Catching Up with the Pac-12, Part 3
Can Washington State, Arizona State and USC improve on a season that saw them land just outside the top half of the league standings?
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The top of the Pac-12 may play the primary role in the conference’s image for toughness, but the strength of the league doesn’t stop at the top three or four teams. The 2020-21 season proved that once again as the conference put six teams into the NCAA Tournament, including seventh-place Washington State, and had two more go to the third round of the WNIT.
That makes it a bit tricky to project which teams will rise or fall. It’s entirely possible for the sixth or seventh-place team to knock off the teams at the top on any given night, even when the teams at the top are Final Four caliber programs. But it’s also very difficult to climb the ladder over a full season. A very good team can still be mired in the bottom half of the Pac-12 simply because the top is so good. Consistency is the key.
That lack of consistency is why Washington State finished seventh despite some upsets and close losses. It’s why a perennial tournament team like ASU could knock off Arizona at the end of the season, but still not have enough wins over the top teams to get to the NCAA Tournament.
Will the Cougars, the Sun Devils and the USC Women of Troy be able to regain that consistency and avoid injuries next season? Those factors could be key to whether they are playing in March.
Washington State Cougars
2020-21 season: It was a Cinderella season for the Cougars. A team that lost two of the best players in program history couldn’t actually be better the very next season, could it? The media and coaches certainly didn’t think so, picking Washington State to finish dead last in the league.
The media and the coaches were very, very wrong.
Reigning Freshman of the Year Charlisse Leger-Walker was a major reason, but so was a general improvement in the Cougars’ defense. The Cougars beat Oregon State, then played Oregon close early in the season. They followed that up with a win over a top-10 Arizona team that catapulted WSU into the AP Top 25 for the first time in program history.
They had their downs in mid-season, but having to play Stanford twice in fairly quick succession can do that. The Cardinal blew the Cougars out twice in back-to-back games. To their credit, the Cougars played those games--one of which was a make-up game--when others opted not to make up postponed games against the Cardinal.
After those losses, WSU found its feet again for one more big win. The Cougars got their first-ever win over a top-five team when they beat UCLA on Feb. 5. A four-game skid took them into the Pac-12 Tournament as the No. 7 seed, where they beat Utah before falling to Arizona by 16.
The Cougars wound up their season as a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They went out in the first round, falling to South Florida by four points. A 12-12 record (9-10 in the Pac-12) was a huge accomplishment for a team that had been looking for its moment in the sun for decades.
Key losses: Head coach Kamie Ethridge is in a very good position to watch her team improve precisely because she lost so little. And “little” means literally no one. Everyone who could use the extra NCAA year used it. No one transferred out.
Key returners: The biggest returner for the Cougs is Charlisse Leger-Walker. The sophomore guard out of New Zealand was a revelation in her first season in Pullman. For much of the season, she led the league in scoring before falling behind Player of the Year Aari McDonald and UCLA star Michaela Onyenwere at the end. With both of those players now in the WNBA, Charlisse will be the highest-scoring returner in the Pac-12.
She’s not the only member of the Leger-Walker family who will be back. Older sister Krystal Leger-Walker was only expected to get to play one season for WSU after following Ethridge from Northern Colorado. The extra year granted by the NCAA changed all that. The sixth-year senior will now get to spend two seasons on the Palouse with her younger sister, giving the Cougars a very strong backcourt.
The team also returns starters Bella Murekatete, Johanna Teder and Ula Motuga. For a team that ended the year 12-12 and set milestones along the way, it’s a very good foundation.
Key additions: So far, Washington State brought in only one freshman. As per usual for this program, she’s an international player. Canadian Tara Wallack is a 6-foot-2 guard from South Surrey, British Columbia.
In early May, Ethridge also announced the signing of Australian point guard Tayah Bellows, but she is not yet listed on the Cougars’ roster for 2021-22. She was one of the youngest players in the WNBL, Australia’s top professional league, last year. According to the Spokane Spokesman-Review, Bellows will not be eligible to play until the end of the fall semester.
The Cougars are also awaiting one more addition. In late May, the program announced that former Arizona State forward Keeli Burton-Oliver had signed. She has not yet been added to the online roster, but she is expected to have four more years to play.
What’s next: There are uncertainties in several of the teams that finished in the top half last season. Couple that with the improvements within the Cougars’ program, and there’s good reason to believe they could move into the top half of the league standings next season and make their second straight NCAA Tournament.
The most important thing will be staying healthy at key positions. USC saw what could happen when a Freshman of the Year did not return healthy for her second season. If Charlisse Leger-Walker can avoid the fate of Alissa Pili, the Cougars will be dangerous.
Arizona State Sun Devils
2020-21 season: The Sun Devils had some great wins and some really bad losses. They closed out the season defeating their rivals and the national runners-up from Arizona. Just a week before, they were the victims of California’s only victory all season.
As with all Charli Turner Thorne-coached teams, they were defensively solid. They just struggled to shoot the ball, ending the year with an effective field goal percentage of 37.9 percent. That put them in the bottom fifth percentile of Division I women’s basketball, and the end result was a trip to the WNIT.
While it was still postseason play, it wasn’t what the Sun Devils have come to expect. It was the first time since the 2012-13 season that they did not go to the NCAA Tournament.
Key losses: The Sun Devils lost several key contributors to transfer or injury. Sophomores Sydnei Caldwell and Eboni Walker joined freshman Burton-Oliver in the portal.
Walker, who was second on the team in rebounding and third in scoring, has since signed with Syracuse. Caldwell went to Penn, and Burton-Oliver is expected to return to her home state to play for Washington State.
Transfers weren’t the only losses for ASU. Two rising seniors are no longer listed on the Sun Devils’ roster. Spanish guard/forward Iris Mbulito’s name was removed in June, but the reason for her departure is unclear. She missed several games last season due to injury. Guard Jamie Loera has medically retired, leaving another hole in the roster.
There were some continuity issues in the coaching ranks, as well. Tulsa hired away associate head coach Angie Nelp to become that program’s head coach. To replace her, Turner Thorne hired Yvonne Sanchez off the Michigan staff.
Key returners: 2021 All-Pac-12 honorable mention Taya Hanson is the most important returner for the Sun Devils. Hanson led ASU in scoring last season. For a team that sometimes has challenges on the offensive end of the court, it’s vital for the Sun Devils to keep some scoring continuity.
Jayde Van Hyfte is also crucial for ASU. The forward was the team’s second-leading rebounder two years ago, when she started all 31 games for the Sun Devils as a sophomore. Last season, she went down with a season-ending knee injury after playing just one game. ASU needs her to be good-as-new.
Key additions: In November, ASU signed a class of two including Australian guard Jade Melbourne and four-star wing Meg Newman. Newman was ranked No. 33 in the 2021 class and the sixth-best wing according to ESPN.
Unfortunately for the Sun Devils, Melbourne has since decided not to come to the U.S. She signed with an agent and went pro in her native Australia.
Turner Thorne also brought in Isadora Sousa from the juco ranks. The Brazilian guard has experience playing for her country’s U16 and U17 teams.
To help in the frontcourt, the Sun Devils turned to the portal with the recent addition of former Rutgers forward Mael Gilles. They have also added guards Ayzhiana Basallo (San Jose State) and Jade Loville (Boise State) to help improve the offense.
Basallo and Loville will be big contributors if they can transfer their production from the mid-major level to the Pac-12.
Basallo went into last season on the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year preseason watch list after scoring 18.5 points per game in her only season at SJSU. Then, the Spartans’ season was shut down after just four games.
Loville led the Broncos in scoring and was second in the Mountain West with 17.1 PPG. She set her career high by scoring 40 against UNLV in February.
What’s next: By ASU standards, it was a down year. Turner Thorne has argued that the NCAA’s new NET used for tournament evaluation shortchanges defensive teams like hers. The current formula is something they will have to deal with for at least another year or two, though, so the offense will have to be addressed.
The Sun Devils are usually a mid-range offensive team when it comes to scoring, but that’s related to pace. Their offensive rating (points per 100 possessions) regularly ranks in the top 75th percentile of Division I. That took a dramatic dive last season.
While Newman was not a high scorer in high school, she should be a strong addition for ASU. Her talent is mid-range offense and strong rebounding, which are typical of a Turner Thorne player. She was named to the 2021 Jersey Mike's Naismith High School Girls Midseason Team and she has been an Adidas All-American.
The return of Hanson will be critical for the Sun Devils, but the ability of Loville and Basallo to adapt to the Pac-12 might be the most important factor in what they do next season.
The problem is that they have lost a lot. Are they capable of making up for all of those losses?
USC Women of Troy
2020-21 season: Just as they were in 2019-20, the Women of Troy were sidetracked by a string of injuries this season as well as multiple COVID-19 related setbacks. As with the other three California-based teams, they had to comply with guidelines that were often more strict than in other parts of the conference.
Key losses: Shalexxus Aaron came to USC with a great deal of promise, but like many of the Women of Troy, she also dealt with injuries that kept her out of the game for long periods of time. She has since transferred to Syracuse as one of those seeking to fill the 11 players the Orange lost to the portal.
Despite having already spent four years at USC, Aaron was still just a redshirt sophomore. She suffered three serious injuries in high school, including two ACL tears, before dealing with more injury woes at USC.
Former McDonald’s All-American Angel Jackson is also looking for a new landing spot.
Most damaging to the roster was the loss of Endyia Rogers, who became the second USC point guard in the past three years to transfer to Oregon.
Many of the changes may well be related to an even bigger disruption: the need to replace the head coach. On April 23, head coach Mark Trakh announced that he was retiring. After a protracted search, USC was finally able to convince former California coach Lindsay Gottlieb to leave her assistant coaching position with the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and return to Pac-12 women’s basketball.
Key returners: USC still has talent. The program rarely lacks high-profile commits. The problem has been keeping their talent healthy and out of the portal.
Pili is the most important returner, but the Women of Troy need her to be the player of two years ago, not the one from last year. She was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in 2020, but was sidelined for much of the 2020-21 season and never seemed to get on track.
Jordan Sanders also returns after transferring in as a grad transfer last season. She was the second-leading scorer for USC in 2020-21..
With the loss of Rogers, senior Desiree Caldwell may take on a bigger role. She averaged 2.9 assists per game last season and was second on the team with 67 total assists.
Key additions: USC welcomes the No. 7 class to campus according to ESPN. The class, as recruited by Trakh, consisted of two players. When they’re both McDonald’s All-Americans, two may be all you need, but Gottlieb didn’t stop there.
The No. 21 overall player and No. 2 center Clarice Uche Akunwafo headlines the class, but No. 27 Rayah Marshall isn’t far behind. Those two were committed to the Women of Troy when Gottlieb got to town.
Gottlieb added her first commit just before summer. Bella Perkins, the 2021 Gatorade Virginia Player of the Year, committed to USC at the end of May.
VCU grad transfer Tera Reed has also joined the Women of Troy. Reed was All-Atlantic-10 first team as a sophomore and junior, then landed on the third team last year.
What’s next: The Women of Troy had no seniors last season, but the portal has proven to be just as damaging as graduation. It’s not the first time, either.
USC has lost several key players to transfer the last few years. Prior to the 2019-20 season, it was Minyon Moore and Ja’Tavia Tapley departing as grad transfers. Even worse, they went to conference rivals.
At this point, it’s difficult to tell how the Women of Troy will develop. Each year, it seems like it will be their breakout year, but injuries and transfers get in the way. While they will have celebrated talent once again, the question is how quickly things come together.
The new coaching staff has their work cut out for them. It could be one step back before they can start moving forward again.
Next week, we take a look at the teams that finished 10th-12th. Who did enough to improve their situation in 2021-22? A look at Utah, Washington and California will wrap up our summer check-in.
To catch up on the previous installments of this series, visit the following links:
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