Cougar women’s basketball returns home Thursday night after back-to-back away matches to face the University of Pacific. The matchup is the Cougs’ fourth in one week, marking one of the busiest and most exhausting stretches of the season.
Wazzu is coming off a crucial win over Oregon State that helped to shift the momentum back in their favor after suffering consecutive losses. After sitting in a first-place tie to start last week, the Cougs are now in fourth but sit just three games behind the first-place Gonzaga Bulldogs.
The Cougs are on the home stretch of the gauntlet stage of the West Coast Conference schedule as they face their normal Thursday-Saturday opponents before getting a week off to prepare for an important matchup with Gonzaga.
While WSU is in the midst of rebounding from an up-and-down stretch, Pacific is currently on a hot streak as its climbed its way back into WCC contention. The Tigers went on a five-game losing streak early in WCC play, but Pacific is 6-1 since the start of the new year and is currently on a four-game win streak. The Tigers now sit just behind the Cougs at fifth place in the conference.
Pacific’s scoring punch comes from a variety of options and stands as one of the more well-balanced opponents that WSU has faced. The Tigers have three scorers averaging double-digits, with a strong guard duo in seniors Anaya James and Liz Smith along with center Elizabeth Elliott. The 6-foot-1 center is the leading scorer and rebounder on the team, averaging 14 points and seven rebounds a game.
James and Smith, two of the most experienced players on the roster, are averaging 13 and 13.8 points, respectively. Their biggest impact comes on the defensive side of the ball as premier perimeter defenders, as both guards are in the top three in the WCC in steals per game. James is averaging 2.3 steals while Smith’s 2.6 per game is best in the WCC and 34th in the country. The Tigers as a whole, average 10.2 steals per game, the second most in the WCC just behind Portland.
James is the most dynamic offensive player due to her ability to space the floor and provide for her teammates. Her 4.9 assists per game leads the team and she is shooting 39% from beyond the arc. Her scoring efficency will be needed as the Tigers shoot just under 30% from three as a team.
“They’re still the same in the sense that they’ve got two absolutely phenomenal guards that can light it up you know from three and attack the rim,” WSU head coach Kamie Ethridge said. “Elliott coming back, I think she has missed a few games and she’s coming back or has come back into the lineup and she was a force against us in the first game. They’re kind of a three-headed monster and then they’ve got these great role players that know how to attack the glass and the rim and to space the floor.”
The two teams faced off earlier this season on Pacific’s home floor for the Cougs’ third WCC game as a conference member and WSU pulled out a 74-66 win. The game remained relatively close the whole way through, but the Cougs utilized volume three-point shooting and flaunted their depth to secure the victory.
Neither team was very effecient, but the Cougs took 14 more threes than the Tigers and made six more. Wazzu also outscored the Pacific bench 25-9, in a category they have consistently excelled in all season. The Tigers’ three-leading scorers combined for 44 points, but the rest of the roster struggled. If the Cougs can at least prevent a significant breakout performance from Pacific’s top three and take advantage of the bench disparity, they will have a formula for continued success.
Wazzu faces Pacific at Beasley Coliseum at 6 p.m. Thursday.
