SportsNovember 5, 2015

Theo Lawson of the Tribune

PULLMAN - Tia Presley graduated from Washington State as a three-time All-Pac-12 Conference honoree. She left with the third-highest career point total in program history and made plenty of other dents in the WSU record books as a four-year starter on the Palouse.

When Presley's eligibility clock expired, so did that of center Shalie Dheenshaw. Gone was a 6-foot-4 rim protector who ended up fifth in the all-time record books with 98 career blocks despite missing the second half of her senior season with an injury.

And to think, neither Presley nor Dheenshaw would prove to be WSU's most substantial loss.

Nearly four months after the 2014-15 season ended, Lia Galdeira announced her intentions to turn pro with an entire season of eligibility still on the table. Galdeira was the best of the bunch, averaging 20 points per game as a junior - good enough for second in the Pac-12 and 25th nationally.

Break it all down and the Cougars enter the 2015-16 season without a trio that accounted for 45.3 points and 16.7 rebounds per game, as well as 185 of the 321 team steals last season.

According to ninth-year coach June Daugherty, the program has never looked better.

"Right now people go off of who graduated, what you did last year and your recruiting," Daugherty explained. "Well a lot of the scouting services, they don't even know about Maria (Kostourkova) or Borislava (Hristova) or Bianca (Blanaru) or Pinelopi (Pavlopoulou) and stuff. So it's fun because the international (services) were calling this summer and going, 'Does anybody in Pullman know what's about ready to happen with women's basketball, with this freshman class coming?'

"So that's part of why I think people will be surprised."

Heck, they might even get some of those names right by the time the conference tournament begins.

An influx of young international talent - including four eastern European players - is one source of optimism for Daugherty, who especially made it a point to strengthen WSU's front line with foreigners during the offseason.

She's also convinced her roster boasts more depth across the board.

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"I think we're definitely two and sometimes three players deep of our 14 on the squad and that's a really good luxury, because I think that we can change lineups a lot more, we can play a different style, we can go bigger if we want, go smaller if we want," said Daugherty, who told reporters during conference media day that her roster is fitted with 10 players capable of starting for the Cougars.

Of course, only five of those will permitted to take the court when WSU plays host to Lewis-Clark State at 1 p.m. Sunday at Beasley Coliseum for its exhibition opener.

Seniors Dawnyelle Awa and Mariah Cooks were 32-game starters for Daugherty last season, but have spent much of their respective careers lingering in the shadows of Presley and Galdeira.

"Dawny (Awa) is one of the most quiet, unassuming players, people you'll ever meet," Daugherty said of her 5-9 guard, whose assist-to-turnover ratio stood at 2.25 last season. "But you'll look at her numbers, look at her assist-to-turnovers, look at who's always on the really big play offensively or defensively, it's always been Dawny."

Cooks was good for 7.5 ppg and 5.7 rpg in 2014-15 and was WSU's player representative at media day.

The Santa Maria, Calif., native said she expects the Cougars to be more balanced on offense and more tenacious on defense.

"We've all bought in, so we just have this pride about our defense that we have had in the past, but now it's elevated and so that's been really sweet," said Cooks, who also credited WSU's defensive progress to the presence of first-year assistant coach Rod Jensen. "To be able to actually be excited to play defense and not just, 'Oh, I want to play defense so I can play offense.'"

Sophomore Louise Brown was a 16-game starter last year, filling in for Dheenshaw when the senior was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. Brown ranked second on the team with 6.5 rebounds per game and made impressive strides with her jump shot this offseason, Daugherty said.

Pavlopoulou, a native of Athens, Greece, appeared in all 32 games last season, averaging 12 minutes per game off the WSU bench. Senior Taylor Edmondson played in 28 games, contributing 18.5 minutes per game and 5.1 points per game.

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Lawson may be contacted at tlawson@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2260. Follow him on Twitter @TheoLawson_Trib.

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