Undefeated Washington Opens Conference At WSU
The Pacific-10 Conference women’s basketball season opened this weekend and Washington State couldn’t have asked for a tougher opponent.
The Cougars - 6-3 in November and December - play host today to Washington, one of the hottest teams in the country and the Cougs’ fiercest rival. The televised game will tip off at 1 p.m. at Friel Court.
The Huskies, unranked to begin the season, currently are ranked No. 8 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. Two eye-opening wins came against then-No. 5 Vanderbilt (82-71) and then-No. 20 North Carolina State (95-88). Their ninth-ranked status is the first time since Dec. 27, 1994 that the Huskies have cracked the Top 10.
Since beating the Wolf Pack at the Husky Classic, UW extended its record to 9-0 by defeating Texas 78-72 on Monday.
“We’ll have to look at disrupting their rhythm,” WSU coach Harold Rhodes said. “We need to do that because they’re a great rebounding team.”
Entering the week, Washington was outrebounding its opponents by 6.9 per game, the best margin in the Pac-10. Washington State ranked sixth, losing the rebounding edge by 0.2 per game.
Washington’s 6-foot-1 junior forward, Amber Hall, leads the conference with 11.5 rebounds per game.
Teammate Gena Pelz, a 6-2 senior center, is grabbing 9.5 rebounds for second-best in the conference.
Yvonne Kunze leads the Cougars with 6.2 rebounds per game.
The Huskies also have the leading individual scorer and top scoring tandem in the conference. Jamie Redd, a quick junior guard, is averaging 22.9 points per game. She’s knocked down a conference-leading 23 3-pointers. Hall averages 17.9 points per game.
Kunze has been WSU’s most consistent scorer, averaging 12.9 points per game. “We have to concentrate on keeping Amber Hall off the boards. She’s so quick,” Rhodes said. “Redd’s 40 (points) doesn’t hurt you as much as Amber Hall.”
In other games
Gonzaga (8-3) closes out its non-conference schedule Monday at Boise State. The Bulldogs, whose eight wins already surpasse last year’s total of four, open West Coast Conference play at home against Loyola Marymount Thursday and Pepperdine on Jan. 10.
Idaho, off to a disappointing 4-8 start, is at San Francisco tonight and begins Big West Conference play Thursday at UC Santa Barbara, which features three players who average more than 14 points.
Eastern Washington (2-7) begins Big Sky Conference play tonight at Northern Arizona.
Whitworth (1-5) plays host to Western Baptist College tonight and Evergreen State College on Sunday. The Pirates open Northwest Conference play Friday at Linfield.
, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Today’s game Washington at Washington State, 1 p.m., Friel Court. TV: FSN