The Cougs will face Gonzaga for the second time this season as they look to avoid a season sweep on the Bulldogs’ home floor in Spokane, Washington.
In the first matchup, the two teams played a tough contest that saw both teams playing with a clear goal in mind: take the top spot in the West Coast Conference. The game saw various momentum swings and WSU played up to the level of a team that was both favored to win that game and to win the WCC before the season. But for most of the game, Gonzaga kept WSU at arms’ length and forced them to exert an excessive amount of energy throughout the game.
The Bulldogs pulled out a 69-61 victory thanks to significant contributions from the face of the program, senior forward Yvonne Ejim, and the future of the team, freshman guard Allie Turner. While it was not Ejim’s best game of the year, she still scored 17 points and was a menace on the boards with eight rebounds. Turner, who has been a pleasant surprise as a young leader, led Gonzaga with 20 points, including four three-pointers.
Those two will no doubt be the top priority in the Cougs’ scout as they each have continued to be on a tear in the past week. Both Ejim and Turner garnered WCC honors last week, with Ejim reaching a significant milestone as well. Ejim became the first player in WCC history to record at least 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. Ejim and Turner earned weekly honors in the same week for the fourth time this season.
Turner earned her sixth freshman of the week award this season and third in the last four weeks as she has emerged as the clear favorite for WCC freshman of the year. The only other player to win more than one freshman of the week is WSU guard Charlotte Abraham.
With Ejim and Turner in their best form, Gonzaga is playing its best basketball of the season. The Bulldogs have won five in a row since their win at WSU, a part of a longer nine-game win streak that has propelled Gonzaga to the top of the WCC.
In the process, Gonzaga has pulled in a pair of impressive wins against second-place Portland and is looking strong heading into their Thursday matchup at Saint Mary’s.
Despite the recent success of the Bulldogs and the disadvantage in the standings, the Cougs still sit in a prime position to make noise in the WCC and follow a similar trajectory as Gonzaga.
WSU is in the midst of a three-game win steak and sits just a game behind Gonzaga with a 10-4 conference record. Both teams struggled in tough non-conference schedules but have rebounded well in conference play. The Cougs have experience against the Bulldogs and were within reach of a victory in their first matchup.
The teams have played 18 times (Gonzaga leads at 11-7) in the all-time series and five times since Kamie Ethridge was named head coach at WSU. The team’s only senior, forward Tara Wallack, has faced Gonzaga three times, including two victories.
Ethridge noted after the Cougs’ victory over San Diego on Saturday that they have gone into McCarthey Athletic Center before and come out victorious. That latest road win was a 51-49 victory in Wallack’s freshman season.
McCarthey is not a venue to underestimate though as Gonzaga has an average attendance of 5,200 in an arena that holds 6,000, the highest average in the WCC. The arena will be loud and the environment will be hostile. Still, Ethridge did not seem bothered by the prospect of a tough road atmosphere.
“I hear they’re camping out and I hear they are having a huge push to get a soldout arena,” Ethridge said. “And you know what? We don’t care. We just want to walk in there, be unaffected, be the tougher team and walk away with the win, and I think we’re capable of it.”
The Cougs have not faced many teams like the Bulldogs in the WCC, a team that shoots the three-ball with consistency, rebounds well and is not afraid to score from anywhere on the floor. Despite this, Ethridge has consistently talked about the importance of tough non-conference scheduling in preparing her team for moments like this. With earlier contests against Stanford, Iowa, Texas Tech and Oregon, WSU is battle-tested and should be ready for a rock fight with Gonzaga.
If WSU is to come out of Spokane with a win, the team is going to need the leadership and defense of Wallack to shine through. Wallack had four blocks and five steals in the first game against Gonzaga, and is still second in the conference in blocks behind her teammate, center Alex Covill. Wallack has consistently been a role model for the team’s young frontcourt, as players like Dayana Mendes, Candace Kpetikou and Covill have quickly shown to be key pieces.
Covill is an important player to note as the WCC blocks leader, but has been sidelined for the last two games with a foot injury. Ethridge gave an update of her status on Monday and said she is expected to be out for at least a couple of weeks. Covill’s presence will be missed for a team that was outrebounded by 23 rebounds in the first Gonzaga game.
Another important factor is that WSU is on a bye week after playing five games in nine days. The team looked exhausted down the stretch and Gonzaga had the luxury of a week’s rest the last time the teams played. The rest and the time to scout will be critical for the team’s success and could work in the Cougs’ favor, like it did for the Bulldogs earlier.
“I think each game has its own uniqueness and you have to leave the LMU [loss] in the past and focus on what’s in front of us,” Wallack said. “I think that’s our mindset going into this week, especially since we only have one game and especially since it’s against Gonzaga. So I think we are in a really good spot and this week it will prepare us even more for the moment.”
Both teams enter a critical strech of the season with under 10 games to go. The Bulldogs get fourth-place Saint Mary’s twice and a trip to Corvallis, Oregon, for a matchup with an Oregon State team that already beat Gonzaga this season. The Cougs have a trip to Portland and a home bout with Saint Mary’s left. Whoever wins this matchup could determine who gets a coveted bye to the semifinals in the conference tournament as a top two seed.
Ethridge said her team cannot overlook anyone in the WCC, especially with crucial matchups against Gonzaga and Portland still on the schedule.
“We clearly we want to be a top four seed so that we get as many byes as we can and if we could get to the two seed that’d be great and if we could get to the one seed that’d be awesome,” Ethridge said. “But this is just the reality of being in a tough league and we weren’t perfect going into it.”
Neither team likely has a strong enough resume to get into the NCAA tournament with an at-large bid. That means the path to March Madness is through a WCC title. The importance of this game, and the final six for WSU and eight for Gonzaga, cannot be understated.
WSU takes on Gonzaga at McCarthey Athletic Center Saturday at 2 p.m.
