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The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
Washington State women ready for bounce-back season in new Pac-12
- Story byThe Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
- Washington State women ready for bounce-back season in new Pac-12
Oct. 29—PULLMAN — Kamie Ethridge expects her Washington State University women's basketball team to be much improved in 2026-27.
Whether that's enough to put a 9-25 record last year in the rearview mirror remains to be seen.
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Count senior point guard Mackenzie Chatfield as one thoroughly motivated by what transpired a year ago.
When asked what drove her during the offseason, Chatfield cracked, "Losing 30 games. That probably hit me really hard."
A slight exaggeration but point well made.
"Last year was last year," Chatfield said. "I have to be better for this group, be better for my teammates. We were here all summer and we grinded it out together. Knowing that this is my last year and I only have one more shot at it, I'm gonna give it my all no matter what."
Chatfield said being with this team makes it easy to want to change things.
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"You want to go to war with these girls, and they're so capable of great things," Chatfield said.
Including Chatfield, who transferred from Western Kentucky last year. But a strange thing happened to her near the end of her time there. She lost all confidence in her 3-point shooting — not because of a fundamental flaw in her shooting touch but because of a shoe that caused nerve damage to a foot, Ethridge said.
Chatfield made 28 of 80 shots behind the 3-point line (35%), but she only attempted one last season for the Cougars.
She spent the offseason retraining herself.
"It's something that I have worked really hard on," Chatfield said. "It's all mental. Like when you're able to do something in your sleep and you can't do that again and then you have to try to relearn something. I don't know how many hours me and Laurie (Koehn, assistant coach) have spent together. So just trusting the process and trusting the work. I don't want that to be solely what I'm capable of. I want to still be able to play in multiple ways."
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She averaged 4.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. Those are numbers that should increase measurably this season.
Chatfield will have lots of help. The Cougars return all five starters and a sixth when counting Malia Ruud, who had 20 starts as a true freshman last year.
Senior guard Eleonora Villa, an All-West Coast Conference second-team pick, led WSU with 16.5 points. Senior Alex Covill, who missed 14 games dealing with a foot injury, averaged 10.8 points and 4.5 rebounds.
At 6-foot-6, Covill will be expected to have more of a scoring presence inside and on the boards.
The other returning starters are junior guard Charlotte Abraham (10.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and sophomore forward Tanja Valancic (3.3 ppg, 3.2 rebounds), who started 25 games.
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Ethridge is thankful for the experience.
"It's amazing what a year forward means," Ethridge said. "There's a lot of comfort in the older players. All the older players got better and I feel very secure about them."
The biggest question marks are among the six new names to the roster. Most of the new blood comes in the form of three freshmen — four when including a redshirt freshman.
The four freshmen and two sophomores, including 6-2 SMU transfer forward Elizaveta (Lizzie) Filchagina , will battle for minutes off the bench.
Ethridge has noticed three specific things in preseason practices that are encouraging.
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"We are a little more balanced," she said. "We are a little more physical than we've been in years past. We communicate better than we have in the past."
Still, Ethridge knows consistent offense will cure a lot of ills.
"It's still a shot-making game and a decision-making game," Ethridge said. "We are really good some days and maybe not as good other days."
Villa and Covill will command much attention from opponents. Villa scored a career-high 560 points last season, reaching double figures in 30 of 34 games.
Covill, who has struggled with injuries throughout her career, says she's healthy and ready to go.
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"We have learned a lot of lessons from the years before, especially last year, and the returners have come into this year wanting to change some things and create a new dynamic," Covill said. "And we're thankful we have newbies coming in as well. They're following along and want to work hard and get better every day."
Said Ethridge: "It's (early). With the pieces that we have, we have a chance to be pretty good in January, February. But we've got to grow them fast and need everybody bought in and believing in what we're doing here."
