‘Leave my heart out there on the floor’
Women’s basketball hopes to keep season alive in Las Vegas
JACK LEWIS-CLARKE | DAILY EVERGREEN FILE
Then-junior guard Chanelle Molina dribbles past Oregon State University then-senior guard Katie McWilliams on Jan. 27, 2019 at Beasley Coliseum. WSU lost the game 52-35.
The Washington State women’s basketball team faces off against the No. 14 Oregon State University Beavers in Las Vegas in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
WSU (11-19, 4-14) played against OSU (22-8, 10-8) last Sunday to finish off their regular season play and lost 73-58.
The Cougars were competitive in this game but played poorly in the third quarter which ultimately led to their defeat.
There was no major disparity in their recent matchup with the Beavers. WSU shot 45.1 percent from the field while OSU shot 43.3 percent. They both struggled from beyond the arc and the advantage on the glass was only eight for the Beavers.
It’s potentially the last game for the Cougar seniors that have been so special in their time as WSU basketball players.
Senior guard Chanelle Molina said she wants to go out as a Cougar the right way in what might be her final game for WSU.
“I just want to give it my all,” Molina said. “Leave my heart out there on the floor and if I do that, I will be leaving this program knowing I did it the right way.”
Molina is as competitive as they come, and she said she could not be more excited to be competing in the Pac-12 tournament.
“It’s March,” Molina said. “Anyone can beat anyone and we as a team have that mindset going forward.”
It may also be the last time redshirt senior forward Borislava Hristova suits up in crimson and gray. This game will be her 126th game as a Cougar and potentially seeing it all come to an end will be emotional.
Hristova is averaging 18.4 points per game in her final season, making her the third leading scorer in the Pac-12. She was named to the Pac-12’s all-conference team for the fourth time in her career.
The Cougars remain winless against ranked teams as their lost to Oregon State last weekend moved them to 0-14.
The Beavers are led by redshirt junior guard Destiny Slocum and senior guard Mikayla Pivec, who were both also named to the all-conference team. Slocum averages 15.1 points per game and Pivec scores 14.9 points per game and grabs 9.5 rebounds per game as well.
If WSU can manage to defeat the Beavers, then they will move forward to play No.7 Stanford Cardinal on Friday.
The game against the Beavers will be 8:30 p.m. on Thursday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
Carson is a junior journalism major from Redmond, Washington. He is the historian of his fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi.
