Washington State women face Utah Valley in first round of WNIT, hoping to build for next year
With just one senior, it’s obvious that the Washington State women’s basketball team is using the postseason as a springboard for next season.
But, the Cougars aren’t in any hurry to get to 2025-26. They’ll be glad to play as long as they can now.
It begins Monday when Washington State (20-13) faces Utah Valley (19-12) at Beasley Coliseum. Tipoff in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament second-round game is 6 p.m. Utah Valley beat Air Force 70-64 Friday.
Since they didn’t learn who they would play until Friday evening, the Cougars spent the week working on themselves.
WSU coach Kamie Ethridge wants her younger players to realize development is a process and it doesn’t happen overnight. She pointed to the seniors on Portland’s team and specifically to Gonzaga graduate forward Yvonne Ejim.
“Realize what they became as fifth years or seniors,” Ethridge said. “Ejim averaged like three points a game as a freshman and she is a force. So it’s just the reality that it takes time ,and we have to continue to communicate that to our players.
“They’re impatient, they want minutes, they want consistency, they want to know why it’s not as easy as they thought it might be. It takes work. Trust the process and stay with it. It’s OK if you’re not great right now. Just wake up every single day and try to get better.”
Ethridge is pleased that her players don’t want the season to be over yet.
She said there are lessons that can be learned from the West Coast Conference tournament.
“We’ve talked about it all year – putting 40 minutes together,” Ethridge said. “I want this tournament and any game we get to play to be a great experience for every player. I want to play with great energy. I want this team to feel like they’re accomplishing something and very motivated trying to advance in this tournament.”
WSU is in a postseason tournament for a fifth straight season under Ethridge. She likes that consistency, but just being in the postseason isn’t the goal. The Cougars want to be shooting for the NCAA Tournament.
“Clearly the NCAA Tournament is what we want the standard to be,” Ethridge said. “The WBIT (last year) was an amazing experience. (The WNIT) is a field made up of a lot of up-and-coming teams that we are kind of like, you know, that haven’t set the world on fire but are really capable of winning any time they play somebody. It’s a fantastic opportunity for us.”