Washington State women look to pad NCAA Tournament resume at Cal; Cougar men aiming for back-to-back rivalry wins

PULLMAN – Washington State’s women’s basketball team suffered a defeat, but the Cougars bolstered their reputation in the process.

If you believe in moral victories, the Cougars’ 61-54 loss Thursday at No. 2 Stanford certainly qualifies.

“Yeah, you need to win, but you need to know you can compete, and you need to know you can manage a game,” WSU coach Kamie Ethridge said. “You need to know you can weather the punches some of these teams can throw at you and that you’re going to respond the right way.”

“I thought we did for the most part, and I still think we left a lot of points out there. I think we have some more in us to be able to put some points on the board the next time we play them.”WSU (18-9, 10-6 Pac-12) is projected by ESPN to qualify for the NCAA Tournament as a No. 10 seed. The Cougars are who occupythird in the Pac-12 standings and moved up three spots to No. 59 in the NCAA NET rankings following their competitive showing against the reigning national champion Cardinal (24-3, 15-0), who haven’t lost since falling to top-ranked South Carolina on Dec. 21.

The Cougars have never beaten Stanford in the series’ 71-game history. In recent memory, Cougs/Cardinal games haven’t been close. WSU had been routed in 12 consecutive matchups – including a 38-point dud Jan. 2 in Pullman – dating back to a 10-point overtime loss in 2015.WSU’s last single-digit loss to Stanford? A 63-55 result in January 2007.

Thursday’s late-night tussle at Maples Pavilion served as yet another indication that WSU has developed into a strong program capable of keeping pace with the Pac-12’s finest.The Cougars toiled against the Cardinal’s major advantage in length and trailed by double figures for the majority of the contest, but were sound defensively throughout the evening and stayed within relative striking distance deep into the fourth quarter. Spurred by sophomore guard Charlisse Leger-Walker (17 points), WSU outscored Stanford 22-17 in the final quarter.

“It was a really hard-fought game. I’m excited about the fact we battled and kept the game manageable,” Ethridge said.Stanford committed 17 turnovers and its field goals never seemed to come easy. The 61 points were the second fewest the Cardinal have scored this year in Pac-12 play.

“I’d take this any day of the week,” Ethridge said. “If you’d have told me we could hold Stanford to 61, I’d think we have a chance to win that game. … I thought we battled as hard as we could to keep ourselves in the game defensively. Still not good enough offensively, but the beauty of it is I still think we can get better.”

It’s been a rapid climb for the Cougars in four seasons under Ethridge, who has the program in the midst of its best two-year stretch ever. With one game remaining in the regular season, WSU has probably done enough to secure a second straight bid to the NCAA Tournament – and third in program history. The Cougars, who have won four of their past five, visit California (12-11, 2-9) on Saturday for a noon tipoff in Berkeley.

WSU stomped the Bears 69-42 at Beasley Coliseum on Dec. 31. Cal has dropped six consecutive Pac-12 games, five by single digits.

“It’s a crucial game,” Ethridge said. “At this point (in the season), you have to rely on your foundation and who you are and what you do. … That’s why I like this team. They’re mature, good on the road and they prepare well.We just need to put our best foot forward and play to the best of our ability. That’s what we’re doing.”

With a victory over Cal, the Cougars would snap a program record for most single-season wins – both overall and in Pac-12 play.

WSU aims for second rivalry win in four days

WSU’s men’s team isn’t in the March Madness picture, but it has morale on its side.

Coming off a 78-70 triumph over archrival Washington on Wednesday in Pullman, the Cougars (15-12, 8-8) play the second leg of the Apple Cup series at 3 p.m. Saturday at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

“Going on their home floor, they’ll be geeked up and we just gotta find a way,” said coach Kyle Smith, who is 4-1 against UW over his three years in Pullman.

WSU found Washington’s weakness Wednesday and exploited it relentlessly.

The Huskies (13-13, 8-8) employ a zone defense that leaves space open at the high post. Cougar big man Mouhamed Gueye, a 6-foot-11 freshman from Senegal, was stationed in the soft spot on seemingly every WSU possession and ball-handlers kept feeding him.

“They were going to pretty much dare him to make the shots, and he made enough of them for us to win,” Smith said.

Gueye scored a career-high 25 points, tying a WSU season high. He attempted 23 shots – most of them midrange jumpers from near the foul line – and knocked down 11. His high point of release made it near impossible for UW to contest those attempts.

“They really tried to wipe us out from 3 and they played a lot of that zone so … we took advantage of that,” said Smith, whose team attempted 17 3-pointers, their fewest this year in Pac-12 competition. To combat the UW zone, the Cougars had game-planned for either Gueye or guard Noah Williams to reside in the zone’s weak spot near the stripe.

“It was going to be Noah or Mo in there,” Smith said. Gueye’s mismatch became evident quickly, and Williams’ perimeter defense was vital against UW’s Terrell Brown Jr., who came into the night leading the league in scoring at 21.8 ppg. He was limited to 11 points, matching his season low, on 5 of 13. He had taken less than 13 shots in just two games this season.

“We needed Noah to play Terrell most of the game and we needed to be big inside,” Smith said. “Noah did a tremendous job. That guy is a really tough cover, really poised.

“It worked out that way and Mo just kept going, man. Proud of him.”Gueye had managed only 10 points on 4 of 13 shooting over his previous three games. Fellow forward Efe Abogidi also burst out of his slump, posting a career game with 21 points (7 of 9 from the field) and 14 rebounds to help WSU establish an edge early in the second half and fend off the Huskies late.

His 10 offensive boards were the most by a Cougar in a game since at least 1996-97, when stats.inc began tracking the statistic.

Abogidi was held scoreless in three of his four games prior and shot 2 of 17 in that stretch. Smith said the Nigeria native had been off his game recently because of a nagging knee injury that he sustained last summer. Center Dishon Jackson impressed over 11 minutes against the Huskies in his second game back after missing the last 10 with an eye injury. He registered eight points.

“I was excited about how all those guys played,” Smith said.

They were short-handed and have mostly been weak this year offensively, yet the Huskies stayed at WSU’s heels with a balanced and efficient effort on that end. Guard PJ Fuller, who typically scores eight points per game, totaled 23.UW played Wednesday without two starters: forward Emmitt Matthews Jr., the team’s second-leading scorer, and guard Daejon Davis. WSU was down its best perimeter defender in TJ Bamba, who missed his third straight game due to a knee injury.

Smith said Bamba will “hopefully” be available Saturday.