Washington State women’s basketball is bringing two familiar faces into the fold for the 2026-27 season, with head coach Kamie Ethridge adding former Cougar standout Ula Motuga as an assistant coach and recent WSU graduate Mattias Lindgren as video coordinator.
Ethridge said the moves come with plenty of excitement around the program.
“It is with such excitement that I announce Ula Motuga returning to the Cougs as an Assistant coach, and Mattias Lindgren moving from a student manager to a full-time coach position,” said Ethridge. “Coug Nation, help us welcome these two new coaches, support our 2026-27 team and buy season tickets now for WSU women’s basketball! Go Cougs!”
Ethridge is entering her ninth season leading the Cougars. Associate head coach Laurie Koehn is also beginning her ninth season at WSU, while director of player personnel Deb Patterson returns for her eighth and assistant coach Camille Williams is back for her seventh.
Motuga’s return stands out as the biggest addition. She spent the past two seasons on Nevada’s women’s basketball staff after a five-year playing career at Washington State that left her with the most games played in program history and eighth all-time in total rebounds. She was part of a Cougar rise that went from nine wins during her freshman season to 23 wins and a Pac-12 Tournament Championship in 2023, the final chapter of her playing career.
Her resume at WSU went beyond the stat sheet, too. Motuga earned Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll recognition four times and served as a graduate assistant for student-athlete development in 2023-24. Originally from Logan City, Australia, she graduated from WSU with her bachelor’s degree in 2022 and her master’s in 2024.
“Ula was our first recruit when we came to WSU,” said Ethridge. “She chose the Cougs before we ever won a game.
In Ula’s four years as a Coug she led us to three NCAA tournaments and a 2023 Pac-12 Tournament Championship. I am excited to hire someone who bleeds crimson and is a Coug through and through.
She is loyal, young, has a tremendous basketball IQ and is driven to come back into our program in a new role and impact winning again!”
Lindgren’s path to a full-time role has been built inside the program. He spent three years as a student manager with the staff, handling data analytics, after two years on the grey squad. He also worked as an intern with the creative media team and produced content for women’s basketball during that time.
A 2026 WSU graduate, Lindgren earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism and media production.
“Mattias brings expertise in graphic design, video/analytics, practice video cut-ups, and player development,” said Ethridge. “Mattias has shown tremendous enthusiasm and passion for our program.”
In Other News...
Cougars First Look Raised One Very Strange Frontcourt Question
Washington States first exhibition offered the usual early-season caveats, but it also flashed a roster issue that was hard to miss in Abbotsford. The Cougars beat the University of the Fraser Valley 113-87 in a game played with a 24-second shot clock, and the pace, whistles and free throws made it feel more like a stress test than a tune-up. Jaylen Harrell led WSU with 21 points, and the minutes were spread around as the staff got a look at a group still sorting itself out.
What stood out most was how thin the Cougars looked up front, with several key players unavailable and the frontcourt rotation forced into some unusual combinations. Washington State is still in the part of the preseason where experimentation matters more than the final score, but this was the kind of game that can expose how much flexibility the roster really has when the season starts to demand more from the bigs. [Read more 🡒]