, the Cougars (5-14) are 0-8 in league play.
“The thing I’m seeing, especially since we got into Pac-10 play, is they’re doing a better job of playing focused team basketball,” Daugherty said. “It’s not one thing. They have to continue focusing on improving, understanding what they need to do to compete at this level.”
A win against the Huskies would be a great boost. Even though
“They’re the type of guards that can score in bunches and score in a lot of different ways,” Daugherty said. “Their front line is more solid this year than it has been. We have to be solid defensively and execute at a higher level offensively.”
With nine losses by 10 points or less, a breakthrough win, especially in a rivalry game, could turn the season around.
“I think this group is highly motivated,” Daugherty said. “They’re working hard. They want to turn the corner and win worse than anything.”
Big games for different reasons
Eastern Washington (13-6, 7-0) is assured another week in first place in the Big Sky Conference but that isn’t what the Eagles are looking for when they travel to
Meanwhile, Gonzaga gets a visit from the cellar dwellers of the West Coast Conference. However, Heather Bowman needs just 17 points to pass Tammy Tibbles as the Bulldogs’ all-time leading scorer. Former Bulldog coach
Tip-ins
Freshman Jeneva Anderson (Lewis and Clark) has seen limited time for the Huskies, playing in nine games. … Seven different players have led