Washington State women’s basketball

Where USC and Washington State stand after Trojans beat Cougars in Pullman

What is the true meaning of USC beating Wazzu? Was this a “winner take all” bubble game, or a “loser takes a hit” bubble game? Let’s be sure to properly calibrate the stakes.

When we get into a bubble conversation, we need to be precise about the meaning and value of various games. USC and Washington State entered Friday night’s game on the bubble, but that’s not precise enough. It’s more specific to say that USC and Wazzu were both on the good side of the bubble. They were both narrowly inside the cut line for inclusion in the 2023 Women’s NCAA Tournament.

Sometimes, two bubble teams are in the middle of the bubble. Sometimes, two bubble teams are on the bad side — or low end — of the bubble. Each instance is unique.

With USC and Washington State both being on the good side of the bubble, it was more a case of the winner gaining value from the result, not the loser taking a huge and very damaging hit.

No, the loser isn’t undamaged by the result. Washington State does lose a certain degree of leverage in all of this. However, it’s much more the case that USC benefits as the 51-44 winner of the game. WSU still has tons of chances to impress the selection committee. USC probably gained one seed line and thereby improved its place on the seed list by at least three or four positions.

We talked to Washington State expert Jeff Nusser for his view — from the Cougars’ perspective — on what this bubble game is likely to mean:

“I’m still not sure I totally understand the selection criteria for the women’s tournament, which seems to be a little more mysterious than the men’s side,” Nusser told us. “The one thing I think I’ve learned over the past two years is that the committee really loves to see a team show that it can beat quality opponents, and both WSU (at No. 12 NET Oregon) and USC (vs. No. 4 NET Stanford) have done that. Beyond that, neither team has any majorly puzzling losses. As long both take care of business down the stretch in the way you described, I’d assume both get in.

“I guess it’s possible that this game could be meaningful as a separation point if both are on the bubble, but I don’t think this one, all alone, has much of an impact. Maybe if one team wins big – particularly if that one team is USC – it makes a difference, but I don’t think so. They’ll play each other again at the end of the year in Los Angeles, and there’s a lot of hoop between now and then.”

That’s a really good point: USC hosts the Washington schools to end the regular season in late February, just before the Pac-12 Tournament in early March. We’ll see where the Trojans and Washington State are when they arrive at that rematch.

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Central keys to USC-Washington State bubble battle in Pullman

USC-Washington State is a bubble-licious game for the Trojans and Cougars. Here are a few central keys to this battle between two teams fighting for an NCAA bid.

USC-Washington State is a Pac-12 bubble game — not an elimination game, probably more of a “winner looks really good” game. Both teams are going to have chances to accumulate more high-quality wins over the next five weeks. Therefore, both teams should feel relatively optimistic about being able to play their way into the NCAA Tournament. Obviously, though, winning in head-to-head matchups will improve leverage and overall odds in the pursuit of a Big Dance invitation.

We talked to Washington State expert Jeff Nusser about the main keys to this game:

“1. Charlisse Leger-Walker and Destiny Littleton will get the bulk of the attention, but I’m going to turn my attention to the bigs,” Nusser told us. “The Cougs thrive off getting into the paint and finishing around the basket; that’s obviously USC’s greatest strength defensively. To that end, the matchup between Bella Murekatete and Rayah Marshall will be huge.

“2. That said, Leger-Walker and Littleton will have plenty to say. I haven’t watched much of Littleton, but her stats profile similarly to Leger-Walker. The winning team probably gets the better performance from their star, particularly if Leger-Walker is on point from deep and finding open teammates around the arc.

“3. The turnovers – USC generates a lot of them. WSU is going to have a hard enough time scoring points that they can’t afford lots of empty possessions.”

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Washington State has dynamic, versatile players who can give USC problems

Washington State WBB analysts will tell you the Cougars have two standout players who can cause headaches for Lindsay Gottlieb’s Trojans.

Washington State is next for USC on Friday night. It’s the first game for the Trojans since their huge upset of mighty Stanford this past Sunday. This game is a bubble game, and it’s a leverage game between two teams which have a very good chance of making the NCAA Tournament. If both teams make the NCAAs, the Pac-12 will put eight teams in the Big Dance.

We wanted to get some detailed insights on Washington State heading into this game. Jeff Nusser follows WSU closely. He gave us a look at the Cougars’ key players and a few team tendencies:

“Everything starts with Charlisse Leger-Walker,” Nusser told us. “The New Zealander is one of the very best players in the Pac-12, and while she’s always been a potent scorer and tremendous on-ball defender, her all-around game has taken a big step forward this year: 20.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists. She’s running things from the point – taking over those reins from her now-graduated sister – and controlling games on the offensive end.

“That said, the biggest reason why the Cougs probably are better than either of the last two years is the development of Bella Murekatete. She’s 6-foot-3, athletic, and a problem for teams on both ends of the floor … when she’s not in foul trouble, which has been less of an issue this year than in her first couple of seasons. She would definitely be someone I would consider an x-factor. Her finishing around the basket has improved greatly (averaged 10.2 points last season to 14.2 this season), and she changes opponents’ shots with her length (about 1.5 blocks per game). If she plays 30 minutes, that’s great news for WSU.

“I’d identify two weaknesses (with WSU). First off, the Cougs can sometimes get kinda turnover crazy – it’s what nearly did them in against Oregon. Second, WSU isn’t a real deep team. They basically run a seven-player rotation, with six players getting the bulk of the minutes. It hasn’t been much of a problem this year, but I suppose the potential is there if they run into foul trouble.”

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USC women’s basketball will face a rising Washington State team which plays with great energy

#USC is growing in confidence, but so is Washington State, Friday’s opponent. WSU expert @PodVsEveryone talked about the Cougars and their relentless playing style.

USC women’s basketball made a national splash and vaulted itself into the NCAA Tournament conversation with its upset of Stanford, the current Pac-12 colossus. The Trojans’ first game since that huge shocker is an important one at Washington State on Friday night in Pullman. It’s a bubble battle between two teams fighting for NCAA Tournament positioning. They both have a good chance of making it, but the winner obviously gets more leverage heading into late January.

We wanted to talk to a Washington State women’s basketball expert about USC’s next opponent. Jeff Nusser, who formerly wrote for Coug Center and closely follows WSU athletics, was kind enough to join us.

We asked Jeff for a primer on this Washington State women’s basketball team. Here was Jeff’s answer:

“I think it’s hard for those outside the WSU bubble to realize just how incredible the Cougars’ turnaround under (coach Kamie) Ethridge has been,” Nusser told us. “WSU truly was the worst of the worst in terms of Pac-12 women’s basketball programs – just unbelievably dreadful. They made some strides under previous coach June Daugherty, but Ethridge has taken it to a level not seen before in program history: The Cougs have been in back-to-back NCAA tournaments and are on track for a third straight appearance after making only one tournament appearance in the prior 40 years.

“Ethridge’s Cougs are tough, both physically and mentally. They are simply relentless on the floor, even if sometimes it’s not the most beautiful basketball. They’ll pressure on defense to try and create havoc, and they’ll crash the offensive glass. Most of all, they never seem to be bothered by the game state; they have had a habit this year of falling behind early, only to surge to victory in the second half. Sunday’s game against Oregon was a perfect example: They improbably coughed up a big 4th-quarter lead on the road as Oregon went unconscious from deep, went to overtime, and then still won despite their best frontcourt player having fouled out.”

USC-Washington State is Friday night at 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Pacific.

As a thank-you to Jeff for giving of his time to help us preview the Washington State game, you can donate to the Cougs Feeding Cougs Fund at Washington State University, using this link.

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