Washington State women run out of steam in WCC Tournament third round, fall to Portland
LAS VEGAS – Over a nine-day period, the Washington State women’s basketball team enjoyed its best stretch of play this season, winning four consecutive games – including two in as many days at the West Coast Conference Tournament.
On Saturday, the Cougs hit the wall.
No. 9 seed WSU faded after halftime and its season came to an end with a 72-62 loss to fifth-seeded Portland at Orleans Arena in the third round of the WCC Tournament.
WSU (9-25) matched up well in the first half against a solid Portland team that swept the Cougs in the regular season and collected impressive wins against WCC contenders Gonzaga and Oregon State.
The Pilots (18-13) led 33-30 at the half, but broke away with a 12-0 run over about three minutes midway through the third quarter, pestering WSU into turnovers with their press defense and using their quick-paced transition offense to create an insurmountable lead.
“After two games in a row, you feel the fatigue, but I think Portland does a good job in pressing and being aggressive,” star WSU guard Eleonora Villa said. “At some point, we should have taken care of the ball better, and we didn’t.”
WSU trailed by at least nine points the rest of the way. The Cougs were down by 16 with under a minute left before 3s from Villa and guard Charlotte Abraham.
“That was kind of the story of our year, where we’d have a bad quarter and it just separated us from being able to win a game,” WSU coach Kamie Ethridge said. “So, we gotta get more weapons that can make sure we’re more consistent in the future.
“That’s been a little bit of our thing this year – we just haven’t converted in key moments,” Ethridge added. “The other thing that crushed us was transition (defense). We’d score a basket and they’d run it up our throats, and we couldn’t match up. That’s been a struggle all year, too. I thought we had a lot of that figured out in the last couple of games, but Portland plays at a great pace and they made us pay with transition D and getting some easy baskets from us.”
Villa, a junior and All-WCC second-team pick, led WSU with 16 points, adding four assists. Abraham had 15 points and seven rebounds, and center Alex Covill contributed 14 points and seven boards.
The Cougars shot 43.9% from the field and 5 of 17 (29.4%) from 3-point range. WSU outrebounded Portland 36-24, but the Cougs only managed 11 second-chance points on 15 offensive rebounds. Portland scored 19 points off WSU’s 19 turnovers.
Guard Rhyan Mogel had 19 points and five assists to pace the Pilots, who shot 50% from the field and 9 of 18 on 3s.
The Cougars had a spirited finish to an overall disappointing campaign, winning their final two regular-season games to start their first winning streak of the season, then beating Seattle U and Pacific in the first two rounds of the WCC Tournament.
But WSU matched its fewest wins in a season under Ethridge, whose Cougs went 9-21 during her first season in 2018-19. The Cougars started 1-12 en route to their worst regular season since the 2007-08 squad went 5-25.
The Cougars were picked to finish third in the WCC preseason poll, but never really found consistency, struggling with shot-making, ball security and defense. WSU committed 16 turnovers per game, shot under 30% from 3-point distance, and ranked in the bottom 50 nationally in scoring defense and field-goal percentage defense.
“I think we have really competitive players and they really want to win. We just don’t probably have the ‘dog mentality,’ ” Ethridge said, adding that the team needs a vocal, emotional leader like it had in years past – referencing former star guards Krystal and Charlisse Leger-Walker, and forward Ula Motuga, all of whom were key pieces during the program’s unprecedented highs under Ethridge, which included three straight NCAA Tournament appearances (2021-23) and a Pac-12 Tournament championship in 2023.
“Just that demanding personality, and we don’t quite have that. We’re really nice players, we’re really nice people, and they love being around each other, and they’re very comforting to one another when things go bad. Sometimes, you just need someone that’s not so comforting, and just continuing to raise that standard. I don’t want (Villa) to feel like she has to be that. She provides everything we need from her. We gotta surround her with a little bit more support, and I think we can do that. This group has played so hard. This group has bought in. I think we have a group that … a lot of players can get a lot better.”
WSU had to rework its roster ahead of this season after losing several key pieces to transfers and graduation. The Cougars are only set to graduate two players, both reserves. Ethridge hopes to retain the team’s nucleus – Villa, Covill, Abraham and freshman forward Malia Ruud – and begin to redevelop into a winning program as it heads into the revamped Pac-12, but the coach understands the realities of the current college sports landscape, joking that she has “zero confidence” when asked about bringing back the team’s whole core next season.
“I like this team so much and I obviously have really great relationships with our players, and work really hard to gain their trust and build trust,” she said. “But I think every player is in a different spot. It’s very important that we retain the core group, I hope everybody. But in this day and age, I never know what’s going to happen. I never know what’s happening right now that I don’t know about. I feel like there are so many people talking to players illegally. I don’t know the fullness of that, but I know it’s out there.
“I gotta trust that we’re doing the right things. We have a great culture. I think these players love playing for one another and playing for Washington State. We gotta add some pieces to a really good core group, a young core group.”