Washington State women’s basketball returns home for its eighth conference game against the San Francisco Dons on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Beasley Coliseum. 

WSU (3-16, 2-4 WCC) sits at No. 9 in the conference standings. The Cougars most recently faced the No. 2 team in the WCC, Santa Clara, and came up short 98-92. 

WSU has dealt with several injuries amidst its disappointing first half of the season. Junior center Alex Covill has missed 13 games and senior forward Lauren Glazier missed time at the beginning of the season. Eleonora Villa, a junior guard, also had limited minutes in a couple of games due to cramping. 

The last match between the Cougars and the Dons took place last February. The Cougs led and won with a score of 67-59. In the first quarter of this match, the Dons took the lead with WSU coming back in the second. Wazzu finished strong in the last two quarters, outscoring the Dons by 10 in the third quarter and holding onto the lead in the fourth.

The Cougars have gone undefeated in all nine games against the Dons. This match will mark the 10th time that these two teams have met since the 2009-2010 season.

The Dons are ranked No. 4 in the WCC (10-6, 3-2 WCC). The Dons’ most recent match was against Santa Clara last Thursday, where the Dons came up short, falling 77-67. Before they meet up with the Cougs, the Dons will face off with the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Thursday. 

In a press conference, head coach Kamie Ethridge said this is a team she recognized was hungry and was disappointed in their efforts after their loss against Oregon State University. 

“I agree, I thought we played really hard, I thought we messed up just so much on our scout and how to guard, but the effort was really there,” said Ethridge.