Host Cougars Return To Their Comfort Zone

If only it was this effortless for Washington State once the Pacific-10 Conference season rolled around, then the Cougars would be … well, Stanford.

Washington State plays host at this weekend’s Cougar Shootout, a tournament it has won 10 times in 17 years and six times in the past seven.

This year’s field includes Bowling Green (Ohio), American University of Washington D.C. and Colorado.

Colorado and AU play in Friday’s 5:30 p.m. opener, followed by the WSU-Bowling Green matchup.

The consolation final is 1 p.m. Saturday, followed by the title game.

The annual tournament at Friel Court took on a new title this year following the Dial Corporation’s decision to drop its sponsorship.

The Cougars (3-0) are off to a perfect start behind the hot shooting of sophomore guard Tricia Lamb and sophomore forward Alke Dietel. Lamb leads the Cougars in scoring (25.7) and 3-pointers (13). Dietel, named to last year’s alltournament team, is averaging 17.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.

Bowling Green brings a 3-2 mark into Pullman. AU is undefeated at 5-0 after Tuesday night’s 70-68 win over Syracuse.

The Buffaloes (3-2) are coming off a title-game win over Miami of Ohio at their Coors Classic tournament. CU beat Idaho in the first round 77-66. Its losses have been to Michigan and Oregon.

Last season, WSU beat Boise State 65-57 in the title game.

Vandals look for right mix

Guards Rikki Jackson and Susan Woolf have made first-year University of Idaho coach Hilary Recknor’s early-season grade.

Forward Alli Nieman, coming off a Coors Classic most valuable player performance that led to Big West Conference player week honors, is living up to her top billing.

But the other two spots in the starting five already have Recknor stirring things up.

“I’m still looking for some consistency in a couple positions,” said Recknor, whose team returns home this weekend to play host at the three-team University of Idaho Classic at Memorial Gym. “Our inside game isn’t where it needs to be, exclusive of Alli. And in our three position, where we are very deep and talented, we haven’t been consistent there, either.”

After Idaho (3-3) lost three straight, Recknor started freshman backup center Julie Wynstra in place of senior Jennifer Stone. Sophomore forward Suzy Goss replaced junior forward Kelly Bartleson.

Stone responded with 17 points and nine rebounds off the bench.

“But that has to happen every game,” Recknor said.

The Vandals play Northern Arizona (3-2) Friday at 7 p.m. NAU, last season’s Big Sky Conference co-champion, meets San Jose State (2-3) Saturday at 5 p.m. Idaho and San Jose State meet Sunday at 2 p.m.

As for the Vandals’ starting lineup?

“We’ll see,” Recknor said. “We have too much depth and too much talent. If someone’s not going to produce, I’ll go through the whole lineup.”

The Idaho tournament began in 1983-84 with two breaks along the way. Idaho has won five times, the last coming in the 1990-91 season.

GU, EWU also at tournaments

Eastern Washington travels to Fort Worth, Texas, to play in the Texas Christian University Tournament. The Eagles (1-4) open against the Horned Frogs (4-1), Friday at 6 p.m. (PST). TCU is coached by former Gonzaga coach Mike Petersen.

Lamar (Texas) University and Arkansas Pine-Bluff make up the other half of the tournament. The Eagles have lost Stacie Granger, a talented Loyola-Marymount transfer who coach Jocelyn Pfeifer was counting on.

Granger sprained her ankle in the third game of the season and could miss most of December.

Gonzaga, also off to a 1-4 start, heads to the Wells Fargo Classic in Tempe, Ariz., this weekend. The Bulldogs play host Arizona State (2-2) on Saturday. St. Joseph’s (Pa.) University and Pacific make up the other half of the bracket.

Despite GU’s slow start, sophomore Melanie Tipps has been outstanding from the free-throw line, connecting on 18 of 20 for 90 percent.

Big Sky honors

MSU’s Ballek Montana State senior Tennyson Ballek was honored as the season’s first Big Sky women’s basketball player of the week after helping the Bobcats to a 3-2 start with 73 points and 45 rebounds.

Eastern Washington’s Courtney Horner was one of four others nominated for the award.

Wednesday in the Top 25

Itoro Umoh had 27 points and 10 assists and No. 25 Clemson jumped out to a 20-point halftime lead en route to an 88-67 win over 17th-ranked North Carolina State in Clemson, S.C.

Clemson got 30 first-half points from Umoh and Natasha Anderson, who finished with 20.