The WSU women’s basketball team welcomed in their new season last night by holding their Tip Off Event for Cougar fans and students.

The festivities began with Head Coach June Daugherty delivering a message to the crowd. She thanked all the fans for their attendance and talked about the strides the team had made in the offseason, and said they will look to build on last year’s breakout season.

After Daugherty spoke, she passed the mic down and all assistants and players had the opportunity to introduce themselves. Players were excited for the fan support this season.

“The fans create so much energy for our team on the bench and on the court,” senior guard Tia Presley said. “We love playing at home in front of all our Cougar fans.”

After all the players spoke, there were fan competitions where students had opportunities to take home prizes. The event ended with an autograph session where all the fans could come and talk to the players and coaches. There were also performances by the Crimson Girls and the WSU Drumline. Players and coaches thought the event helped to build excitement for the season.

“A great crowd turned out, it’s great to see the energy and support,” Daugherty said. “The Drumline, the Crimson Girls, the cheerleaders, everybody was here so it was a great opener.”

However, the enthusiasm wasn’t one sided, as seeing the fans helped get the players eager to perform in front of their fans.

“It was exciting seeing the fans here, and trying to put on a quick show for them,” junior guard Lia Galdeira said.

A scrimmage open to fans was held before the event got under way. It was the first opportunity to see the Cougs play this year.

“The scrimmage is fun, we’ve been scrimmaging a lot in practice every day,” Presley said. “It’s fun for the fans to be able to see what we’ve been working on.”

The Cougs are coming off a strong season where they made the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) for the first time since 1991. WSU welcomed back four starters this season, including All Pac-12 guards Presley and Galdeira. In addition to the returners, the Cougars welcome a big crop of new players onto the team. For some, the tip off event was their first taste of what Pac-12 basketball will be like.

“We have seven new kids in the program, this is honestly the first day they have been in Beasley short of their recruiting trip,” Daugherty said. “They’ve never been here to play, so their eyes were pretty big when we came to practice earlier today, but really important for them to settle in a little bit and to play into a big environment, a loud environment.”

One of the freshmen, forward Nike McClure, will have to wait a little longer than other freshman to make her debut. McClure was on crutches during the event and Daugherty told the crowd that McClure had already had surgery. The WSU women’s head coach said to the crowd that McClure could be back for conference play.

The Cougars tip off their season at 1:00 p.m. this Sunday Nov. 2 against Central Methodist at Beasley Coliseum.