WSU Wraps Up Homestand Friday Against Seattle

SEATTLE (1-1) at WASHINGTON STATE (2-1)
8:30 p.m.  •  Friday  •  Nov. 21, 2014
 Beasley Coliseum (11,671)  •  Pullman, Wash.

COUGARS WRAP UP HOMESTAND HOSTING SEATTLE FRIDAY
Washington State wraps up its season-opening four-game homestand hosting Seattle University following the WSU men’s game Friday at 8:30 p.m. in Beasley Coliseum.

LISTEN IN: Fans can follow the Cougars on Spokane’s KXLY 920 AM, Pullman’s KHTR (104.3 FM), KQQQ 1150 AM or go to WSUCougars.com and listen online to Steve Grubbs call the play-by-play for the Cougs.

COUGAR ATHLETICS ON THE WEB
Connect with Washington State University Athletics on the web at WSUCougars.com, the official website of Cougar Athletics. Every home game will be webstreamed at Pac-12.org.

FOLLOW THE COUGS ON TWITTER
Follow Washington State women’s basketball on twitter @WSUWomensHoops and head coach June Daugherty @CoachJuneD.

COUGARS RECEIVE VOTES IN NATIONAL POLLS
Washington State is receiving votes in both the Associated Press Top-25 and the USA Today Coaches Polls released this week. The Cougars opened the season with a convincing 76-60 victory over No. 22 Dayton and 84-34 win over Idaho State to start the season 2-0 for the first time since 2005-06. WSU received 10 votes in the AP poll and nine votes from coaches across in the country in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Washington State received votes in the coaches poll towards the end of last season after beating four ranked teams including a win over No. 20 California at the Pac-12 Conference Tournament. It was the first time the Cougars received votes in a top-25 poll since midway through the 1991-92 season.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
The Cougars return eight letterwinners including four starters highlighted by All-Pac-12 guards Tia Presley and Lia Galdeira. Last season, Washington State posted one of the best season’s in school history with the program’s first trip the WNIT and its first postseason tournament appearance since 1991 (NCAA Tournament). WSU went 17-17 including 9-9 in Pac-12 play and reached the Pac-12 Conference Tournament semifinals for the second time in the last three seasons. The 17 overall wins and nine Pac-12 wins were the most under June Daugherty and the most since the 1995-96 team also won 17 games and the 1994-95 team posted nine wins during Pac-10 play. The Cougars posted four wins over ranked teams while facing the nation’s 14th-toughest schedule. Presley led the team and was fifth in the Pac-12 in scoring at 19.0 ppg while Galdeira finished seventh in the conference in scoring at 18.5 ppg and second in steals with 80.

ABOUT SEATTLE
Seattle University enters the week with a 1-1 record after beating Portland State 54-47 in its season-opener and dropping a road contest against Long Beach State 85-73. Seattle is picked to finished third in the Western Athletic Conference after going 16-16 and finishing third in the WAC last season. Head coach Joan Bonvicini is in her sixth season at SU and owns a 71-86 career record at the school. Forward Wilma Afunugo leads SU at 16.0 ppg.

COUGARS BEAT NO. 22/22 DAYTON IN SEASON-OPENER
WSU opened the 2014-15 season with a convincing 76-60 victory over visiting No. 22/22 Dayton last Friday. Lia Galdeira and Tia Presley finished 21 and 18 points, respectively, while the Cougars forced 30 Flyer turnovers and held Dayton, an NCAA Tournament team the last five seasons, to 31 percent shooting. WSU overcame a slow shooting start of its own after forcing some Dayton miscues and tallied 28 points off of turnovers, recorded 13 steals and received 19 points from its bench to knock off its fifth ranked opponent in the last two seasons. Galdeira also matched  Shalie Dheensaw with a team-high eight rebounds. Taylor Edmondson chipped in with nine points and freshman guard Pinelopi Pavlopoulou notched eight points and six rebounds.

COUGARS USE 40-0 RUN TO CRUISE PAST IDAHO STATE
WSU started the game with a 40-0 run and cruised to an 84-34 victory over Idaho State Sunday. Nine different Cougars tallied points as Washington State improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2005-06. WSU shot 42 percent from the floor, forced 30 turnovers for the second straight game and held Idaho State (0-1) to 20 percent shooting. The 50-point margin of victory is the third-largest in school history, behind the 118-37 (81 points) over Alaska Anchorage in 1979 and 95-36 (59 points) win over Pacific Lutheran in 1978. Tia Presley led the way with 29 points, her 17th career 20-point game, after hitting a career-high six 3-pointers. Lia Galdeira added 24 points, her 18th career 20-point effort and the Cougars improved to 5-1 when Galdeira and Presley each score 20+ points. Freshman Ashley Bolston chipped in with six points and eight rebounds while freshman Bianca Blanaru blocked five shots, a WSU freshman record.

NEBRASKA USES STRONG SECOND HALF TO HOLD OFF COUGARS
WSU battled No. 16/15 Nebraska tough until a decisive scoring run by the Cornhuskers midway through the second half keyed them to an 82-61 victory Wednesday. The Cougars were held to 32 percent shooting including 2-of-27 from behind the arc while Nebraska, winners of the Big Ten Conference Tournament last season, shot over 43 percent and had all five starters score in double figures. Washington State was held to 27 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes while Nebraska shot over 45 percent and produced a 31-19 rebounding advantage in the second half. Shalie Dheensaw led Washington State with her sixth career double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds along with three blocks. Lia Galdeira added 14 points, Tia Presley finished with 13 points while freshman forward Louise Brown grabbed 10 rebounds and scored seven points.

GALDEIRA, PRESLEY EARNED ALL-PAC-12 HONORS
Guards Lia Galdeira and Tia Presley were both named to the All-Pac-12 Team as voted on by the Pac-12 coaches last season. Galdeira and Presley were the first Cougar teammates to earn All-Conference honors in the same season in program history and is Washington State’s first All-Conference selection since Tricia Lamb in 1998-99. Galdeira also received All-Defensive Team honorable mention for the second consecutive year, picking up her fourth and fifth career all-conference accolades after also receiving All-Pac-12 honorable mention and a spot on the All-Freshmen team last season. Presley earned her second career all-conference honor after receiving All-Pac-12 honorable mention last season. The Spokane, Wash. native had her first two years cut short with season-ending injuries but bounced back with 647 points, the second-highest total in WSU single-season history.

PRESLEY PRODUCED BIG NUMBERS
Tia Presley led WSU with 13 20-point games last season including five 30-point efforts. Presley scored 647 points, second-most in WSU single-season history behind Jenni Ruff’s record setting 685 in 1995-96. Presley went 162-for-227 at the free throw line, the third-most attempts and makes in the Pac-12 last season. The Spokane native led the team in shooting pct. (44.4), was second in steals (56) and was one of three Cougars to surpass the 1,000 career point milestone during the season. She averaged a team-best 17.9 ppg during conference play, eighth-best in the league.

GALDEIRA ADDED MORE
Lia Galdeira averaged 18.5 ppg and was second in the Pac-12 in steals with 80, trailing only Cal’s Brittany Boyd. Galdeira’s 12 20-point performances last season were second-most on the team and her 62 made 3-pointers were the third-most in WSU single-season history. Twice she reached the 29-point mark, the first coming in her return to her home state Hawaii against the Warriors and the other coming at Dayton. Galdeira also scored 20 in the win over Fresno State, 26 in a overtime victory against UC Riverside, 27 in the win over No. 24 Arizona State, 28 in the home victory over Washington, 21 at Oregon State, 21 against No. 3 Stanford, 27 in the home win over Oregon, before going off at the Pac-12 Conference Tournament with a season-high 31 in the win over the Ducks and 28 in the win over No. 20 Cal. She added 22 at Montana in the WNIT and finished the season with 611 points, third-most in WSU single-season history. She became the 15th member of WSU’s 1,000-point club in the win over Oregon at the Pac-12 Tournament, doing so in 61 games, second-fastest by a Cougar, Jeanne Eggart reached the mark in 57 games.

DHEENSAW STEPPED UP
Shalie Dheensaw enjoyed a breakout junior season, increasing her production during Pac-12 play by averaging 8.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg and shooting over 48 percent from the field while posting four double-doubles. She erupted in the two wins over Washington, recording the first two double-doubles of her career with 11 points and 14 rebounds in Pullman before pouring in a career high 20 points along with 13 rebounds in Seattle. She picked up her third double-double of the season, with 11 points and 11 rebounds at USC and posted her fourth with 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds at No. 18 Cal. Her fifth double-double came in the Pac-12 Conference Tournament opening round win over Oregon with 15 points and 11 rebounds. The Vancouver, B.C. native finished the season with a team-high 38 blocks, fifth-most in the Pac-12 and averaged 7.3 ppg and 6.6 rpg overall. She scored in double figures eight times and posted six double-digit rebound performances in her first season as the starter after sitting behind Carly Noyes the past two seasons who graduated as WSU’s career leader in games played and blocks.