Washington State Women’s Basketball Faces Seton Hall in Key Non-Conference Matchup
The Washington State University women’s basketball team (1-10, 0-0 WCC) travels to South Orange, New Jersey, to face the Seton Hall Pirates (6-3, 1-0 Big East) on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, at 4 p.m. PT. The game, taking place at Walsh Gymnasium, will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Ryan Johnston and Phil Stern calling the action.
The Cougars are nearing the conclusion of their challenging northeast road trip, with a final non-conference game scheduled against Penn on Friday, December 19, at 8 a.m. PT, also broadcast on ESPN+. Following a brief Christmas break, WSU will embark on its West Coast Conference (WCC) schedule, opening against Pepperdine on Sunday, December 28.
WSU has encountered a difficult start to the season, hampered by early-season injuries to key players. Starting center and leading shot blocker Alex Covill, along with transfer forward Lauren Glazier, have been sidelined for multiple games. Additionally, starting guard and leading scorer Eleonora Villa has seen limited playing time as the team navigates a demanding non-conference schedule that included matchups against formidable opponents such as No. 5 LSU, Stanford, Texas Tech, Oregon, Missouri, BYU, and UNLV.
Despite the challenges, the Cougars returned six players from their 2024-25 roster, including Villa and Covill, alongside Charlotte Abraham, Marta Alsina, Jean Chiu, and redshirt Keandra Koorits. The team has also welcomed transfers Mackenzie Chatfield and Glazier, alongside promising freshmen Malvina Haziri, Tahara Magassa, Malia Ruud, and Tanja Valancic.
Record Book Climbers and Milestone Watch
Several Cougars are on the verge of achieving significant milestones. Eleonora Villa currently boasts 1,112 career points, placing her 19th all-time in program history, just 27 points shy of climbing to 18th. She also has 114 career three-pointers, 19 away from entering the WSU all-time top-10 list, and 439 career field goals, 61 from reaching 500. Villa’s 2,683 career minutes played put her 317 minutes from 3,000 and 640 from a top-10 program ranking.
Alex Covill is also making her mark, with 118 career blocks, currently seventh all-time at WSU. She is 52 rebounds away from 250 and 163 points shy of 500 for her career.
This contest marks the first-ever meeting between the Washington State and Seton Hall women’s basketball programs.
Freshmen Making an Immediate Impact
Redshirt freshman Keandra Koorits made a splash in her WSU debut on November 3, scoring 23 points – the most by a Cougar freshman since Charlisse Leger-Walker’s 23-point performance on January 1, 2021. Koorits’ debut ranks fourth all-time in program history for points scored by a freshman, trailing only Lia Galdeira’s program record of 33 points at Minnesota on November 10, 2012.
True freshman Malia Ruud has also emerged as a key contributor, averaging 10.2 points over 27.4 minutes per game. She delivered a game-high 11 points against Stanford on November 14 and a career-best 19 points against Oregon on November 19, shooting 46.5 percent from the field (46-of-99) with 45 rebounds, 10 blocks, and nine steals.
Notably, Ruud’s .465 field goal percentage ranks seventh nationally among all freshmen with at least 46 made field goals and sixth among true freshmen.
Adding to the team’s unique story, freshman guard Malvina Haziri, hailing from Kosovo, is the youngest active player in NCAA Division I women’s basketball at 16 years old, set to turn 17 on December 30, 2025.
The Cougars were selected to finish third in the WCC by both coaches and media, marking the second-highest preseason conference prediction in program history. Prior to this, WSU was picked fifth in the Pac-12 in 2023-24 and the Pac-10 in 1991-92.
In a sign of stability and confidence in the program’s direction, WSU Athletics announced a one-year contract extension for Head Coach Kamie Ethridge on March 4, securing her position in Pullman through the 2030-31 season.
Single-game tickets for the 2025 women’s basketball season are currently available for purchase online at wsucougars.com, by calling the WSU Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-GO-COUGS, or by clicking HERE. Fans can stay up-to-date on the latest WSU women’s basketball news, photos, and videos by following the team on Facebook (facebook.com/WSUCougarWBB), Twitter (@WSUCougarWBB), and Instagram (@wsucougarwbb).
