WASHINGTON
STATE (9-16, 4-10) Women’s Basketball
at
Colorado (11-14, 1-13) | Fri., Feb. 22 | 6 p.m. PT
Live Stats | WSUCougars.com
Watch | CU Live Stream
Listen | WSU IMG Radio Network
Info from
WSU Sports Information
OPENING
FIVE
> The
Cougs final regular season road trip begins in Boulder Friday night as WSU goes
for the season sweep of the Buffs. WSU beat Colorado by 26 (74-48) in early
January in Pullman.
> WSU
posted its most lopsided win in the Boeing Apple Cup Series Friday, defeating
Washington by 33 points, 94-61. The Cougs shot 60.7% in the game, the
fourth-best percentage in program history and the best since 1997. Six Cougs
scored in double-figures including all five starters.
>
Borislava Hristova, a Cheryl Miller Watch top-10 nominee, enters the game 14th
in the country in scoring and third in the Pac-12 at 20.9 ppg. She has amassed
523 points on the season as she is in reach of a 600 pt season for WSU.
> The
Cougars have put together one of the best shooting campaigns in program history
as WSU enters the game making 44.2% of their shots, 2nd best in WSU history
(record is 44.5% in 1991-92). The last time WSU shot over 40% from the field
was in 2013-14 when the Cougs shot exactly 40.0%.
> The
Cougars big three of Molina (38.1 min), Hristova (35.9 min), and Swedlund
(33.7) are on pace to play the most minutes in single season history with
Swedlund on pace to become the only Coug to play 1,000 min in multiple seasons.
GAME
INFORMATION - VS COLORADO
The Cougs
head to Boulder to begin their final regular season roadtrip beginning with
round two against Colorado. WSU dominated the Buffs in Pullman earlier in the
year winning 74-48, and will look for the sweep for the first time since 2016.
Colorado got a boost last week with the return of their star guard Kennedy
Leonard who missed 10 games with a foot injury. The Buffs enter the game just
1-11 in conference play with their lone win coming against USC two weeks ago in
Boulder. They dropped a pair of games in Arizona last week. Overall, Leonard
leads the attack at 13.5 ppg while Alexis Robinson has averaged 12.8 ppg. Four
Buff players average double-figures.
LAST TIME
OUT
In one of
the most complete and dominating performances in program history, Washington
State (9-16, 4-10) crushed their rivals from Washington (8-17, 1-12), 94-61, to
complete the season sweep of the Boeing Apple Cup Series Friday night at
Beasley Coliseum. From start to finish, the Cougars found a new level of
sustained offensive excellence en route to the 33-point victory that was WSU's
largest margin of victory over the Huskies in the NCAA era. The Cougars shot a
season-best 60.7% (34-56) from the floor, the fourth-best single game
percentage in WSU history. WSU dished out 29 assists on 34 made field goals.
Six Cougs scored in double-figures including all five starters.
:::::::::::::::
Food &
Agriculture WSU Research
Healing
grain: Scientists develop wheat that fights celiac disease
Feb 19,
2019 from WSU News
By packing
a remedy for wheat allergies into the grain, a team of international
scientists, including researchers at WSU, are helping develop crops that can
help people with celiac.
By Seth
Truscott, College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences
Researchers
at Washington State University have created a new, genetically distinct variety
of wheat that’s safer for people with celiac disease, opening the door for new
treatments and healing potential for the staple grain.
Body’s
adverse reaction to protein
For more
than 2 million U.S. people who suffer from celiac disease, traditional staples
like wheat bread and pasta are off the menu.
With
celiac, the body’s immune system reacts when we eat gluten — the protein that
gives breads, pasta and cereal their chewy, crunchy texture — causing nausea,
cramps, malnutrition and other health problems. There is no treatment for
celiac, other than avoiding foods made with wheat or eating an enzyme
supplement with every meal.
Working
together, scientists at Washington State University, Clemson University, and
partner institutions in Chile, China and France developed a new genotype of
wheat with built-in enzymes designed to break down the proteins that cause the
body’s immune reaction. Their discovery, published in the January issue of
Functional and Integrative Genomics, opens the door to new treatments for
celiac and for new wheat crops with a built-in defense against the disease.
Engineering
a therapy, direct to the grain
The
scientists introduced new DNA into wheat, developing a variety that contains
one gluten-busting enzyme (or glutenase) from barley and another from bacteria
Flavobacterium meningosepticum. These enzymes break down gluten proteins in the
human digestive system.
Simulating
the human body’s digestive tract, scientists tested gluten extracts from the
experimental grain and found that it had far fewer levels of the
disease-provoking proteins. The enzymes reduced the amount of indigestible
gluten by as much as two thirds.
These new
wheat genotypes open new horizons for treating celiac disease through enzymes
in the grains and food we eat, while increasing agricultural potential for the
staple grain.
“Food made from wheat with glutenases in its
grains means people with celiac don’t have to rely on dietary supplements at
every meal,” said lead author Sachin Rustgi, assistant professor of molecular
breeding at Clemson University and adjunct assistant professor with WSU’s
Department of Crop and Soil Sciences. “By packing the remedy to wheat allergies
and gluten intolerance right into the grain, we’re giving consumers a simpler,
lower-cost therapy. We’re also reducing the danger from cross-contamination
with regular wheat, as the enzymes in our wheat will break down that gluten as
well.”
Along with
Rustgi, the research team included:
Claudia
Osorio, a WSU-affliated scientist based at the Center for Nutritional
Agro-Aquacultural Genomics in Chile.
WSU
affiliate Jaime Mejias with Chile’s Institute for Agricultural Investigation
(INIA).
Nuan Wen,
WSU Molecular Plant Science researcher.
Bao Liu,
scientist at Northeast Normal University, China.
Stephen
Reinbothe, scientist at Université Grenoble-Alpes.
Also
credited in the paper is Rustgi’s colleague, the late Diter von Wettstein, a
distinguished WSU professor in plant genetics and member of the National
Academy of Sciences. Von Wettstein died in 2017 at age 87.
The
project was launched at WSU, where the initial wheat varieties were developed.
Detailed biochemical analysis was then done at Clemson University. Since most wheat
products are baked at hot temperatures, Rustgi’s team is now developing
heat-stable variations of these enzymes.
The new,
biotech genotype is still at the research stage and has not been approved for
sale.
::::::::::::::
National
Weather Service: Storm could drop 6-10 inches on Palouse
Feb 19,
2019 from Moscow Pullman Daily News
Below is
the text of the winter storm warming released this morning by the National
Weather Service.
URGENT -
WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
National
Weather Service Spokane
HEAVY SNOW
TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY
The next
storm system will move into the region this evening and linger through
Wednesday. Heavy snow is likely across Southeastern Washington and the central
Idaho Panhandle.
Idaho
Palouse-Washington Palouse-Including the following locations Moscow, Plummer,
Potlatch, Genesee, Pullman, Colfax, Rosalia, La Crosse, Oakesdale, Tekoa, and
Uniontown
WHAT...Heavy
snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 6 to 10 inches expected.
WHERE...Moscow,
Plummer, Potlatch, Genesee, Pullman, Colfax, Rosalia, La Crosse, Oakesdale,
Tekoa, and Uniontown.
WHEN...From
1 PM Tuesday to 4 PM PST Wednesday.
ADDITIONAL
DETAILS...Travel could be very difficult to impossible. The hazardous
conditions could impact the Tuesday evening and will impact the Wednesday
morning commute.
::::
WSU: A
tale of two storms
Feb 18,
2019 by Eric Sorensen, WSU News
It snowed
a lot last Monday and WSU Pullman classes were cancelled.
It snowed
a lot two days later and Pullman classes weren’t cancelled.
Which had
a lot of people asking, “What gives?”
WSU
Pullman Police Chief Bill Gardner understands their confusion.
“I get
that; completely get that,” he said recently. “But as far as the condition of
campus goes, it was a totally different story” one storm to the next.
Deciding
when, and if, campus operations throughout the WSU system need to be altered
involves teams of experts evaluating a range of variables, some of which can
change suddenly at any time. Each of WSU’s campuses has its own process for
evaluating conditions and deciding whether to cancel classes, alter normal
operations or proceed without interruption.
Although
the university’s campuses in Tri‑Cities, Everett and Spokane also had
weather-related delays and closures during the past couple of weeks, the
Pullman closure on Monday drew national attention as news organizations
included it as an example of how harsh the Pacific Northwest winter had become.
Gardner is
part of the weather triage team in Pullman that includes representatives from
university facilities, transportation, emergency management and the president’s
office. Team members confer by phone at 4:45 a.m. whenever significant snow is
in the forecast for that day.
They’ll
discuss topics such as the conditions of campus parking lots, sidewalks and
roads, as well as roads in the city and county, and recommend to the president
and his policy group whether regular campus operations should be delayed or
suspended for the day.
“And
really,” Gardner said, “when we talk about being operational, we’re really
talking first about whether we can make the campus operational, and then we
talk about what the surrounding region looks like in terms of getting people in
and out.”
To be sure,
this process is not guaranteed to run like a Swiss watch.
“This is
dealing with weather,” Gardner noted, “and so it’s not a perfect science.”
Moreover,
the University is predisposed to running, as noted in its December Reminder for
Inclement Weather:
“The
presumption is that, if campus is safe, we remain open. We have a finite number
of classes and expectations for instructional delivery, as well as a commitment
to proper use of state resources, that should push us to remain open whenever
possible.”
There are
other reasons that WSU Pullman never truly closes, even in bad weather,
according to Phil Weiler, vice president for marketing and communications and a
member of weather policy group. “WSU Pullman is a residential campus. We have
thousands of people who live here. We need to make sure that the power remains
on, furnaces are functioning and dining facilities are operating,” he said. “In
addition, as a research university, we have any number of research projects
underway that must be tended to, even if the weather is uncooperative,” Weiler
added.
Snow
covered stairway closed off with sign reading 'No snow maintenance. No
pedestrian access.'
As it
happened, Monday had a lot of powdery snow drifting in heavy winds, making some
county roads impassable. Only about 20 percent of the campus parking lots and
none of the sidewalks were clear. Opening the Pullman campus would have filled
parking lots with cars, making the lots harder to clear and putting facilities
workers behind as even more snow approached.
“We tried
to get it clear so we could have school,” said Gardner, “but we just weren’t
going to make it so we chose that day to try and keep ahead, because we knew we
had a rough week coming.”
Wednesday’s
snow was heavier and less prone to drifting. Plows were able to clear the main
roads. Crews managed to clear most parking lots and sidewalks, so the campus
had normal operations.
That said,
individual experiences will vary, which is why the university reminds everyone
to take their own personal safety into account when deciding whether to travel
to and from campus.
“One of
the chief issues for us is we are not making decisions for each individual,”
Gardner said. “We are making a decision about the ability of campus to function
and when people look out their window and say, ‘I can’t get out,’ they need to
make those decisions as individuals, because I certainly can’t make that
decision for 26,000 people given everywhere that they live, what roads they’re
on and how far away they are.”
The
university’s inclement weather policy takes into account that individual
circumstances can differ and directs students to work with their professors on
making any necessary arrangements.
Human
Resource Services also has an Inclement Weather & Suspended Operations
website with helpful information.
::::::::::
Pac-12
goes 'Shark Tank' route to keep pace off the field as it struggles to compete
on it
It's a
trying time for the Pac-12, which is hoping a $500 million investment will lift
all boats
by Dennis
Dodd CBS Sports 2/19/2019
SAN
FRANCISCO -- From everything we've heard, the Pac-12 offices should have solid
gold toilets, gilded break rooms and marbled conference tables.
But on a
recent visit to the league headquarters, it was clear the Conference of
Champions has a problem with its reputational messaging.
The Pac-12
actually shares space in the building on Third Street between Folsom and
Harrison. MLB.com is there, too. So is Comcast Sportsnet and NBC Bay Area, not
to mention the Pac-12 Networks.
The league
is more of a tenant than a palace-dweller in the South of Market district. Its
digs are functional but not ostentatious -- more utilitarian than opulent. In
other words, just about the norm you would expect in a Power Five HQ.
"I
don't think there's anything different than some of the others,"
commissioner Larry Scott said.
That's
where the similarities end. If it isn't already, the Pac-12 is about to slip to
last place in earning power among its Power Five brethren. The bottom of the
top of the food chain.
In these
tenuous financial times, that means everything in college sports.
"We're
like a lot of schools," Washington State athletic director Pat Chun said.
"We're looking in couch cushions for money."
Pac-12
schools took home an average of $31 million in media rights revenue last
fiscal. That sounds like a lot, but it's $19 million per year less than the Big
Ten, $9 million per year less than the SEC. The Big 12 averages around $35
million, but with their third-tier rights, Texas and Oklahoma are taking home
about $50 million annually each.
The ACC is
ready to reap a windfall with the launch of its own network in August.
How does
the disparity manifest itself out West? The list of underachievements keeps
piling up.
Pac-12
football just completed its 15th year without a national championship, the
longest drought among Power Five conferences. The league has missed the most
College FootballPlayoffs (three of five) among its peers.
A season
after being completely knocked out of the NCAA Tournament in the first weekend
for the first time in 32 years, the Pac-12 may be a one-bid league this season.
The
much-maligned Pac-12 Networks have sunk to the point that Oregon State is
making about as much annually from the network as it is paying one of its
coordinators.
Football
attendance is down for the sixth straight season and at its lowest point since
1982. Games averaged 46,733 fans in 2018.
Someone
out there doesn't seem to like Scott being in office. A series of stories in
the Oregonian has featured sensitive leaks and documents that only those on the
inside could know about.
The league
continues to return the smallest percentage of revenue back to its members, at
least among the Power Five. Scott's salary ($4.8 million) is more than the
entire executive staff of the SEC ($3.7 million).
The league
recently contracted with the same public relations firm that gave us Spuds
Mackenzie. The result was a 34-page brochure titled "Communications
Strategy Development Project."
Yup, with
all that under consideration, it turns out the league might have a problem with
messaging, too.
"I
can tell you this," said former Oregon AD Pat Kilkenny. "If Larry
Scott is sitting on the other side of the table and there's an opportunity to
sit [opposite of him], I'm going to sit next to him."
Kilkenny
is not alone. Arizona State president Michael Crow is one of Scott's biggest
supporters.
"To
some extent, I don't really understand [the criticism]," Crow told the
Arizona Republic last month. "What I mean by that is when I came here in
this job 16 years ago, the conference had very little income, the conference
was not highly capable of doing all the things we're now capable of
doing."
The league
has doubled down on what it calls a long-term play. A private equity offering
-- first reported by the Oregonian -- would get some lucky investor 10 percent
of the Pac-12 for $500 million.
If that
sounds like a bit of "Shark Tank," you're right. Some person, firm or
corporate entity would own one-tenth of a Power Five conference.
In return,
the league would receive an infusion of cash to close that financial gap with
other Power Five leagues.
The Pac-12
is looking for the equivalent of a shark like Mark Cuban buying into the
Squatty Potty.
It also
needs a Nick Saban. In the last two seasons, exactly one Pac-12 squad has
finished with fewer than three losses. That would be Washington State, 11-2 in
2018.
The
league's biggest battle right now might be one of perception. In this corner,
things aren't as bad as they seem with a new media deal now only five years
off. In the opposite corner is the best way out of this current mess: Just.
Win. Games.
"For
the Pac-12, if there is a board in front of them with a series of knobs
involving the fortunes of the league, the biggest of those knobs is winning
their games," said a veteran hedge fund manager asked by CBS Sports to
break down a potential $500 million investment. "If they can turn that
knob, they don't need to worry about the other knobs."
Scott is
familiar with that take.
"If
you're going through a down cycle like I think we are now in football and
basketball, people try to look for reasons," Scott said. "I've been
hearing that for 10 years. I've seen [down cycles] happen with the Big 12. I've
seen it happen with the ACC. I've seen it happen with the SEC in basketball.
I've seen it happen with the Big Ten. I think, in a way, it's our turn."
True,
until Jim Harbaugh followed Urban Meyer into the Big Ten, that league went
through its own perception problems. You've probably heard that the Big 12
can't play defense. The SEC is great until further notice. Thanks to Clemson,
the ACC isn't just a basketball league anymore.
But none
of them are making a $500 million cash call to make ends meet.
Football
national champions displayed in the Pac-12 offices. Dennis Dodd / CBS Sports
So how
does a league that can't seem to get out of its own way, become rich(er)?
Dream big.
CBS Sports
sought out that Wall Street expert to make sense of it all. The former hedge
fund manager with more than a decade of experience said the economics are
similar to winning the Powerball.
"Instead
of waiting for the payments to be paid out, you take a lump sum," he said.
That's
what the Pac-12 would be doing to goose a bottom line that is lagging. First,
you have to assume there is a person or company out there willing to invest
$500 million for the worst-performing Power Five football entity of recent
times. Second, you better believe that investor would want a big return.
"Everyone
is looking for investments that they can one way or another be less correlated
with the stock market," said our expert, who preferred not to be
identified.
The
downside: The stock market can be as volatile as a coaching search. Up, down,
fickle, no certainty. Unfortunately, that might be the perfect way to describe
the Pac-12 at the moment.
Take the
snapshot that is recruiting: Despite Oregon finishing fifth nationally in final
247Sports Composite team rankings, two of the Pac-12's traditional football
powers underachieved. USC finished 20th overall, while UCLA was far lower at
41st.
"Anytime
the banner carriers of the conference are down -- USC and UCLA -- that's going
to kind of bring the whole conference down," said Barton Simmons,
247Sports director of recruiting. "The SEC had 11 of the top 23. Big Ten
is revived with new coaches. Oklahoma and Texas are healthy in the Big 12. The
ACC has Clemson. Contrasting the Pac-12 with the rest of the country, I think
in recruiting … they're behind everyone else."
Recruiting
is a foundation for any sport that has a time-release effect. It plays out over
years. How will that dovetail with the equity offering that will play out over
15 years?
"College
football is a product, just like Coke, just like Dr. Pepper, just like Ford
cars," our financial expert said. "This is a product, and [the Pac-12
is] a company that has a product for sale. They may say it's not correlated
with the market, but it really is."
The
Oregonian report stated that, for the equity play, the Pac-12 will bundle all
its entities -- network, conference rights, etc. -- into something called
"Pac-12 NewCo." That's a holding company for the league's media
rights. If that doesn't sound like a stock market abbreviation …
"I
think the most interesting and impactful question to ask … is what is the exit
strategy?" the expert said. "What is the liquidity event going to be
because private equity guys are going to get their money back."
To
summarize the reaction in college athletics, we take you to last season's
College Football Playoff semifinal in at the Cotton Bowl. Shortly before
kickoff, a high-powered college executive stopped short as he was walking
across the back of an AT&T Stadium end zone. He was incredulous after
reading the terms of the equity play on his phone.
"Jim
Delany," that executive said of that league's commissioner, "values
the Big Ten at $2 billion."
Do the
math on that $500 million investment for a 10 percent stake, and the Pac-12 is
valuing itself as a $5 billion enterprise. Our expert put its actual valuation
at around $3.6 billion. That's still high compared any other conference.
"There's
a big disconnect between what they're talking and what a fair valuation might
be," he said. "[Scott] might say there's no other asset available
like this on the market. I'd have a hard time [investing] when it's valued at
two-and-a-half what the Big Ten and Big 12 are worth.
"If
[Scott] thinks he's going to get top dollar for the piece of the business that
he's selling, that's probably not going to happen. They're going to have to
give up more than 10 percent [at a] $500 million valuation."
If so,
that means there will a person or persons who would conceivably want more than
a periodic conference call to update their investment. Sooner or later, it's
fair to assume investors would want something close to day-to-day
decision-making power.
The
documents obtained by the Oregonian suggest that $500 million would be a
15-year investment and potentially be valued at more than $8 billion. The
biggest near-term windfall would be 2025 when the Pac-12's current media rights
deal with ESPN and Fox run out.
"Think
about what Larry did by putting Fox and ESPN in the same deal together knowing
they were strange bedfellows," Kilkenny said. "Fox and ESPN is
something few people would attempt do to. Then, to get it done
successfully."
Again,
that message tends to be lost. That San Francisco office costs the league $7
million per year in rent. That's $7 million, critics say, that could go to
Pac-12 athletic departments.
Compare
that total compensation of the SEC executive staff ($3.7 million) to the total
compensation of the Pac-12's top-five salaried employees ($8.4 million).
"Some
of the schools have to do a better job of fundraising, quite frankly,"
Kilkenny said, "instead of sitting around complaining about the conference
waving a magic wand and solving their problems."
Like his
commissioner peers, Scott is counting heavily on changes to the digital
landscape by the time the current media deal runs out. None of those involved
involved in the acronym FANG -- Facebook, Apple, Netflix and Google -- has
shown significant interest in keeping college sports' revenue train rolling.
Yet.
The
partner of an investment firm hired to guide the Pac-12 through its next media
rights negotiations sees the ability to "slice and dice" league
sports.
Joe
Ravitch of the Raine Group told the San Jose Mercury News that he envisions
Colorado games being offered for $10 a month or Pac-12 basketball games
available digitally in China.
"The
over-the-top opportunities [cord cutting] are incredible," Kilkenny said.
The
conference is basically borrowing against its future if the equity proposal
works. Scott is not unlike his peers, banking on a future full of social media
giants and cable-cutting technology merging into a new lucrative world of
rights fees.
"He's
trying to release some [future] value [of the conference] to the
membership," Kilkenny said of Scott. "Each conference is different
and has different priorities. Our conference, the Pac-12, you go to the
stadiums on Saturday, they don't exactly look like Big Ten stadiums."
No, they
don't. In fact, one of the biggest criticisms of the Pac-12 schools is that
there are so many distractions for its fans. A bright sunny day in Southern California
doesn't make fans necessarily think of rolling out to The Coliseum to see USC.
As one of
the Pac-12's biggest influencers, Kilkenny is supremely confident of the
league's future. The former Oregon student is one of Nike founder Phil Knight's
closest confidants. Kilkenny is a noted San Diego-based insurance executive. He
stepped in as Oregon AD from 2007-09.
"The
beautiful part about all that is the conference has some of the most brilliant
minds in the history of the world," Kilkenny said. "Larry isn't going
to do anything without the buy-in from the leadership."
That
leadership has been in flux. Eight of the current Pac-12 presidents have been
on the job since July 2015. That's eight CEOs who weren't around when Scott was
approved as commissioner in 2009.
Turnover
in the Pac-12 means more than fumbles. There have been 32 football coaches, 28
presidents/chancellors, 28 athletic directors and 22 basketball coaches since
Scott took office, according to the Mercury News.
According
to numbers released by the Pac-12 last spring, the league distributed only 73
percent of its total revenue. That is thought be lowest percentage, by far, of
any Power Five conference.
However,
the rate is higher than it has been recently. Eyebrows were raised all over
college athletics five years ago when the Pac-12 returned only 68 percent of
its revenue to its members.
Typically,
conferences return more than 90 percent of annual revenue to members.
If it
takes money to make money in the Pac-12, then the Conference of Champions label
fits. There were 516 national championships in the history of the league at
last count.
Just not
the right sports, lately.
"We
have to be realistic," Scott said. "Winning creates an overall
climate. If you're winning a lot and teams are doing great that certainly sets
a tone and a message. If you're going through a down cycle, like I think we are
now in football and basketball, people try to look for reasons."
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