Women’s College Hoops Preview – WSU

When June Daugherty arrived in Pullman, her and her staff promised there would be a new era in Cougar basketball.

Even though the wins have not yet come to be realized, year one was still considered a success by Daugherty, as she helped bring excitement, optimism and a bright future to a program that had not seen any hope of progress in the last 25 years.

In fact, the ladies in the Palouse have only seen one winning Pacific-10 Conference record in that span (going 10-8 in conference in 1991, behind Harold Rhodes), and are looking to buck that trend with a highly-touted freshmen class.

The seven recruits the program is welcoming was granted a No. 16 ranking in the country from Blue Star Basketball, and was second among conference schools.

Led by All-Pac-10 Honorable Mention selection Katie Appleton (5-8, Sr. Big Bear Lake, Calif.), who averaged 12.0 points per game as a junior and is a gunner from the outside (nearly 40 percent from behind the arc), the Cougars have a huge bench behind the starting five, having only lost one player from the end of last season.

With returning players Alexa Price (5-8, Jr., Culver City, Calif.), Kezia Kelly (5-6, So., Auckland, New Zealand), Jasmine Williams (5-9, So. Kent, Wash.) and Katie Calderwood (6-0, So., Broomfield, Colo.), the Cougars have nowhere to go but up, following a 5-25 overall record last season that produced only two conference victories.

The gobs of fresh faces include a couple of locals, such as Shadle Park’s Lexie Pettersen (6-1, Fr., Spokane) and west sider Katie Grad (5-8, Fr., Lake Tapps, Wash.), among the freshmen who are sure to get ample playing time.

The positive vibes surrounding the program and department are geared toward putting Washington State women’s basketball not only on the regional map, but to become a household name across the nation in terms of  a role model for consistency.

To get that process started, they face a gauntlet of talent in the preseason, leading up to the rigors of the Pac-10 slate. Pre-conference matchups include trips to Lubbock, Texas and Honolulu, Hawaii to face the Texas Tech Red Raiders and Hawaii Warriors (twice in four days). Aside from those two trips, the Cougars remain on the West Coast for the duration of the regular season; this could turn into an advantage for the team, as their youth may relish the ability to not have too long of road trips to bind their time.

Their lone exhibition game before press time saw WSU mount 101 points against Showtime Basketball, in which they were able to put up 104 field goal attempts, compared to the 40 attempts of their opponent.

Washington State begins their quest to put their name on the map of women’s basketball Sunday, Nov. 16, against the aforementioned Red Raiders of the Big 12 Conference. They then travel to Idaho to take on Boise State before their first game at Friel Court the following Sunday (Nov. 23) against Montana State. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.

Darren can be reached at darren@htsports.org.