The first time WSU players stepped back into their athletic dining hall, they were greeted by raucous applause and whoops from their fellow student-athletes. Since returning to Pullman, Washington - population 32,827 - after their Pac-12 tournament championship victory, the Cougars have felt the warm embrace of their quaint, but impassioned, college town. Washington State head coach Kamie Ethridge, center left, Ula Motuga, center right, and the team celebrate after winning the Pac-12 tournament title on March 5, 2023, in Las Vegas. And I think that’s just something that you don’t always see in other conferences and amongst other teams.” The fact that we all love each other, and we play hard for each other, and, obviously, we play hard for our coaches. “And I think that’s ultimately what has gotten us so much success. “We all are a bunch of kids that committed to WSU based on our love for the sport and our love for the program,” Motuga told Yahoo Sports. The Cougars’ starting lineup against UCLA in the Pac-12 title game featured athletes from Canada (Tara Wallack), Estonia (Johanna Teder), Rwanda (Bella Murekatete), Australia (Ula Motuga) and New Zealand (Charlisse Leger-Walker). Over the course of Ethridge’s five seasons, she’s brought in a wealth of international players. The Cougars’ roster is made up entirely of three-star recruits and lower. And nothing’s going to get in the way of that.”Ī deeper look at Washington State’s personnel makes its transformation this season all the more storybook-like. “To keep it in perspective and have a great balance of, ‘This is the most exciting time of our life.’ But when we have to get ready to prepare for games, and as we prepare for practice, we’re really locked in, and we’re all there. “We’re trying to do the exact same thing as attention has come to us,” Ethridge told Yahoo Sports.
With such a tight-knit, fun-loving and adept-at-history-making group on her hands, Ethridge told Yahoo Sports a big goal this season has been finding the perfect equilibrium between reveling in the moment and being serious about basketball. We wouldn’t be in this predicament if that didn’t happen.This Cougars squad has cemented its place in WSU history. I was thinking about that, but at the end of the day, I need to finish plays like that. It took me back to last year when Ricky (Council) got hit with that charge (against Tulane) and we lost the game. I thought I was going to take the charge. “That’s probably the easiest shot I’m going to get all year,” said Porter, who was filled with regret discussing the play.
Timekeeper wsu free#
Hodge was fouled on a back-door play and he split a pair of free throws with 9.7 seconds left to force overtime.īoth teams had potential game-winning shots in the final seconds of regulation, but WSU had the best look when Porter cut through Mizzou’s full-court pressure only to air ball an 8-foot floater in the lane. Okafor helped stabilize WSU with a go-ahead three, but the Shockers botched two chances to extend their lead when James Rojas split a pair of free throws and 92% free throw shooter Xavier Bell (12 points) missed both of his foul shots with 24 seconds left. The bench had a particularly strong showing with Jaron Pierre (13 points) knocking down several timely three-pointers, Shammah Scott (nine points, five assists) blossoming as a dependable player and Gus Okafor (11 points, eight rebounds) again bringing the energy.
Six Shockers scored at least nine points, as Porter (14 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three blocks, one steal) once again filled the stat sheet and Jaykwon Walton (14 points, 10 rebounds, four assists) registered his first double-double. WSU also made a season-high 12 three-pointers on 41% accuracy and the mark of 84 points was the fourth-most scored in a loss since 2010. After going nearly two years without making over 50% of its shots, WSU has now shot better than 50% in two straight games with a 54% performance from the field on Tuesday - the first time the Shockers have done that in back-to-back games since February of the 2017-18 season. What made the missed free throws and turnovers even more frustrating for WSU was how much they undid an otherwise strong offensive showing. To be able to come out with a victory, it says a lot.” I think that was one of the best games I’ve been a part of in a long time.
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