Cougars improving
Sherri Murrell isn’t into moral victories.
She was just as disappointed by the seven-point loss to then No. 22 California on Thursday and eight-point loss to No. 10 Stanford on Saturday as she was when ranked teams spanked her Washington State Cougars by 40 or 50 points in years past.
“This team, what they proved this weekend, what they proved throughout (this season), is they have the ability,” Murrell said. “They’re playing with people; they have to get over the hump. I haven’t lost confidence in this team (but) they know me, I don’t go in the locker room and ‘Rah, rah’ after a loss.
“Hopefully that carries over with them. Staying with teams is not going to cut it.”
The home losses extended WSU’s skid to seven straight.
“If you look at it, (now No. 10) Arizona State beat us soundly, everybody else has been a dogfight,” she said. “The thing with a young team you have to believe right out of the gate you can win. This weekend our defense was outstanding. They found out they can win, but they have to believe early instead of waiting.
“We have to win one of these tight games to give them the confidence that they can win.”
The key is getting more consistent shooting from all the perimeter players.
“We need a go-to guard,” Murrell said. “It has to happen throughout the whole game. If we can’t score at the beginning or middle, it’s not going to happen at the end.
“We’re getting open looks, but we’re not relaxed when we’re getting those shots. They have to have the mentality that when they catch the ball they’re going to take a good shot, not a rushed shot.”
WSU freshman point guard Natkeja Kelly, a freshman from Spring Gardens, N.Y., was declared academically ineligible after the first semester. She played in all 16 games prior to last weekend, starting two.
Divilbiss having fun
Despite a 3-15 record and eight straight losses, including four Western Athletic Conference games, Idaho coach Mike Divilbiss remains upbeat.
“I’m having so much fun coaching this group of kids,” he said. “They’re playing through their hearts, playing for each other.
“Early in the year we either won or weren’t competitive, no in-between. Now we’re competing in every game we play. We’re learning how to play.”
The Vandals took another hit at the semester break when senior Jessica Summers left the team for personal reasons not related to basketball. Summers started five of seven games, averaging 8.7 points and 7.7 rebounds.
Tip-ins
Stephanie Hawk’s 33 points in Thursday’s thrilling 78-73 overtime win over Santa Clara was the 11th 30-point game in Gonzaga D-I history and tied for the fifth-highest total. In December freshman Heather Bowman scored 30. Ivy Safranski is the only player with more than one 30-plus game and she hit the magic number twice in two different seasons. … Hawk became the 12th member of GU’s 1,000-point club. … Santa Clara’s Jen Gottschalk, who hit 13 of 15 shots en route to a career-high 30 points against GU, leads the WCC in shooting at 59 percent.