Below based on this S-R story
Reports:
Ohio State nearing deal with Washington State defensive coordinator Alex Grinch
UPDATED:
Fri., Dec. 22, 2017, 3:48 p.m.
By Theo
Lawson Spokane’s S-R
More
reports have emerged about The Ohio State U’s supposed interest in Washington
State defensive coordinator Alex Grinch.
Nearly one
week after FootballScoop.com reported that Grinch would leave WSU to become the
10th assistant coach on Urban Meyer’s staff in Columbus, anonymous sources have
shared the same information with 247sports.com.
Both
reports state the Buckeyes would make Grinch, an Ohio native who played college
football at Mount Union, their 10th assistant coach. It’s not clear exactly
what role Grinch would serve on Meyer’s TOSU staff.
In his
third season at WSU, Grinch has transformed the Cougars’ defense. They finished
the season ranked 15th nationally in total defense, sixth with 27 turnovers and
seventh in tackles-for-loss per game (8.2).
Grinch
hasn’t been available to speak with reporters since the week leading up to the
Nov. 25 Apple Cup, but is expected to meet with media in San Diego as the
Cougars prepare for the Holiday Bowl against Michigan State.
…………….
WSU Men’s
Basketball from WSU Sports Info
BETHUNE-COOKMAN
AT WASHINGTON STATE
FRIDAY,
DEC. 22 – 6 P.M.– BEASLEY COLISEUM (PULLMAN, WASH.)
FINAL
SCORE: WSU 86, BCU 58
POSTGAME
NOTES
Junior
Robert Franks returned to double figure points as he led WSU with 28
points...he snapped his two-game streak without a 3-pointer going 4-for-8 from
beyond the arc.
He’s
scored in double figures in 10 of WSU’s 12 games this season.
Franks
tied his career-high with 8 free throws made…also had 8 against Texas Southern,
Nov. 12.
Franks had
his second career double-double, adding 11 rebounds to his 28 points.
Graduate
transfer Drick Bernstine had his first double-double as a Cougar and 14th of
his career with 10 points and 15 rebounds…15 boards marks his WSU career high.
Bernstine
added 5 assists, has 15 assists over the last four games…he’s averaging 10.5
rebounds per game in those contests.
Sophomore
Carter Skaggs hit his first four 3-pointers of the game…he finished with 14
points on 4-for-6 shooting from 3-point range.
Sophomore
Malachi Flynn scored in double-figures for the third-straight game with 12
points…he added a game-high 7 assists and had 2 more assists than the entire
Bethune-Cookman team.
Sophomore
Jeff Pollard had a career-high 3 assists, all in the first half.
WSU
finished 15-for-33 from 3-point range, one 3-pointer shy of its season high of
16.
After the
game was tied at halftime, WSU opened the half with a 24-7 run in the first
8:40 of the second period.
The
28-point win is the largest of the season.
Bethune-Cookman’s
18-point second half ties for the 16th lowest scoring half by a WSU opponent since
1968-69.
All 12
Cougars suited up, saw the court.
Next up,
WSU closes out 2017 and opens up Pac-12 play as it heads to Los Angeles to take
on UCLA, Friday, Dec. 29 and USC, Sunday, Dec. 31, respectively.
……………
WSU
Finishes Non-Conference With a Wire-To-Wire Win at Nebraska
12/22/2017
| Women's Basketball from WSU Sports Info
LINCOLN,
Neb. - Behind another double-double from Louise Brown (12 points, 12 rebounds)
and a balanced effort on both sides of the floor Washington State (7-5) came
away with a wire-to-wire win at Nebraska (9-4) Friday afternoon at Pinnacle
Bank Arena. The 73-61 victory for the Cougs closed out non-conference play with
a pair of wins for WSU while snapping the Huskers' five-game winning streak.
From the outset the Cougs took the crowd of 4,404 Husker faithful out of the
game as WSU ran out to a 23-12 first quarter lead and never looked back. The
Cougs would push their lead to as much as 20 early in the third-quarter before
the Huskers close the gap with an 11-0 run before an Alexys Swedlund three
snapped the Cougs out of their funk. Swedlund would finish the day tied with
Borislava Hristova for the team high with 16 points. Despite taking the Huskers
best shots, the Cougs would never see their lead fall below three possessions
with Nebraska closing to within seven with 8:28 to play in the game before
WSU's defense clamped down. Over the next eight minutes, WSU allowed just four
points in the run of play including a layup on the Huskers' final possession to
close out the victory.
Stat of
the Game
The
Cougars dominated the glass with a 44-to-31 advantage including a 17-to-13 edge
on the offensive glass. WSU closed out the game with a pair of offensive
rebounds that allowed the Cougs to run off the games final minutes without the
Huskers having the opportunity to make a late run.
………
WSU
Spokane nets $10 million for scientific health research
Sat., Dec.
23, 2017
By Rachel
Alexander Spokane S-R
Researchers
at Washington State University’s College of Medicine have received $10 million
in new research grants this fiscal year.
The grants
will support research into a gene mutation linked to colon cancer; the
relationship between sleep disturbance and autism; where people are exposed to
air pollutants; and the ways the neurological system affects the immune system.
The funding
covers a total of 21 projects.
“It’s a
pretty broad spectrum of work. It’s kind of exciting,” said John Roll, the
college’s vice dean for research.
The
college was established three years ago, and its first class of medical
students started classes this fall.
Roll said
it’s taken some time for researchers to get proposals together and tweak them
to receive funding.
“We’ve
developed infrastructure to support this. We have outstanding faculty members
who have been submitting grants and we’re starting to have some success,” he
said.
The
projects will also give graduate students on WSU’s Health Sciences campus a
chance to work.
“When
students learn in the context of ongoing cutting edge research then they’re
exposed to brand new knowledge and a culture of inquiry,” Roll said.
Here’s a
look at a few projects WSU’s researchers are working on.
Cancer,
DNA repair and telomeres
Understanding
how our bodies stop tumors from forming, and why that system sometimes breaks
down, is key to stopping cancer.
Weihang
Chai, an associate professor of medical sciences, is zeroing in on that
question by looking at a gene mutation commonly found in colon cancer patients.
Chai’s
grandmother died from breast cancer when she was young. Had she gotten ill
today, her cancer likely would have been caught earlier and been treatable,
thanks to advances in screening technology and treatment.
Knowing so
many friends have loved ones fighting cancer motivates her work, she said. It’s
a small piece of the cancer puzzle, but one she hopes will contribute toward
better treatments.
“The
cancer is like a common enemy to us,” she said.
Her work
focuses on telomeres, a special section of DNA on the end of chromosomes, and
the way they contribute to cancer development.
Telomeres
work something like the aglets that prevent shoelaces from unraveling. They
protect the rest of the chromosome and prevent it from fusing to other
chromosomes or deteriorating.
As cells
age and divide, telomeres get shorter. But most cancer cells have a way of
getting around that process by activating an enzyme, called telomerase, that
allow telomeres to keep growing. That’s part of what lets cancer cells keep
growing uncontrollably.
When a
cell is repairing breaks in its DNA, telomerase can sometimes copy portions of
telomere DNA into the middle of a chromosome, where it doesn’t belong.
Normally, the body stops that process so the DNA gets repaired correctly.
Chai’s previous research suggests a particular gene, called MLH1, is involved
in stopping the telomere DNA from being incorrectly inserted. But she’s not
sure how that happens.
The MLH1
gene has mostly been studied for its links to colon cancer in another way. Its
best-known job is to help with “mismatch repair” - fixing mistakes that happen
when a cell’s DNA is copied so the cell can divide. That’s important to prevent
errors in DNA, which can lead to mutations and eventually tumors.
But in
people with mutations in MLH1, the gene doesn’t do its job, making it easier
for tumors to form.
Chai
believes MLH1 has another function: stopping telomere DNA from getting inserted
in the middle of chromosomes. If the gene is mutated, it may not do that job,
leading to more errors in DNA that can help tumors grow over time.
Her
two-year grant from the National Cancer Institute is focused on developing a
better experimental system to explore what happens when telomeres are inserted
where they shouldn’t be, and understand why that insertion is happening.
“It allows
us to obtain more data,” she said.
Autism and
sleep disturbance
Having
trouble falling asleep or staying asleep aren’t unusual. But autistic people
are far more likely to have sleep-related problems than people who aren’t on
the spectrum.
Lucia
Peixoto, a neuroscientist and assistant professor of medicine, is trying to
find out why.
Existing
research suggests the severity of an autistic person’s sleep problems tends to
correlate with how much support they require to live independently. People with
worse sleep problems are more likely to be nonverbal, for instance, Peixoto
said.
Her
earlier research led her to believe sleep disturbance and autism develop
through similar mechanisms in the brain when children are growing, though she’s
not sure how.
Her grant,
from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, will help her
look deeper into the link.
Sleep
depriving children to study them is frowned upon, so she’s working with mice.
Some of those mice will be genetically modified to have a gene mutation common
in autistic people that’s also associated with sleep disturbances.
In the
lab, researchers keep mice awake for hours by gently brushing them with
paintbrushes, which makes it difficult for them to sleep. Normal mice will doze
off right away after the brush stops. But mice with the mutation will stay
awake for hours after, even thought they’re exhausted. Peixoto hopes to better
understand why through genetic sequencing.
She’s
motivated to study sleep in part because it’s such an important part of living
a quality life, she said. Whether it’s not being able to fall asleep or waking
up many times during the night, sleeplessness impacts the person struggling
with it, as well as their family.
“That
means the whole household doesn’t sleep enough,” she said.
Uncovering
the genetic basis for sleep disturbance could do several things, Peixoto said.
First, it
can help better tailor therapies for autistic kids. Since sleep disturbance is
a good predictor what someone’s autism might look like, understanding the link
better could mean more relevant individual therapy at a younger age.
Second,
researchers might get clues into what makes people fall asleep, a question that
seems obvious, but which biologists haven’t yet been able to answer.
And
finally, her work could lead to a better understanding of the causes of sleep
disturbance, which could suggest fixes for both autistic and non-autistic
people of all ages who struggle to sleep.
“Sleeping
badly makes everything worse,” Peixoto said. “If you can make thing better than
the quality of life is going to improve,” she said.
The
overlapping lives of twins
Twins are
something of a holy grail for medical researchers. Because they have similar or
identical DNA, they’re a window into untangling the effects genes and
environment play in a person’s health.
Glen
Duncan, the chair of WSU’s nutrition and exercise physiology program, runs
Washington’s twin registry, which registers pairs of twins who are willing to
participate in research.
His latest
grant, in collaboration with researcher Edmund Sato at the University of
Washington, will look at air pollution by asking pairs of twins to wear small,
portable devices that record pollutants in real time.
“We want
to look at the effects of pollution and the exposure to these environmental
toxicants on measures of health,” Duncan said.
Proving
that exposure to a particular pollutant or toxin caused a particular health
problem is nearly impossible in environmental health, since you can’t force a
random group of people to inhale lots of particulate matter every day for years
and then see how many of them develop lung disease.
Individual
genetics affect how susceptible people are to chemicals that may cause illness.
By using twin pairs, Duncan can get a better idea whether differences in health
are linked to actual exposure to pollutants, not just common genes or environment
growing up.
“We’re
measuring this in twins who are identical so we can control for genetic
influences and shared environmental influences on exposures,” he said.
The
researchers will ask twins to wear a device measuring particulate matter and
nitric oxide for two weeks, then mail them back with a questionnaire about
health. The devices will also help scientists better understand where people
are exposed to air pollutants, which could suggest ways to reduce that
exposure.
They’re
hoping to better understand how exposure to particulate matter is linked to
inflammation and high blood pressure.
Keeping
immune systems in balance
Human
immune systems are a delicate balance. If your immune system is suppressed,
you’re susceptible to infections and other problems. But an overactive immune
system can also be a problem, causing the body to attack healthy cells and
tissue. That’s the root cause of many autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid
arthritis and Crohn’s disease
“Not
enough or too much are both not a good thing,” said Jingru Sun, a
microbiologist at WSU.
Scientists
are building evidence showing the nervous system regulates the body’s immune
system, Sun said. But the way that works isn’t well known yet.
She’s
hoping to tease out a specific chemical pathway using a species of roundworm
that’s ideal for research. The worm’s immune system has several pathways found
in humans, but the system is much simpler, making it easier to study.
“Each worm
produces 300 offspring so you can get a good enough sample in a very short
time,” Sun said.
Sun’s
research is zeroing in on a neurotransmitter called octopamine that she’s
studied before. Her prior work showed octopamine is released to suppress the
body’s immune response, meaning it plays a role in regulating the system.
“Eventually
it will bring the immune response into a balance,” she said.
Now, she’s
hoping to learn how octopamine transmits a signal from the neuron that releases
it to the immune system.
“What’s
the nature of that signal? We don’t know yet,” Sun said.
Her five
year, $1.91 million grant will look at the pathway in more depth, and study how
the roundworm’s octopamine levels respond to infection with a pathogen.
By better
understanding the exact way the immune system is regulated, her work could lead
to therapies to help people whose immune systems are out of balance.
///////////////////
Story
about WSU grad Kathy Grimes
NATIONAL
SPORTS
Barrels of
fun: Medical Lake’s Kathy Grimes finishes 12th in world standings
UPDATED:
Fri., Dec. 22, 2017, 10:56 p.m.
By Whitney
Ogden Spokane S-R
There
shouldn’t have been any nerves. After all, Kathy Grimes had done this so many
times before.
The
52-year-old barrel racer from Medical Lake has been honing her horse-riding
skills and competing in rodeos across the country for years.
Despite
her long history in the spotlight, Grimes couldn’t help but feel anxious,
because this wasn’t just any rodeo that she had seen in the past – this was the
Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. This was the last stop for the top competitors
of the season to go head-to-head on a national stage in Las Vegas.
It was
Grimes’ first trip to the NFR, which ran Dec. 7-16. Her first ride on Dec. 7
brought about a few unwanted nerves while waiting offstage before her run in
the national spotlight.
“We’ve
barrel raced hundreds of times and my horse and I, I mean we’re a great team,
but at the same time, you’re just like, ‘Gosh, I hope we know how to do this
when we run in there,’” Grimes said. “But of course once you get started and
take off, everything comes back to memory.”
Grimes and
her mare Justiceweexpected “Issy” finished their opening race with a time of
13.85 seconds, good enough for fourth place and an $11,000 reward.
Three
nights later, Grimes and 10-year-old Issy finished fifth with a time of 13.73
seconds, earning her another $6,769.23. She posted her fastest time of 13.68 in
the third round on Dec. 9, which earned her an eighth-place finish for the
night, but no reward.
On the
seventh night, Issy hit a barrel, which added five seconds onto Grimes’ final
time. She and Issy finished last that night, posting a time of 19.17 seconds.
In the
final round on Dec. 16, Grimes and Issy posted 13.97 seconds, a ninth-place
finish.
“It was a
grueling marathon,” Grimes said. “I’m sure for the horses (it was) physically
and mentally exhausting for them.”
Grimes’
busiest month last season was in February, when she traveled to Texas for a
series of rodeo appearances. Those trips didn’t equate to the exhausting grind
at the NFR. Grimes raced Issy about 10 times in the entire month of February,
but the mare was expected to run the same number of races in 10 consecutive
nights.
Grimes
decided to take Issy off two races at the NFR and she switched to her second
horse, Blazin Nine Oh “Ruby”, in the eighth round on Dec. 14. The
seven-year-old mare, who doesn’t run quite as fast as Issy and is usually
worked in bigger pens, hit a barrel in her first run out. She finished the
round at 18.97 seconds.
The next
night, Ruby avoided the barrels. Grimes posted 14.05 seconds, finishing ninth
in Ruby’s last run in the rodeo before Issy took over in the final round the
next night. The finish put Grimes back in the average at seventh place overall
in the competition to earn nearly $11,500.
Her finish
also earned her a 12th-place ranking in the Women’s Professional Rodeo
Association’s 2017 world standings.
“I learned
a lot this time, and I really hope I get to go again so that I can utilize some
of the experience I got there,” Grimes said.
During the
2017 season, which ran from Oct. 1, 2016, to Sept. 30, 2017, Grimes earned
roughly $111,000. Her earnings moved her to sixth in the world rankings for
barrel racers ahead of the season finale – good enough to fill one of the 15
spots for barrel racers at the NFR.
It was a
long season for Grimes and her pair of four-legged athletes. She, Issy and Ruby
were on the road for the majority of the year, traveling roughly 40,000 miles
to competitions mostly in the South.
“The first
couple years she went down there, it wasn’t great,” said Kayla Jones, a Medical
Lake native who stood behind Grimes at the NFR and helped care for her horses
throughout the 10-day competition. “It was a learning curve. When you go down
to those areas where girls literally barrel race every day, it’s a lot
different.”
But this
year, something clicked. Near the beginning of February, Grimes took Issy to
Fort Worth, Texas, to race in the World’s Original Indoor Rodeo for the third
time in her career. Grimes was the runner-up in that showing also, which earned
her nearly $14,000.
Grimes
took Issy to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. The pair took second place
and earned $24,000 for the finish.
At the end
of the month, Grimes headed east to compete in RodeoHouston. She gave Issy some
time off and rode Ruby instead. Grimes finished second again and took home
$28,000.
Grimes
returned to the snow in Medical Lake on Wednesday after being on the road for
more than a month. She’ll head back to the South in mid-January to prepare for
competitions in the same trio of rodeos in Texas that she ran in February.
Grimes
usually makes her way back to Medical Lake in April, when she helps her husband
care for their 30-plus horses on their ranch.
When she’s
not competing, Grimes puts her experience as a veterinarian to work. She runs
her Nine-Oh Barrel Horses business, which includes breeding, raising and
training her horses to become top-of-the-line barrel racers.
“Her
life’s work has been to create these barrel horses, and to improve every year
and every set of horses she’s had,” Jones said.
Breeding
winners is Grimes’ passion outside the rodeo. She sells most of the babies
after a few years on her ranch to people looking for strong competitors. It’s
her way of continuing a legacy of winners, which includes Issy and Ruby.
“It’s such
an exhilarating feeling when you have been able to train this horse. And we’re
talking 100ths of seconds make the difference between first and last, or not
even getting a check,” Grimes said. “To be able to fine-tune your timing with
the horse and how they work, they’re just so amazing. I can’t imagine my life
without horses.”
//////////////
Three
Washington State players accept invites from NFLPA Collegiate Bowl
Fri., Dec. 22, 2017, 6:23 p.m. by Theo Lawson, Spokane
Spokesman-Review
Washington State running back Jamal Morrow, offensive lineman
Cody O’Connell and Rush linebacker Frankie Luvu have all accepted invitations
to the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, set to take place at 1 p.m. on Jan. 20 in the
Rose Bowl.
The Collegiate Bowl is an all-star game for college football’s
top seniors and will give the trio of Cougars an opportunity to showcase their
skills in front of a large collection of NFL scouts. The 2018 game is scheduled
to air on FS1.
Morrow is one of the top all-purpose players in school history
and will leave WSU with more than 4,100 all-purpose yards on 536 touches – an
average of 7.8 yards per touch – and 23 touchdowns. Fourteen of those were
rushing and nine were receiving.
O’Connell has earned All-American honors each of the last two
seasons and was a unanimous All-american as a junior. The Wenatchee native has
anchored the left guard position for WSU and was named a finalist for the
Outland Trophy in 2016.
A native of Tafuna, American Samoa, Luvu had a breakout season
at the Rush linebacker spot, accumulating 10.5 tackles-for-loss and two fumble
recoveries. Luvu totaled 44 tackles and also broke up two passes.
WSU also had two players invited to the Reese’s Senior Bowl:
quarterback Luke Falk and offensive tackle Cole Madison.
///////////////////
Washington
State became ‘dream school’ for three-star running back Max Borghi
UPDATED:
Fri., Dec. 22, 2017, 10:28 p.m.
By Theo
Lawson S-R of Spokane
Max
Borghi’s phone call to Jim Mastro might as well have been a Christmas miracle
for the Washington State running backs coach.
“I’ve been
coaching 28 years,” Mastro said, “and it’s probably the most ecstatic I’ve ever
been, because it was so unexpected.”
Borghi,
the three-star running back who the Cougars have pursued since January, was
calling to tell Mastro where he’d be going to college. It was either WSU, the
school that had been pursuing him for over a year, or Stanford, the one he’d
admired since he was a boy.
Since
Borghi was calling via FaceTime – something Mastro says he’d never done – the
WSU assistant was inclined to believe his prized recruit was about to share
some bad news.
“I
thought, ‘Well, the kid’s a man so I figured he wants to look me in the eye to
tell me he’s going to Stanford,’” Mastro recalled. “So when I answered the
phone, he’s sitting at a desk. Someone’s holding the phone, he’s sitting at a
desk with his Washington State hat on, every letter Washington State’s ever
sent him and a Washington State Cougar flag right behind him. So it pretty much
told me what was going on right then.”
With the
NCAA’s early signing period winding down, Borghi signed on Friday afternoon,
giving the Cougars their 19th addition to the 2018 class and their first
running back. The early signing period began on Wednesday and ends today.
Borghi’s
signature was well worth the wait for WSU. The running back from Arvada,
Colorado, won the Denver Post’s 2017 Gold Helmet Award after leading Pomona to
the first 5A state championship in school history.
“Thank you
to everyone who gave me the opportunity to play ball,” Borghi wrote in a tweet.
“It is official, I will be up in January and rocking jersey #21!! GO COUGS!!”
Max Borghi
@max_borghi
Thank you
to everyone who gave me the opportunity to play ball. It is official, I will be
up in January and rocking jersey #21!! GO COUGS!!
12:41 PM -
Dec 22, 2017
96 96 Replies
177 177 Retweets 1,741 1,741
likes
Twitter
Ads info and privacy
The coaches
in Pullman figured they’d wait two more months to hear from Borghi. Instead,
he’ll pack his bags later this month and enroll at WSU in January – just in
time to join the Cougars for winter conditioning.
“Weirder
things have happened but I’d say there’s a zero percent chance he redshirts
next year,” Mastro said. “He’s too talented, too physically gifted and he’s
going to have spring ball under his belt, so that’s huge.”
Clarity
for Borghi came Friday morning.
“I woke
up,” he said, “and knew I was ready to sign.”
Since
Borghi was 9 years old, Stanford was his “dream school” and as a Coloradoan
with a gift for running the football, the Pomona senior naturally took notice
of former Cardinal running back Christian McCaffrey, who starred for four years
at Valor Christian – located just 35 miles south of Borghi’s hometown of
Arvada.
Beyond
McCaffrey, Stanford has been able to churn out a few of the nation’s top
rushers over the last decade, including Toby Gerhart, Stepfan Taylor and Byce
Love.
And Borghi
gravitated to Stanford’s smash-mouth brand of football.
“That
pro-style offense is pretty appealing and watching Christian McCaffrey, he’s
been a role model of mine,” he said. “To go through there and be successful was
pretty cool.”
Stanford
offered Borghi four months ago, but as the Cardinal began expressing interest
in the Pomona tailback, WSU also became more appealing.
“It’s a
dream school itself, just with what coach Mastro’s done with the last running
backs,” Borghi said. “And how they plan to use me, I’m excited.”
Borghi is
the country’s 23rd-ranked all-purpose tailback according to 247Sports – “I can
run through the tackles,” he said, “but I can also go out and catch the ball
can catch it in the open space and go do all that.”
Hence the
McCaffrey comparisons. Mastro prefers another analogy.
“He’s
Jamal Morrow,” the running backs coach said, comparing his incoming freshman to
WSU’s outgoing senior. “He can do it all.”
WSU
graduates two senior tailbacks this year – Morrow and Gerard Wicks – so not
only will Borghi avoid a redshirt season, there’s a good chance he’ll vie for
major field time right off the bat. Morrow was as instrumental to the Cougars’
passing game as he was to the ground game, becoming the second player in Cougars
history to amass 1,000 all-purpose yards in three consecutive seasons. Borghi’s
versatility and his knack for catching the ball out of the backfield could help
the Cougars make up for the loss of Morrow.
“He can
catch it, he can run it, he can return kicks, he’s (Pomona’s) punter,” Mastro
said. “We’re probably going to do some rugby punt stuff with him. In this
offense, he’s what you want.”
As a
senior, Borghi was named Colorado’s outstanding senior football player, rushing
for 1,690 yards and 27 touchdowns with seven 100-yard efforts. He caught 10
passes for 115 yards, had a 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and returned
another punt for a touchdown. In the 5A state title game, he accumulated 247
yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries.
“I feel like
every football player’s dream is to go to the NFL,” Borghi said, “and I feel
like the way the NFL’s using players like me is a lot of what Washington State
does.”
Borghi,
who also carries a 3.9 GPA, is excited to link up with Mastro in Pullman and
cited his relationship with the WSU aid as one of the top reasons he’s spending
his collegiate years on the Palouse rather than in the Bay Area.
“He’s
someone I really enjoy being around and I know I can get coached by,” Borghi
said, confessing he probably made the last 72 hours pretty hard on Mastro as he
toggled between the Cardinal and the Cougars. “I hadn’t really texted him in
awhile, these past few days, so he was probably pretty stressed out.”
Mastro
admits he broke his own “cardinal rule” of not getting too emotionally attached
to a recruit, or his family.
“They’re
such great people and great family,” he said. “They’re Italians, I’m Italian.
We had so much in common and I broke that rule. My wife warned me, careful.
“But this
time it paid off.”
/////////////////////////
Wazzu gets
back on the right track
By RICKY
HESTER of the AP Dec 23, 2017
PULLMAN
-Robert Franks scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Carter Skaggs added 14
points and Washington State defeated Bethune-Cookman 86-58 on Friday night.
Washington
State (8-4) started strong with four 3-pointers from Skaggs and built a
19-point lead midway through the first half. But the Wildcats rallied, getting
a buzzer beater by Jeffery Altidort to cap a 7-0 run that tied the game at 40
at intermission.
The
Cougars then opened the second half with urgency, pulling away with a 23-7 run
in the first eight minutes. Viont'e Daniels scored 12 points and sparked the
run by going 3 for 3 from 3-point range to give the Cougars a 16-point lead.
Later, a
10-0 run at the 7:31 mark stretched the Cougars' advantage to a dominant
24-point lead.
Franks
finished 4 of 8 from long range, and continued his stellar play averaging 17.2
points and seven rebounds on the season. Skaggs has has hit 10 of 16 from
behind the 3-point line his last two games.
Drick
Bernstine had 10 points with 15 rebounds and 5 assists for Washington State and
Malachi Flynn added 12 points and seven assists.
"We
got the lead and lost our focus. We challenged them at halftime to get that
focus back, and I thought they did it," said WSU coach Ernie Kent. "I
thought for 20 minutes they were really locked in at both ends of the floor and
played extremely well."
After
rallying to tie the game at the break, Bethune-Cookman (5-9) couldn't keep the
momentum and lost control in the second half.
Soufiyane
Diakite led the Wildcats with 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, but was held
to just four points in the second half.
Jeffery
Altidort added 12 points and sparked the first half run for Bethune-Cookman by
completing a four-point play. Altidort also hit a buzzer beater to end the
half, but didn't score any points the rest of the game.
Brandon
Tabb who leads the Wildcats in scoring with 18.3 PPG only managed just six in
Friday's contest. Tabb fouled out with 9:55 remaining after committing a
personal foul and then drew a technical from the official.
BCU coach
Ryan Ridder said, "I think any time your team hits adversity you're going
to find out exactly where you stand. We had plenty of adverse situations within
the last 12 days from losing four in a row to being stuck in Atlanta for 40
hours, so we got to find out who we are."
STAT OF
THE NIGHT - WSU made 15 three-pointers and ranks sixth nationally at 11.6 made
threes per game. Bethune-Cookman only managed five assists all game to the
Cougars 19.
BIG
PICTURE - Washington State: The Cougars bounced back after a late game loss
against Kansas State and took the victory at home. WSU has lost four of their
last six games, but look to build off this victory before heading into Pac-12
play against UCLA.
Bethune-Cookman:
The Wildcats have lost four in a row on a 12-day road trip. They look to get
back on track when they head home to play South Carolina State.
UP NEXT -
Washington State: The Cougars travel to play UCLA on Dec 29. Bethune-Cookman:
The Wildcats head home to play South Carolina State on Jan 3.
………….
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Nebraska
snaps five-game winning streak in loss to Washington State
By Doug
Thomas / Omaha World-Herald staff writer Dec 22, 2017
LINCOLN —
Nebraska coach Amy Williams sees Friday’s game with Washington State as great
preparation for the looming Big Ten women’s basketball season.
Fortunately
for the Huskers, it didn’t count in league standings.
The
Cougars, applying disruptive defensive pressure from the opening possession,
snapped Nebraska’s five-game winning streak with a 73-61 victory Friday at
Pinnacle Bank Arena.
An
experienced, internationally flavored team with long arms and long names, the
Cougars (7-5) jumped to leads of 6-0, 13-4, 19-6 and 23-9. The Huskers hit just
5 of 17 shots in the first quarter with seven turnovers.
“Their
pressure really bothered us,” Williams said.
The
Huskers (9-4) fought back behind the shooting of Emily Wood (19 points) and
Hannah Whitish (18) and the defense of Nicea Eliely (six rebounds, two blocks,
two steals), clawing to within 64-57 with 8:28 left in the game.
But then
they went scoreless on their next six possessions.
The
Cougars sealed the victory with three offensive rebounds on back-to-back
possessions in the final minutes. Both ended in baskets that pushed their lead
to 73-59 with 1:15 left. The Huskers, who had outrebounded opponents by 9.4 per
game in their winning streak, were beaten 44-31 on the boards Friday.
“We talk
about offensive rebounds being energy pills,” Wood said. “They help give you
energy and momentum. It’s the opposite when they get them.”
Wood had a
career game, sinking her first five shots — all from 3-point range — and
finishing 7 for 10 from the floor overall.
But her
teammates were 16 for 51. Huskers who had been playing well recently suddenly
couldn’t find the basket. Maddie Simon was 2 for 12. Kate Cain was 2 for 6.
Whitish was 3 for 12 in the first half before heating up in the second.
Washington
State, which beat Nebraska for the second straight year and the third time in
five seasons, starts players from Australia, Portugal, Greece and Bulgaria. But
their defensive pressure started with point guard Caila Hailey from Inglewood,
California.
“I thought
we got good pressure on the ball, and that allowed us to extend into the
passing lanes and get some steals or at least push their offense out,”
Washington State coach June Daugherty said.
The goal,
she said, was to deny easy entry passes into the 6-foot-5 Cain, a three-time
Big Ten freshman of the week.
“Real good
player,” Daugherty said.
In the
fourth quarter, the WSU coach said, experience might have made the difference.
Her team starts two seniors and two juniors; Nebraska starts a freshman and two
sophomores.
“They’re
just going to keep getting better and better,” Daugherty said. “They’re just a
young team.”
Another
freshman who normally starts for Nebraska, wing player Taylor Kissinger of
Minden, missed her sixth straight game with a knee injury.
But
Williams said Kissinger should be back soon. The Huskers open Big Ten play
Thursday night at home against Ohio State.
“We’ve
been pretty cautious,” Williams said.
Washington
State (7-5).....23 18 21 11—73
At
Nebraska (9-4)............12 15 22 12—61
WSU: Brown
5-8 0-0 12, Hristova 7-11 0-0 16, Kostourkova 2-4 2-2 6, Hailey 2-4 0-0 5, Pavlopoulou
2-6 0-0 5, Washington 1-2 0-0 2, Muzet 0-1 0-0 0, Molina 1-2 0-0 2, McClure
4-10 1-2 9, Swedlund 5-16 4-4 16. Totals 29-64 7-8 73.
NU: Simon
2-12 0-0 4, Cain 2-6 0-0 4, Whitish 6-17 4-5 18, Eliely 3-7 2-4 8, Cincore 2-6
2-4 6, Wood 7-10 0-0 19, Morton 0-0 0-0 0, Mitchell 0-1 0-0 0, Stallworth 0-0
0-0 0, Blackburn 1-1 0-0 2, Washington 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-61 8-13 61.
3-point
shots: WSU 8-25 (Brown 2-3, Hristova 2-5, Swedlund 2-9, Hailey 1-1, Pavlopoulou
1-5, Washington 0-1, Molina 0-1), NU 7-16 (Wood 5-7, Whitish 2-7, Simon 0-1,
Eliely 0-1). Rebounds: WSU 44 (Brown 12), NU 31 (Eliely 6). Assists: NU 15
(Whitish 6), WSU 14 (Molina 4). Total fouls: WSU 15, NU 13. A: 4,404.
doug.thomas@owh.com,
402-444-1058, twitter.com/dougthomas402
////////////////////
MEN’S
BASEKTBALL
Washington
State rolls past Bethune-Cookman with strong second half
UPDATED:
Fri., Dec. 22, 2017, 9:36 p.m.
By Pete
Harriman for The Spokesman-Review
PULLMAN –
Just in time for Christmas, the Washington State Cougars delivered a complete
game – or at least a starter kit for one.
The
Cougars did allow a 26-8 lead to melt away to a halftime tie. But they weren’t
behind at the break, as they have been in almost half their games this season.
So when
the Cougars fired up a man-to-man defense and put the hammer down in the second
half, they used a 13-point run en route to a convincing 86-58 nonconference
men’s basketball victory over Bethune-Cookman Friday on Friel Court.
The
inability to protect a comfortable early lead notwithstanding, the game was a
refreshing change from what has become WSU’s style this year – getting behind
early and mounting a furious, desperate second-half charge. The defense-fueled
charge was there against the Wildcats, but this time the Cougars didn’t give
the opponent a head start.
WSU
improved to 8-4 and Bethune-Cookman fell to 5-9.
WSU coach
Ernie Kent said his Cougars were “fast and focused on both ends of the floor”
early in the game.
“Then we
lost our focus,” he said. … “I challenged them at halftime to get their focus
back. For 20 minutes, we were really locked in.”
WSU’s
Robert Franks led all scorers with 28 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field
and 8 of 8 at the free-throw line. He also pulled down 11 rebounds.
Franks
attributed his scoring to being aggressive on the boards and benefiting from
seven assists.
“I credit
my teammates,” he said.
WSU’s
Carter Skaggs was 4 of 4 on 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 14
points.
The
Wildcats shot 14 of 35 in the opening half, but they fell off in the second
half, hitting 8 of 35.
“We outran
them and got them tired,” said Drick Bernstine, who led WSU with 15 rebounds
and contributed 10 points.
The
Wildcats left many of their misses on the front iron, perhaps reflecting the
rigors of a four-game road trip that included losses to South Florida, Kennesaw
State and Washington. Bethune-Cookman traveled 55 hours and got to Seattle four
hours before its game with the Huskies. The Wildcats didn’t have much left in
the tank when they finally got to Pullman.
“The pace
of the game and how fast we played wore them down,” Kent said.
The
Cougars shot 14 of 28 in the second half. That opened up the interior for
Bernstine.
“We had
shooters everywhere,” Bernstine said. “That made it easy for me to just play.
There was so much space (in which) to operate.”
Soufiyane
Diakite led Bethune-Cookman with 16 points. Jeffery Altidort added 12 points
and nailed a 3-point buzzer-beater that allowed the Wildcats to draw even with
the Cougars at halftime.
The
Cougars have had success this year with a 2-3 zone, a 1-3-1 zone press and the
man-to-man defense that stifled the Wildcats in the second half, Kent said.
“Energy,
focus, toughness,” Kent said. “We do those things, we’ll be all right.”
