Washington
State debuts at No. 8 in first edition of College Football Playoff rankings
UPDATED:
Tue., Oct. 30, 2018, 5:27 p.m.
By Theo
Lawson of Spokane’s Spokesman-Review
Alabama,
Clemson, LSU, Notre Dame top 1st CFP rankings
PULLMAN –
Washington State cracked the top 10 of the initial College Football Playoff
rankings, checking in at No. 8 in the country when the rankings were unveiled
Tuesday afternoon on ESPN’s weekly College Football Playoff show.
It’s the
highest ranking for the Washington State program since the College Football
Playoff format was introduced in 2014. The Cougars debuted last season at No.
25 and climbed up to No. 13 before falling to No. 14 and eventually down to No.
18 after a loss to Washington in the Apple Cup.
The
Cougars, who own a 7-1 overall record and 4-1 Pac-12 mark, came in at No. 10 in
the Associated Press Top 25 Sunday and No. 11 in the Amway Coaches’ Poll.
“I think
Washington State is up there in striking distance,” ESPN college football
analyst Kirk Herbstreit said Tuesday as the top 10 of the CFP Rankings were
released. “The one thing at the end of the day if they keep winning that could
hurt them is their nonconference schedule.”
The top 10
of the first CFP rankings are as follows. No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Clemson, No. 3
LSU, No. 4 Notre Dame, No. 5 Michigan, No. 6 Georgia, No. 7 Oklahoma, No. 8
WSU, No. 9, Kentucky and No. 10 Ohio State.
The
Cougars are the only Pac-12 team inside the top 10 and only of two teams from
the conference ranked at all. Utah, which lost 28-24 at Martin Stadium on Sept.
29, came in at No. 15.
There will
be five more installments of the College Football Playoff rankings, which are
determined by the CFP Committee, between now and the end of the season. On Dec.
2 – “Selection Day” – the committee will release the final edition of the
rankings and determine which four teams will advance to the four-team playoff.
The Orange
Bowl and Cotton Bowl, both of which will take place on Dec. 29, will serve as
this season’s semifinal games. The national championship game will take place
on Jan. 7, 2019, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
:::::::::::::::
SOCCER
COUGS
Morgan Weaver,
Rachel Thompson Earn Top Pac-12 Weekly Honors
10/30/2018
WSU Soccer info from WSU Sports Information
PULLMAN -
On the backs of big time goals and clutch saves, juniors Morgan Weaver and
Rachel Thompson earned their second Pac-12 weekly player of the week awards as
announced by the conference office Tuesday afternoon.
Weaver was
named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week while Thompson took home the
distinction of the Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week after leading the Cougars to a
win over Cal (4-2) and a draw with No. 1 Stanford (1-1, 2OT).
The two
earned their first awards of the season nearly one month prior in conference
play on Sept. 25 after leading the Cougars to a 1-0 upset of then No. 8 UCLA on
the road to begin the Pac-12 slate of games. For WSU, the two weekly awards
were the teams seventh and eighth honors of the season and first since Maegan
O'Neill was named Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 25.
Leading
the Cougars attack over the weekend, Weaver caught fire scoring two goals and
assisting on two more. The star forward kicked her weekend off with a bang
against Cal Thursday night as she assisted on the first goal of the contest
before scoring late in the first half to put WSU ahead for the first time. She
would help put the Bears away late in the second half of play with her second
assist of the night to produce the first multi-assist match of her career.
With one goal
down, Weaver put the Cougars' offense on her back against the top team in the
country, scoring the game-tying goal in the 77' of play in what would
eventually earn the draw for WSU. Weaver's constant effort and pressure in the
backfield forced an uncharacteristic mistake by the Cardinal defense creating a
turnover and the scoring opportunity. The goal was the first given up by the
Cardinal since Sept. 27 against UCLA. Additionally, the goal was the ninth of
the season for Weaver, a career-best mark for the third-year Cougar.
Coming up
big when the lights are brightest, Thompson's performance against the Cardinal
alone earned the Alaskan native her second career weekly award from the Pac-12.
Facing the best team in the country, Thompson racked up nine saves in net,
tying her career best mark set previous on the road in the WSU's 1-0 upset of
UCLA on Sept. 21 in Los Angeles. Thompson set the tone early for the Cougars,
stoning a two-woman break behind the defensive line in the 2'. Thompson's
performance in net gave the Cougars' their first points against a No. 1 ranked
team in nine attempts all-time.
Additionally,
Thompson's draw held Stanford to just one point in the standings in conference
play for the first time in two seasons. Overall on the weekend, Thompson
finished with 10 total saves and went 1-0-1 to grab her sixth career victory.
The
Cougars finish the regular season Friday, Nov. 2 against Washington at Lower
Soccer Field. The Boeing Apple Cup Series contest is scheduled for 7 p.m. on
the Pac-12 Network
………….
UW is 8-9-1
for the season at 3-7-0 in conference.
WSU is 11-5-1
over all and 4-5-1 in Pac-12.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::
Kamie
Ethridge excited to take reins of WSU women’s basketball
Mon., Oct.
29, 2018, 7:26 p.m.
By Jim
Allen of the S-R of Spokane/Inland Empire
PULLMAN –
Thank goodness for Kamie Ethridge’s dogs.
After a
recent Saturday practice, Sky and Harley ran amok through the Washington State
women’s basketball offices until Ethridge guided them into a room.
“I am so
sorry,” she said in a soft Texas accent to a pair of recruits and their
families.
There was
no apology necessary, but Ethridge probably knew that already – the girls loved
the dogs.
“They
really are great for recruits and also for stress-relief,” Ethridge said.
On this
day, Sky and Harley did double duty.
A few
minutes earlier, Ethridge was presiding over practice. As the dogs sat quietly
on the sideline, assistants barked instructions and Ethridge interrupted with
her whistle and asked pointed questions of one player after another.
The
Cougars have a lot of work to do.
The WSU
women’s program has posted just one winning season in the last 22 years and
hasn’t enjoyed a winning conference record since 1992.
On the
heels of a 10-20 season (3-14 in the Pac-12), June Daugherty was fired and
Ethridge brought to Pullman last spring for an interview with athletic director
Pat Chun.
“When I
went on campus for the interview, I got shown the facilities and a little bit
of Pullman the night before the interview and I called back and said ‘I’m not
sure this is a good situation,’ just knowing what we would have to recruit
against,” Ethridge recalled.
“As a
coach … (when your boss) tells you they are going to give you time and they’re
going to give you every resource you need, you want to grab that boss and say I
want to work for you. Pat Chun did that for me.”
Chun also
gave her a six-year contract at $400,000 per year, but that seemed secondary on
a sunny autumn afternoon in the Palouse.
Her
enthusiasm was redoubled after practice. It was ESPN GameDay in Pullman, with
thousands of football fans and their cars filling the town before the game.
“Just look
at this place,” Ethridge said as she looked out a window. “It’s very exciting.”
So is the
future with the 54-year-old Ethridge at the helm. Before turning Northern Colorado
into a conference champ, she did the same as an assistant at Vanderbilt and
Kansas State.
Her
pedigree as a player is unmatched: a national title at Texas in 1986, an
Olympic gold medal two years later. In 2002, the 5-foot-5 former point guard was
inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
If those
credentials make her job easier in Pullman, that’s just fine.
“They’re
ballers,” Ethridge said of the WSU players. “It was instant credibility and
respect when we walked in the door.”
Last spring,
Ethridge was on her way to Pullman for her introductory press conference when
she received an email from all seven returning WSU players.
“It said
in part: Coach, when you close things, new things open up … new opportunities,
new adventures and new relationships.”
“It (the
email) hit me hard,” Ethridge said. “Out of the mouths of babes. I’m thrilled
I’m (their) next coach and I’m excited to go forward.”
So are the
players.
“I’m
excited about the new staff – they’re amazing,” point guard Chanelle Molina
said. “The system is more free-flowing and allows us to just be basketball
players.”
Ethridge
and her staff have a solid foundation. Molina, a junior, is the first five-star
recruit in school history. Junior forward Borislava Hristova is a prolific
scorer (17.8 points per game last year), senior guard Alexys Swedlund led WSU
to the WNIT semifinals two years ago, and 6-foot-4 post Maria Kostourkova looks
to dominate inside.
The work
begins next week, when Utah State comes to Pullman on Election Night. The
Cougars have six home games in the nonconference season and a game at Gonzaga
on Dec. 9.
The Pac-12
schedule (WSU is picked to finish 11th) opens with a daunting trio of road
games against Washington (a Final Four participant three years ago) and the
Oregon schools, both of whom made the Elite Eight last season after decades of
mediocrity.
Asked what
to expect in her first year, Ethridge barely lingered over the question.
“Probably
some black eyes and bruises,” she said. “I get it when everybody says it takes
four years to really see the fruits.”
But if
they’re seeing those fruits in Eugene and Corvallis, why not in Pullman?
Yes,
there’s work to do. Reviewing last year’s games, Ethridge didn’t like the
Cougars’ body language.
“I’ve
heard that they didn’t stay together when it got rough, that they didn’t have
good huddles,” Ethridge said.
“But these
kids love to play – they want to be coaches when they’re finished here,”
Ethridge said.
“We’re
spending a lot of time on them being great teammates. … if we can build that
foundation, we can succeed.”
::::::::::::::::::::
New coach
looks for instant impact on Washington State women’s basketball
By Steve
Mims
Eugene
Register-Guard
Posted Oct
20, 2018 at 4:09 PM
Updated
Oct 21, 2018 at 1:13 AM
Editor’s
Note: The first in a series of articles previewing Pac-12 women’s basketball
teams.
Kamie
Ethridge wasn’t initially sold on Washington State.
After
leading Northern Colorado to its first NCAA Tournament appearance last year,
the coach was starting to appear on search lists for openings at Power 5
Conference programs. WSU athletic director Patrick Chun called Ethridge after
he fired June Daugherty, who never finished in the top half of the conference
during 11 years with the Cougars.
“When I
went on campus for the interview, I got shown the facilities and a little bit
of Pullman the night before the interview and I called back and said ‘I’m not
sure this is a good situation,’ just knowing what we would have to recruit
against,” Ethridge recalled. “As a coach ... (when your boss) tells you they
are going to give you time and they’re going to give you every resource you
need, you want to grab that boss and say I want to work for you. Pat Chun did
that for me.”
Ethridge,
who won a national championship as a player for Texas in 1986, will make her debut
in the Pac-12 after winning 83 games in four seasons at Northern Colorado. She
previously spent 18 seasons as an assistant at Kansas State.
“My
concerns are Stanford, UCLA, Oregon, Oregon State,” Ethridge joked. “Name all
11 of them.”
WSU
returns its top three scorers from last season, including 6-foot junior
Borislava Hristova, an all-conference selection who averaged 17.8 points per
game.
“Our
expectations are really high,” Hristova said. “The new coaching staff gives us
freedom offensively, it’s a free-flowing offense. You are able to create for
yourself, for your teammates, and so it’s a great opportunity for us.”
Senior
guard Alexys Swedlund averaged 9.9 points per game. junior point guard Chanelle
Molina had 7.7 points and a team-high 2.9 assists per game.
“More than
anything, you want to lay a foundation and I think I’m walking into a really
special situation,” Ethridge said. “The seven players that stuck around this
program want it to become successful.”
Molina
will be joined this year by her sisters Celena, a redshirt freshman, and
Cherilyn, a true freshman.
“We played
together in high school so it’s kind of a natural feeling to play together in
college,” said Chanelle Molina, noting the family helped Konawaena High School
in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. to four straight division championships. “We’re
competitive, so I will get on my sisters when I see that they’re not doing
their job. So I’m just taking them under my wing, but it has been awesome.”
:::::::::
EXHIBITION
GAME on FRIEL COURT: WSU Women’s Basketball Cougs Hit Century Mark Against
Warner Pacific of Portland, Oregon
WSU wins
106-41. At half led
WSU showed
a dominant offense in a 106-41 exhibition win at Beasley.
Story
Links
PULLMAN,
Wash. – From the opening tip to the final buzzer the Washington State women's
basketball team put together a complete offensive effort en route to a dominant
106-41 win over Warner Pacific in exhibition play Monday night at Beasley
Coliseum. The Cougars ran out to a 37-8 lead in the first and lead 63-15 at
half thanks to a blistering start from the floor that saw WSU hit 63% of its
first half shots. Early the Cougs saw the familiar face of junior start
Borislava Hristova providing the offense as the 2019 Cheryl Miller Watch List
nominee scored 12 of WSU's first 19 points and had 14 points after one.
At the end
of the first and into the second quarter the newest face of the Cougars and the
youngest Molina, Cherilyn Molina, took over the game from behind the arc as the
diminutive point guard drilled her first four from downtown and finished the
opening half with 12 points.
In the
second half, the Cougs slowed some as the Knights' zone defense forced WSU to
search for openings to get off their shots. Despite the shots not falling as
easily as they did early, the Cougars still outscored the Knights by 14 in the
third quarter and by three in the fourth as WSU eclipsed the century mark with
just over two minutes to play in the game on a pair of free throws by freshman
Shir Levy.
A problem
for the Cougars over the past few seasons, free throws proved to be a big
contributor in the win thanks to a 24-of-27 effort from the line for WSU. In
addition, the Cougars forced the Knights into 26 turnovers, turning those
mistakes into 42 points.
Quotes of
the night
Head Coach
Kamie Ethridge - "We're not going to back down to anyone. We are going to
try to keep growing and get better as a team and I think we just need time
together and some games under our belt to continue to grow."
(On
Cherilyn) - "She's little but she's scrappy and competitive. She's really
talented as a passer...I think the thing that impresses me most about her is
she shoots the ball better in games than she might in practice. There's
something about players like that, that are kind of gamers and when the lights
come on they are not too bright for her."
For your
info
The Cougs
put five players in double-figures on the night en route to their 106 points.
Borislava
Hristova led all scorers with 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting. She added six
rebounds, four assists, and three steals to her stat line.
As a team,
WSU shot 50.7% (35-of-69) from the floor while hitting 12-of-23 (52.2%) from
deep. They held the Knights to 21.6% (11-of-51) shooting including a 3-for-26
effort in the first half.
Cherilyn
Molina debuted at home with 15 points and seven rebounds while leading the team
in assists (6) and steals (4).
Maria
Kostourkova added 17 points and 16 rebounds while Chanelle Molina posted 15
points and five assists and Alexys Swedlund chipped in 13 points on 5-of-10
shooting including three from deep.
WSU
assisted on 22 of 35 made field goals.
Warner
Pacific's leading scorer was Payton Whitmore with eight points.
WSU held a
rebounding edge of +22 (55-to-23) including picking up 20 offensive rebounds.
WSU begins
the regular season Tuesday, Nov. 6 against Utah State at Beasley Coliseum. The
game is scheduled for 7 p.m.
::::::::::::::
>
WSU
FOOTBALL
Mike Leach
praises Washington State DBs for grit and toughness against Stanford’s imposing
WRs
Mon., Oct.
29, 2018, 10:14 p.m.
By Theo
Lawson S-R of Spokane
PULLMAN –
Mike Leach thought his defensive backs handled themselves well Saturday, even
if they were constantly picked on by three Stanford pass-catchers who looked
just as capable of forming an NBA frontcourt as they did a collegiate wide
receiving corps.
“I thought
we played really hard,” Leach said Monday during a weekly news conference. “I
thought we were definitely sloppy at times, but we played very gritty and tough
as a team.”
When JJ
Arcega-Whiteside (6-3, 335), Kaden Smith (6-5, 252) and Trenton Irwin (6-2,
202) weren’t catching passes from quarterback K.J. Costello – between those
three, there were 27 receptions for 303 yards and three touchdowns – they were
often moving the chains by baiting WSU’s undersized defensive backs into pass
interference penalties.
The
starting cornerbacks, 5-foot-10 Darrien Molton and 5-foot-9 Marcus Strong, took
the brunt of it and were each flagged twice for pass interference – penalties
that amounted to 54 yards – on a day the Cougars were playing without Sean
Harper Jr., who was absent from his second straight game with an undisclosed
injury. Strong also had a personal foul penalty in the second quarter.
Thrown to
the wolves time and time again, Molton and Strong conceded a number of big
passing plays and didn’t provide much resistance on the three touchdowns that
fell into the hands of Arcega-Whiteside, Smith and Irwin. On the day, Costello
completed 34-of-43 passes for 323 yards and four TDs.
Nonetheless,
Leach came out of the game relatively pleased with his defensive secondary,
understanding the challenge Stanford presented.
“I thought
we were pretty good,” he said. “I thought we were in position a lot. We busted,
we had a couple busts that I thought were fairly large. I thought last game we
played extremely hard and I’d say our coverage was somewhat similar to the rest
of our team.”
Leach
would urge Molton, Strong and the other Cougar DBs to play with better
precision – and not try to overplay passes.
“Just
stick with doing our job and there’s always that temptation to anticipate or
make judgments on how a play’s going to unfold,” he said. “And we have to
resist that temptation. I don’t think we always did, but I think whatever we
did, we did extremely hard and without hesitation. So I think that was pretty
accurate.”
It’s rare
to have three players on the same roster as imposing as Arcega-Whiteside, Smith
and Irwin, Leach also noted. Stanford’s receivers have caught 170 passes for
2,165 yards and 17 touchdowns this season. Those three account for 74 percent
of the catches, 78 percent of the yards and all but five of the TDs.
“If you’ve
got one guy that big, then you can gang up on him a little bit, but they’re
just big, huge receivers,” Leach said.
The WSU
coach hesitated to make any specific remarks about the game’s officiating, but
Leach did offer this: “Without getting myself in trouble, I thought some of the
plays we had better technique than it showed.”
::::::::::::::::::::
WSU FOOTBALL
Washington
State quarterback Gardner Minshew one of 20 semifinalists for Maxwell Award
Mon., Oct.
29, 2018, 7:33 p.m.
By Theo
Lawson of the S-R of Spokane
PULLMAN –
The top passer in college football is beginning to receive national recognition
for his role in Washington State’s 7-1 start to the 2018 season.
On Monday,
quarterback Gardner Minshew was named one of 20 semifinalists for the Maxwell
Award, which annually recognizes the best college football player in the
country. Voters will select three semifinalists for the 82nd Maxwell Award,
which will be announced on Nov. 19, and the winner will be unveiled at the ESPN
Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Dec. 6.
Ten
quarterbacks joined Minshew as Maxwell Award semifinalists: Alabama’s Tua
Tagovailoa, Fresno State’s Marcus McMaryion, Houston’s D’Eriq King, Notre
Dame’s Ian Book, Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins, Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray, Oregon’s
Justin Herbert, Penn State’s Trace McSorley, UCF’s McKenzie Milton and West
Virginia’s Will Grier.
Pac-12
players joining Minshew included Oregon’s Herbert, Colorado wide receiver
Laviska Shenault and Utah running back Zack Moss.
Minshew
completed 40-of-50 passes for 438 yards and three touchdowns in WSU’s 41-38
road win over Stanford on Saturday, improving on his FBS-leading yardage
totals. The East Carolina graduate transfer who won WSU’s starting job in
August is No. 1 in the country with his 3,183 passing yards, 397.9 yards per
game and 294 completions.
Minshew
ranks fifth nationally with 26 touchdown passes and he’s thrown just six
interceptions this season, on 414 attempts, which equates to one pick per every
69 attempt.
The
fifth-year senior also added to his collection of weekly awards, being named
Athlon’s Offensive Player of the Week for the second straight week, while also
being added to the Davey O’Brien Award’s “Great 8” quarterbacks list for the
ninth week of the season. Minshew was also named the CBSSports.com College
Football Player of the Week for his effort against Stanford.
:::::::::::::
Report:
NRG Stadium in Houston to hold 2019 nonconference football game between
Washington State, Houston
UPDATED:
Mon., Oct. 29, 2018, 8:43 p.m.
By Theo
Lawson
NRG
Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Houston Texans, will host Washington State and
the University of Houston for the 2019 AdvoCare Texas Kickoff game, according
to a report from FOX 26 KRIV in Houston.
The
Cougars will play the Cougars on Friday Sept. 13, 2019, for the sixth
installment of the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff, which has been held every season
since 2013. WSU and Houston were originally scheduled to play on the UH campus
at TDECU Stadium.
A 2018
meeting between the Pac-12 Cougars and the American Athletic Conference Cougars
might be more riveting than one a year later. Both teams are currently ranked
inside the top 20 of the Associated Press Top 25, WSU at No. 10 and Houston at
No. 17.
Additionally,
WSU and Houston account for three of the 20 players who were named Maxwell
Award semifinalists on Monday. WSU quarterback Gardner Minshew, Houston
quarterback D’Eriq King and Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver were all
included on the list. There’s a good chance two of those players won’t be
around for the 2019 game. Minshew is a senior who’s finishing up his last year
of college eligibility and Oliver, as a junior, is widely expected to be one of
the first picks of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Previously,
the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff has featured Oklahoma State versus Mississippi State
(2013), LSU versus Wisconsin (2014), Texas A&M versus Arizona State (2015),
Houston versus Oklahoma (2016), LSU versus BYU (2017) and Ole Miss versus Texas
Tech (2018).
WSU’s 2019
nonconference schedule also includes home games against New Mexico State, on
Aug. 31, and Northern Colorado, on Sept. 7.
#
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