After suffering back-to-back losses to Texas Tech and Iowa, the latter of which was a near 30-point blowout, the Cougs entered their one-and-only tournament in desperate need of a momentum shift.
After playing three games in three days, WSU comes out of Thanksgiving weekend back at .500 (4-4) with significant progress in the team’s chemistry development, especially in the frontcourt. Forwards Tara Wallack and Dayana Mendes led the way for a 2-1 showing in the Discover Puerto Rico Shootout, both earning weekly conference recognition. Mendes was named WCC Freshman of the Week and Wallack was a Player of the Week nominee.
The Cougs opened their tournament slate against Norfolk State on Thanksgiving Day. The Spartans provided WSU with a solid first matchup, as they had gone 6-1 before the tournament and had strong showings against a pair of SEC schools in Missouri and Alabama. The Spartans beat the Tigers by three before only losing by ten to a 22nd-ranked Crimson Tide squad. Norfolk State also packed an inside-out punch in their returning top two scorers with fifth-year point guard Diamond Johnson and senior forward Kierra Wheeler. Johnson is averaging 18.1 points and Wheeler is averaging 14.5 points this season.
In what was mostly a very tight contest, the Cougs started slow, going down 0-9 before responding with a 9-0 run of their own. The WSU offense would spread the scoring wealth early, but the two tournament standouts would begin to reveal themselves as the game went on. Mendes notched nine points in the second quarter alone, but the score remained close at 29-28 entering halftime.
After another back-and-forth period in the third quarter, the Cougs outscored the Spartans 21-13 in the final frame to put the game away. A standout performance from Wallack on both the offensive and defensive end to go along with strong support from the bench was key to the Cougs’ win. Wallack scored a season-high 22 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had seven of the team’s ten blocks. Those blocks were a career-high for the senior. She also went 2-4 from three and 6-7 on free throws. Mendes led the bench in outscoring the Spartans 24-13 with a 16-point double-double while setting career highs in points and rebounds.
Johnson had 15 points for Norfolk State but was limited to 6-21 from the field and 3-11 from three. The Spartans had four players in double-figures but shot an underwhelming 30% from the field.
A day later, WSU took on the Virginia Cavaliers in another tight contest. The Cavaliers were led by a strong scoring guard in Kymora Johnson, who is averaging 18.8 points this season on a highly efficient 47.1% from beyond the arc. Virginia entered the matchup at 6-1, but WSU presented one of the tougher tests of their non-conference schedule. This time the Cougs scoring from the perimeter would push them over the top.
After being outscored 18-25 in the first quarter and going down by 11 in the first half, the Cougs would go 6-8 on three-pointers in the third quarter to cut the Virginia lead down to just one. The intensity was driven up in the fourth quarter, as both teams delivered their lowest-scoring outputs of any quarter in the game. WSU dominated the first half of the final period, going up by nine twice and holding that lead with just over four minutes to go. The Cougs would score their last points with three minutes left, opening the door for a Cavaliers comeback.
Virginia cut the lead to 75-74 with just two minutes left, but would not score again as WSU turned up its defensive energy. Virginia missed its last five shots and was stalled on the final possession as forward Latasha Lattimore missed a soft touch shot in the paint and WSU guard Charlotte Abraham wrapped up the rebound to seal the game.
The Cavaliers got strong performances from Johnson and Lattimore, with 20 and 19 points respectively, but shot just 35.3% overall in the fourth quarter as WSU took advantage of the missed opportunities. The Cougs used a 42.3% shooting clip from three and 12-14 showing from the line to power the offense. Guard Eleonora Villa led the way with 17 points, including three splashes from beyond the arc.
After playing in back-to-back games, the Cougs finished the third game of the shootout against Drake, one of the more battle-tested teams in the tournament. While the Bulldogs started their season 2-5, they faced upper-tier opponents in Creighton, Iowa and Iowa State. Despite playing on the back burners from two close finishes, WSU still provided a solid offensive showing and both teams played a highly competitive contest. The first two quarters were played almost perfectly even, as the Bulldogs outscored the Cougs by one in each quarter and never led by more than seven. The third quarter saw an offensive explosion as both teams scored 22 points behind a combined 44 shot attempts. Regardless, the teams headed into the fourth with just a two-point difference in favor of Drake.
The Bulldogs opened the final quarter on a 7-0 run and never looked back. Drake would build its lead up to 15 in the fourth, outscoring the Cougs 25-14 by the end of the game. Three triples from Bulldogs guard Peyton McCabe during the final stretch would seal the win for Drake as the team went 5-6 in the last ten minutes. Guard Abbie Aalsma was the biggest threat from outside for the Bulldogs, going 5-7 from the perimeter and scoring 19 points to lead the team’s scoring. Forward Courtney Becker also led a dominant team rebounding performance with 12 rebounds to help her to a double-double. Drake outrebounded WSU 45-30 in the game.
Wallack punctuated a strong tournament performance with 21 points and five rebounds, but it was not enough to turn around the team’s offensive woes down the stretch. Center Alex Covill also delivered career highs of 13 points and seven rebounds in 31 minutes.
The Cougs’ senior leader was the offensive focal point for the three-game stretch. Wallack averaged 18.7 points and 6.7 rebounds while shooting 94.1% on free throws. Mendes continued her early upward trend, finishing with an average of 12 points and five rebounds.
The Cougs finished the Puerto Rico Shootout with a 2-1 record and played against three teams that finished higher than them in the first NET rankings released on Monday. Each of the team’s matches were highly competitive with an average margin of just seven points across the three games. After an off-and-on start to the season, Wallack finally found her offensive rhythm and Mendes flashed potential as a legitimate scoring threat despite being just a freshman. The Cougs learned more about their identity and made strides in a few key areas, but they still have much to prove with just three games left before conference play kicks in.
WSU now faces a tough Oregon Ducks team that sits at No. 50 in the NET rankings. The Cougs play on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Eugene, Oregon.
