Tournament Gives Cougars Shot To Eclipse ‘99-00 Mark
College women’s basketball
It would be considered an accomplishment for a team that hasn’t had a lot to high-five about recently.
If the Washington State University women’s basketball team can pick up two wins this weekend at its Hayden Homes Cougar Shootout in the Spokane Arena, it would surpass last year’s win total of four.
The 2000-01 “improved” version enters Friday’s game 3-2. A win over Portland (2-3) and a win over Toledo (5-1) or Idaho (1-5) in the championship game on Saturday would give WSU five on the season.
“At this point, we have three wins and December just started,” WSU second-year coach Jenny Przekwas said. “We’ve had a couple of halves that have not been very good. If we continue to improve and play better basketball, more wins will be en route for us.”
This weekend’s tournament will serve as the Arena’s dress rehearsal for the NCAA West Regional in March. Idaho and Toledo play at 6 p.m. Friday, followed by WSU vs. Toledo. Saturday’s games are at 6 and 8.
The Rockets look to be the best of the four. The Mid-American Conference team has played in the postseason 10 of the last 12 years, missing last year. WSU and Toledo met last year in Toledo with the Rockets easily winning, 65-48.
Oddly enough, the Cougars have faced their neighbors from Portland only two times, in 1984 and 1985. The series is tied at 1-1.
Paluck moving up
She’s been the hottest player on the Eastern Washington team, averaging a team-high 12.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. So what was stopping Jennifer Paluck from being in the starting lineup?
“She had to work on keeping up her defensive intensity,” EWU coach Jocelyn Pfeifer explained.
The junior guard got her chance in the Eagles’ win over NAIA Montana Tech Saturday, bumping promising freshman Heather Thoelke from the starting five.
Forward Janelle Ruen’s volleyball season is over and the Post Falls sophomore will join the basketball lineup Saturday against UNLV. But junior guard Heather Ridnour is still week-to-week because of two bulging discs. She could be done for the season.
Wynstra player of the week
Julie Wynstra has given Idaho something to feel good about in a season that has started off anything but cheery. The junior post was named Big West Conference player of the week this week, averaging 17.5 points and five rebounds in two games last week.
Wynstra, a three-year starter, scored a career-best 20 points in the Vandals’ win over Montana. It was Idaho’s first win of the season and remarkably its first over the Grizzlies since 1985, snapping a 23-game losing streak.
In a loss to Washington State, the 6-foot-3 Wynstra scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds for her second straight night.
The only other Idaho player to be named Big West player of the week was Alli Nieman. The former Vandal got the award six times.
4,000 and counting
The 4,000th ticket for the NCAA West Regional was bought Tuesday by former Cougar Craig Ehlo, the retired NBA player who is the Rogers High boys basketball coach.
The tournament is March 24 and 26 at the Arena. Fans who put in orders for women’s tickets will have the opportunity to purchase a maximum of two tickets per order for the NCAA West Regional men’s first- and second-round games at the Arena in March 2003.
Around the rim
UCLA’s media guide advertises “Three straight NCAA tournament appearances,” but you’d never know from this year’s team. The Bruins, picked to finish fifth in the Pac-10 preseason poll, are 0-6. Granted, guards Nicole Kaczmarski and LaCresha Flannigan aren’t expected back until mid-December, but the Bruins aren’t just losing, they’re getting crushed. Their margins of defeat - 28, 21, 23, 15, 21 and 25 points. … Last year’s State B tournament star Carrie Spencer of Napavine and former Lakeside High standout Nikki Petticrew will be back in the area Monday when their Portland State team plays at Idaho. The 6-3 Spencer, who finished her prep career with 2,379 points, splits time in the post with another freshman. Petticrew, a 5-10 sophomore, is one of four players battling for a starting guard spot. She’s averaging 6.2 points and 4.3 rebounds in 25 minutes.
This sidebar appeared with the story: Coming up
Today: Whitman at Whitworth, 6 p.m.; Montana State at Idaho, 7 Thursday: UC Riverside at Gonzaga, 7 p.m.
Friday: North Idaho at Colorado Northwestern, 5:30 p.m.; North Seattle vs. CCS at SFCC, 6.
Cougar Shootout at Arena: Idaho vs. Toledo, 6 p.m.; Washington State vs. Portland, 8.
Saturday: North Idaho at Eastern Utah, 5:30 p.m.; UNLV at Eastern Washington, 8. Cougar Shootout at Arena: consolation game, 6 p.m.; championship game, 8 p.m.
Monday: Portland State at Idaho, 7 p.m.