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It was a mixed bag of a weekend for the Washington State basketball programs as both the men's and women’s teams went 1-1. The weekends were flipped as the women’s team got the week started with a big win while the men’s team saved their best for last.
Starting with the women’s team, the Cougars were on the road against the Southern California schools and secured a split on Friday with an impressive 71-63 win against USC.
For the first few minutes on Sunday it looked like the Cougs were going for the sweep. WSU got out to a 7-0 lead against UCLA and led after the first quarter. Things went south from there as UCLA was able to take control on its way to a 71-58 victory.
This week, the Cougs will play a home-and-home against Washington. WSU will host on Friday before traveling to Seattle to face the Huskies on Sunday.
The men’s basketball team let an opportunity get away on Thursday against Stanford. It was a very weird game for a variety of reasons.
However, the Cougs rebounded in a strong way on Saturday, closing out a close game against California in impressive fashion.
The Cougs will play at Oregon and at Oregon State this week. WSU needs to start piling up some wins if it wants to be a legitimate NCAA Tournament team and a win on Thursday against the Ducks would be a good place to start. The Ducks are fresh off a massive weekend with wins at No. 3 UCLA and No. 5 USC. Oregon has won five in a row after a rough start the season. A streak WSU would love to snap.
The WSU track and field team got the new year off to a good start with an impressive showing at the UW Preview.
A successful first weekend of competition in 2022, as the Cougars racked up five first-place finishes at the Cougar Classic Invitational in Spokane, while a pair of distance runners set top-10 times nationally at the UW Preview in Seattle.https://t.co/h09H8Rv39k
— Washington State XC/TF (@WSUCougarXCTF) January 16, 2022
There were some impressive performances, but maybe none better than Colton Johnson.
COLTON JOHNSEN!!!!
— Washington State XC/TF (@WSUCougarXCTF) January 16, 2022
-Placed second over in the mile at the UW Preview with a time of 3:55.74!
-Second fastest indoor mile time in the NATION!
-Second fastest WSU indoor mile, .09 away from first!
-Holds both the second-fastest WSU Indoor mile and 5, 000m #GoCougs | #BackHome pic.twitter.com/JIT9H4lu4W
He was just 0.09 seconds away from setting the WSU record in the indoor mile. A record held by none other than Bernard Lagat.
The team will get a week off before competing at the UW Invitational at the end of the month.
The swimming and tennis teams were also supposed to be in action. WSU swimming was set to host the PNW Invite, but had to cancel due to Covid issues within the program.
The tennis team’s match in Spokane against Gonzaga and Montana was postponed due to Covid issues with both WSU and Montana.
Football:
WSU Cougars defensive tackle Dallas Hobbs ends football career, will pursue other ventures | The Seattle Times
Dallas Hobbs, a five-year Cougar, has already begun his career as an entrepreneur.
Washington State Football kicks off new year with big changes to roster - KXLY
WSU’s football team only played around two weeks ago and their team is already looking much different.
Women’s Basketball:
WSU women start fast but finish slow in falling to UCLA | Sports | lmtribune.com
LOS ANGELES — It's not always how you start, it's how you finish.
Cougs Knocked Off by Bruins on Sunday - Washington State University Athletics
Sophomore Charlisse Leger-Walker scored a team-high 24 points for the Washington State women's basketball team on Sunday, Jan. 16, at UCLA but it wasn't enough to lift the Cougars past the Bruins, as WSU fell 71-58 in Pac-12 Conference play.