Cougars look to break six-game losing streak in Beasley
WSU hosts Arizona State, Head Coach Ethridge says team needs physicality
OLIVIA WOLF | DAILY EVERGREEN FILE
WSU junior guard, Chanelle Molina, center, looks toward the basket as she is approached by Oregon junior forward, Ruthy Hebard, left, U of O red-shirt sophomore forward, Erin Boley, during the game on Friday night at Beasley Coliseum. Cougs lost 64-79.
February 7, 2019
WSU women’s basketball (7-15, 2-9) is set to take on No. 20 ranked Arizona State (15-6, 6-4) on Thursday and Arizona (14-7, 4-6) Saturday at Beasley Coliseum.
Coming off their third straight weekend being swept, the Cougars are excited to be playing back at home. Head Coach Kamie Ethridge said she thought this past weekend was a challenging one for WSU as a team, starting with UCLA, who Ethridge said had a dominating performance.
“They [UCLA] showed the very thing that we aren’t,” Ethridge said. “That is a physical team that is willing to rebound.”
Their second game last weekend was a much closer game, one that the Cougs had the lead for a good amount of time.
Ethridge said that they lost their intensity a bit in the second half and although they figured out the offensive end, they hurt themselves on defense.
“We have to be pretty perfect in how we play,” Ethridge said.
That means being sound on both sides of the ball and putting it all together. Just scoring or halting the other team isn’t enough—both need to occur to have a chance at winning.
The Cougars have a chance to put it all together this weekend at home against the Arizona schools.
The Sun Devils bring a lot of offensive sets to the table, Ethridge said. She said the team is really studying some of the plays they run and that they are really going to have to guard well in order to win.
Next, WSU will face the Wildcats who are have a different style of play than the Sun Devils, but still pose a big problem for the Cougs. The problem is redshirt sophomore guard Aari McDonald who is averaging just over 25 points per contest for Arizona.
“Arizona has one of top players in this league that can rattle off 30 or 40 [points] if you’re not careful,” Ethridge said.
Although both teams have very different styles, Ethridge said they both relate to other teams they have played before, so this isn’t completely new for WSU.
Ethridge wants the Cougs to create difficult matchups offensively and still be difficult to guard as well.
“I expect us to continue to work and put great effort forward,” Ethridge said.
WSU will play Arizona State at 7 p.m. Thursday and Arizona at 12 p.m. Saturday. Both games with take place inside Beasley Coliseum.
