Stout defense the backbone of WSU women’s run to the WNIT Final Four
After former Washington State men’s basketball coach Ken Bone was fired in March 2014, his assistant, Rod Jensen was packing up his moving truck to leave Pullman when WSU women’s basketball coach June Daugherty stopped by.
Jensen and Daugherty share a relationship that dates back to the late eighties, when Daugherty got her first head coaching opportunity at Boise State and Jensen – then the Broncos’ men’s basketball coach – was on the committee that interviewed and hired her.
They stayed touch through the years, chatting basketball and exchanging ideas every chance they got. Daugherty says she’s always admired Jensen’s vaunted defensive system from afar. So when she caught Jensen and his wife, Brenda, on their way out of town in 2014, she propositioned him: “I’d really love to have your defense in our program,” Daugherty told Jensen.
Even though Jensen had never coached women in his three decades in the business, he was excited by the prospect of finally getting to work with an old friend: “Coach, I’d love to stay here if we can work it out,” he told her.
It took another year before Daugherty had an opening on her staff, but since Jensen moved back to Pullman to rejoin the Cougars women as defensive coordinator in July 2015, his aggressive man-to-man style of defense has become the reliable staple in two seasons marred by roster turnover, a steep learning curve and freak injuries.
Daugherty credits the Cougars’ defense for keeping them in games this year in between the personnel losses they endured when three starters suffered season-ending injuries, and on Wednesday, WSU (16-19) will ride its stout defense into Atlanta, Ga. for its WNIT Final Four showdown against Georgia Tech (21-14), an equally strong defensive team.
“When you watch them on film, they play very physical and very athletic. They’re one of the more athletic teams we’ve seen this year, and with the amount of defense they mix up in there, you’ve got to be on the same page to defend what they’re doing,” Daugherty said. “They’ve always taken great pride in their defense at Georgia Tech.”
But the Cougars are proud of their defensive prowess too. WSU ranks 18th nationally in rebounding and has set a new school record for rebounds in a season (1,420). The Cougs also top the Pac-12 with 19.3 turnovers forced per game, and rank 12th nationally with 368 steals.
Much of that production comes from junior guard Caila Hailey, a two-time honorable mention All-Pac-12 defensive team selection who has become WSU’s best defensive player.
“She sets the tone for us. She’s very unique in that she can pressure the ball,” Jensen said. “She’s a pretty doggone good athlete, she’s explosive and her lateral quickness is very, very good. She can just sit down and spread it out. She’s got quick hands too, so if you make a mistake, she can gobble it up.”
With a team-high 74 steals this season, Hailey has more than doubled the 36 she managed last year, and she’s also third on the team with 156 rebounds – an average of 4.5 per game.
The Cougars play an aggressive defensive scheme that focuses on drawing out the clock, keeping the offense out as far as possible, and causing chaos with steals and forced turnovers.
“We’re not one to sit back and let you do what you want to do,” Jensen said.
Everyone has pulled their weight this year, especially since WSU hit the postseason and found its stride. The Cougars are now sitting on a four-game win streak – their longest of the year.
Jensen says senior Ivana Kmetovska has been WSU’s most consistent defensive player this year. Nike McClure set a new school single season record with 66 blocks, while sophomore Alexys Swedlund has matured on the defensive end, and has pulled down 86 defensive boards compared to 17 from last season. Maria Kostourkova leads the team with 116 defensive rebounds, and Pinelopi Pavlopoulou has more than doubled her productivity from the 2015-16 season in rebounds (from 57 last year to 131 this year) and steals (from 29 to 60).
“We don’t play man-to-man defense, we play team man-to-man defense,” Jensen said. “In what we do, everybody has to be involved. Caila sets the tone, but everybody else has to do their jobs as well.”
Stefanie Loh: sloh@seattletimes.com; on Twitter: @StefanieLoh. Stef Loh has covered college football in four conferences on both coasts, but her heart has always been rooted in the Pacific Northwest. She joined The Seattle Times in August 2015. She loves wine tasting, Olympic weightlifting, fall colors and college football Saturdays.
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AMX-2017-03-29T14:10:00-04:00
This story was originally published March 29, 2017 at 3:52 PM with the headline "Stout defense the backbone of WSU women’s run to the WNIT Final Four."