Idaho, WSU set for conference hoops tournaments

March Madness season has arrived for the Washington State and Idaho men’s and women’s basketball teams as they prepare to begin their conference tournaments.

The West Coast Conference tournaments begin today in Las Vegas and the Big Sky Conference tournaments start Saturday in Boise.

This will be the first time the Cougars will play in the WCC Tournament in program history as they await the rebuild of their Pac-12 Conference.

WSU WOMEN

The Washington State women’s team enters as the third seed in the WCC tourney. The Cougs (19-12, 14-6) are one win away from their third straight 20-win season led by coach Kamie Ethridge.

On the court, senior and All-WCC first-team guard Tara Wallack has cemented herself in WSU lore. She is 14th in points in program history, second all-time in blocks, third all-time in career minutes, 10th all-time in rebounds and has started 100 straight games going back to the WSU’s 2022-23 season opener.

All-WCC second-team guard, Eleonora Villa, is leading the team in points, and has averaged 13.9 points per game. Junior guard Astera Tuhina totaled more than 100 assists for the second straight season.

Washington State will have to wait until 2 p.m. Sunday to play in Las Vegas in the quarterfinals against a team to be determined.

WSU MEN

The Washington State men are ranked as the sixth seed. WSU finished its season at 18-13 overall and 8-10 in WCC play, although it was not the season the Cougars hoped for after their hot start of 13-3.

In David Riley’s first year as the WSU coach, the Cougars hope to shake their history of performing poorly in the conference tournaments. Dating back to the Pac-8 Tournament, WSU holds a 9-24 record in conference tournaments. However, WSU has won at least one game in four of the last five tournaments.

Junior guard, Nate Calmese, is the Cougs’ leading scorer averaging 15 points per game. Sophomore forward, LeJuan Watts is second on the team, averaging 13.3 points per game.

All five WSU starters average double figures.

As the No. 6 seed, the Cougars will play in the third round at 8:30 p.m. Saturday in Las Vegas against a team yet to be decided.

IDAHO WOMEN

The Idaho women’s team is the No. 3 seed in the Big Sky Conference Tournament. Idaho (18-11, 10-8) will attempt to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in nine years.

First-year coach Arthur Moreira has the team’s winning percentage above .500 for the first time since the 2020-2021 season.

Senior guard Olivia Nelson led the team in points, averaging 14.3 per game and now has 1,988 total career points. Nelson led the team this season with 37 steals and was second on the team in assists, just behind sophomore guard Hope Hassmann, who had 102.

The third-seeded Vandals will face the sixth-seeded Montana Grizzlies in the third round at 1:30 p.m. Pacific on Monday at Idaho Central Arena in Boise.

IDAHO MEN

The Vandal men (13-18, 8-10) already own their best record since the 2017-18 season, when they held a record of 22-9.

Idaho’s leading scorer is freshman guard Kolton Mitchell with 11.3 points per game. Mitchell also led the team in assists at 106, which is 45 more than any other UI player.

Senior forward Julius Mims led the team in rebounds with 180.

Idaho is hoping to make an underdog run through the tournament. If the Vandals win it all, it would be the first time they make the NCAA Tournament since 1990.

The Vandals are ranked as the No. 6 seed in the Big Sky Conference Tournament and will face Portland State in the third round at 7 p.m. Pacific on Monday in Boise.

Junt can be reached at 208-848-2258, tjunt@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @TrevorJunt.