WSU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
WSU 10 15 12 13 50
UTAH 18 13 9 14 54
WSU Falls at Utah: The Cougs fell short on the road in Salt
Lake City.
Next Game at Colorado
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Chasing the game from the outset, the
Cougars (10-17, 3-12 Pac-12) could never quite run down Utah (16-10, 7-8
Pac-12) on the road at the Huntsman Center as the Utes took a 54-50 victory
Friday night. Down by eight after one quarter, the Cougs fought their way back
into the game over the final three quarters of play only to fall just short of
pulling off the comeback. Three times the Cougs clawed back to within just one
point in the final quarter only to see their go ahead chance rim out. As the
seconds ticked down the Cougs got one final chance for redemption when
Borislava Hristova hit a trio of free throws after being fouled on a shot
behind the arc. The three freebies pulled the Cougs back to within three with
just under :10 seconds to play, however Utah would hit one of two from the line
to close out the final chance for the Cougs. Overall, Utah would hit 12-of-18
from the line, making six of their final 10 attempts in the fourth quarter.
Stat of the Game = WSU hit 7-of-19 from deep, nearly half of
their total made field goals (16).
The Cougs dropped the season-series to the Utes by a total
of six points.
Borislava Hristova scored 18 points to lead the way, her
23rd double-digit scoring game of the season, tied for 3rd most by a Cougar
sophomore.
WSU assisted on 11 of 16 made field goals.
Utah put two in double-figures with Emily Potter scoring 16
points and Megan Huff adding 12.
WSU heads to Colorado Sunday to take on the Buffs. The 11
a.m. PT tip can be seen on the Pac-12 Network.
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WSU BASEBALL
Cougars Fall to UC Riverside in Season Opener
Next Game: vs. Nebraska 2/17/2018 | 11:00 AM
TEMPE, Ariz. – Washington State dropped its season-opener
8-1 to UC Riverside at the Husker Classic at Tempe Diablo Stadium Friday
afternoon. The Cougars received a solid performance from starting pitcher Isaac
Mullins who went five innings, struck out six, walked just one and allowed two
runs, one earned on five hits. In the first inning, UCR used three singles and
scored two runs off an error and sacrifice fly. The Cougars cut the lead to 2-1
in the fourth as Hancock pulled a one-out double down right field line and
Blake Clanton singled back up the middle to score Hancock with two outs to
score Hancock from second. Mullins retired six straight in fourth and fifth
innings before giving way to the WSU bullpen in the sixth. The Cougars left two
runners on in the sixth inning before the Highlanders put the game out of reach
with six runs on five hits in the seventh for the 8-1 advantage.
THE DECISIONS
Win – UCR Trenton Toplikar (1-0, 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 8 K, 2
BB
Loss – WSU Isaac Mullins (0-1, 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 7 K, 1
BB)
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Danny Sinatro recorded a bunt single and later stole second.
JJ Hancock doubled and scored in the fourth inning.
Arizona native Ryan Ramsower doubled down the right field
line in the ninth inning.
Wyatt Segle and Robert Teel each recorded their first career
hits as Cougs.
Pitchers Will Heward and Bryce Moyle each made their WSU
debuts on the mound.
Dustin Yates, Collin Montez and Brody Barnum each made their
WSU debuts with pinch-hit at-bats in the ninth inning.
The game was played at Tempe Diablo Stadium, the spring
training home of the Los Angeles Angels.
STATS OF THE GAME = WSU left eight runners on base and UCR
went 5-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
UP NEXT = The Cougars face the host school, University of
Nebraska at Noon (MT)/11 a.m. (PT) Saturday
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WSU COUGARS FOOTBALL
Report: Derek Sage leaving for UCLA
Coug Center Feb 16,
2018, 12:55pm PST
Washington State Cougars outside receivers coach Derek Sage
has reportedly agreed to an assistant coach position with the UCLA Bruins,
according to FootballScoop.com, making him the sixth defection from Mike
Leach’s staff this offseason.
If you’re bad at math, that means less than half of WSU’s
nine assistant coaches from 2017 have remained. Additionally, the head strength
coach has left.
Sage spent just one year on the WSU staff, having joined up
last offseason following the departure of JaMarcus Shepard — himself only in
Pullman for a year. The receivers coaches have been a bit of a revolving door
the last few years.
In addition to this likely being a step up for Sage because
it’s at a school with greater tradition, deeper pockets and better location,
Sage also is reunited with Chip Kelly, under whom he coached at the University
of New Hampshire. There are worse places to land.
With that, Leach is back to having to find two more coaches
— Sage’s replacement, and a new head strength and conditioning coach. There are
two positions to be filled on offense: running backs and outside receivers.
Expect Eric Mele, the current special teams coordinator who has been displaced
by the hire of Matt Brock, to take one of those spots.
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FOOTBALL WSU
Half the coaching staff departed, and others will shift
positions
By Chet Broberg Coug
Center
Feb 16, 2018, 5:00am PST
While Eric Mele is one of the five assistant football
coaches that did not take a new job this offseason, WSU will have a new special
teams coordinator in 2018. That position will be filled by Bowling Green coach
Matt Brock, according to reports from FootballScoop.com and Cougfan.com.
Brock was the special teams coordinator at Bowling Green for
the last two years and looks like a solid hire. He was nominated for the
Broyles award in 2017, given to the nations top assistant, and oversaw a
significant improvement on special teams.
According to Bill Connelly’s S&P+ ratings, the Eagles
had the 20th ranked special teams unit in the nation last season. In his first
year they ranked 57th. To put that in perspective, under the guidance of Mele
the Cougs’ special teams have ranked 79, 122, 105 over the last three years.
Erik Powell had an excellent season kicking the ball in 2017
but #SpecialForces has otherwise been shaky. The multiple punter experiment
didn’t work last year and kick return coverage has been an issue for too long.
The unit improved under Mele, but I can’t say I’m mad that someone new will be
coaching special teams next season.
Mele reportedly will move to the offensive side of the ball
in 2018. He could coach either running backs, a job that is currently vacant,
or receivers. If the latter were to happen one of the current receivers
coaches, Dave Nichol or Derek Sage, would replace the departed Jim Mastro as
coach of the running backs.
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