WSU Stays In Hunt For Berth With Win

College women

Jenni Ruff scored 21 points to lead Washington State to an 83-65 Pacific-10 Conference women’s basketball win over Arizona in Tucson, Ariz. Saturday’s win gave Washington State a 15-10 overall record, 8-8 and sixth in the Pac-10. It also kept the Cougars in contention for a possible berth to the NCAA Tournament.

The Cougars also received double-figure scoring from Kireen Ellis, who recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Kelli Kronberger came off the bench to hit 4 of 7 from 3-point range and post 14 points.

Amy Saneholtz added 10 points for the Cougars, who have won four straight games and finish the conference season with home games against No. 4 Stanford and California.

The win also extended Washington State’s longest winning streak of the season to four games and was the team’s second straight conference road win.

Adia Barnes led all scorers with 24 points for Arizona (5-12, 10-19).

Ruff scored 10 of her points in the first half, hitting 3 of 3 from the floor and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line.

Washington State’s lead grew as large as 24 points in the first half after Kristin Erickson canned both ends of a one-and-one with 29.8 seconds to go. Arizona also turned the ball over 14 times in the first half.

After the Wildcats spent halftime discussing their 22-point deficit, the Cougars proceeded to widen the margin, stringing it to as much as 29 when Ellis scored a layup with 8:52 to go in the game.

Washington State remained unbeaten in games which it led at halftime, going to 12-0. On the other hand, Arizona dropped to 0-17 when trailing at the break.

Washington St. 83, Arizona 65

WASHINGTON STATE (15-10, 8-8)

Ruff 8-14 4-4 21, Saneholtz 3-3 4-6 10, Ellis 8-14 3-5 19, Wight 2-9 0-0 6, Jarosch 2-5 0-0 5, Kronberger 5-8 0-0 14, Erickson 1-4 3-4 6, Kunze 1-3 0-0 2, Keith 0-0 0-0 0, Evans 0-1 0-0 0, Whaley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-61 14-19 83. ARIZONA (10-19, 5-12)

Harris 2-6 1-2 5, Barnes 9-15 6-8 24, Giordano 3-8 2-4 8, Sweet 0-1 0-0 0, Pantoja 4-14 3-5 14, Minter 0-4 6-8 6, Constand 2-7 0-1 4, Clark 2-4 0-0 4, Alexander 0-1 0-0 0, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Imara 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 22-60 18-28 65.

Halftime score - Washington State 46, Arizona 24. 3-point goals - WSU 9-20 (Wight 2-7, Jarosch 1-3, Ruff 1-1, Erickson 1-2, Kronberger 4-7), Arizona 3-12 (Pantoja 3-10, Minter 0-1, Contsand 0-1). Fouled out - None. Rebounds - WSU 37 (Ellis 10), Arizona 39 (Harris 8). Assists - WSU 18 (Jarosch, Ruff 7), Arizona 10 (Pantoja 5). Steals - WSU 5 (Wight, Ruff 2), Arizona 16 (Barnes, Giordano, Minter, Constand 3). Turnovers - WSU 25 (Jarosch 10), Arizona 23 (Pantoja 6). Total fouls - WSU 20, Arizona 19. Technicals - Harris, Arizona. A - 1,275.

Washington 93, Arizona St. 54

In Tempe, Ariz., forward Rhonda Smith’s 18 points led the Huskies (12-4 Pac-10, 22-7) to a victory over the Sun Devils (2-15, 8-18).

Washington had 11 of 12 players score, five of them in double figures. Melissa Wusching scored 15, while Cynthia Lewis and Michelle Perkins added 12 each.

The Huskies opened the game with a 22-4 run and extended their lead to 46-18 by the half.

Sophomore Melissa Boyle led Arizona State with 15 points, while senior guard Tiffany Krahenbuhl added 10.

WASHINGTON (22-7)

Wusching 5-9 2-3 15, Lewis 5-9 0-0 12, Smith 7-14 1-1 15, Foucade 3-4 1-2 7, Kelly 1-4 1-3 3, Pelz 4-9 0-0 10, Savasta 3-7 1-2 9, Perkins 5-8 0-0 12, Miemela 1-3 1-2 3, Tilbrook 1-3 0-0 2, Hills 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 36-73 7-13 93.

ARIZONA STATE (8-18)

Tuter 4-10 0-1 8, Witkowski 1-2 0-0 2, Ziuraitis 2-2 0-0 4, Kellame 3-7 1-3 7, Freeman 1-2 0-0 2, Thorngren 1-3 0-1 2, Kotilainen 2-5 0-0 4, Boyle 7-11 0-0 15, Krahenbuhl 3-6 1-1 10, Lambert 0-4 0-1 0. Totals 24-52 2-7 54.

Halftime-Washington 46, Arizona St. 18. 3-Point goals- Washington 7-13 (Wusching 2-3, Smith 1-1, Savasta 1-2, Niemela 1-2, Foucade 1-2, Kelly 1-3), Arizona St. 2-7 (Krahenbuhl 1-1, Kellame 1-3, Tuter 0-1, Thorngren 0-1, Lambert 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Washington 42 (Pelz 12), Arizona St. 29 (Boyle 15). Assists-Washington 24 (Kelly 4), Arizona St. 19 (Kotilainen 4). Total fouls-Washington 13, Arizona St. 18. A-226.

E. Washington 62, Montana St. 52

Lori Napier had 17 points and Tina Smith added 15 points and 11 rebounds as the Eagles (8-6 Big Sky, 12-14) downed the Bobcats (9-5, 14-12) in Cheney.

Eastern Washington took advantage of Montana State’s 25-percent shooting from the field to take a 22-20 halftime lead. The Bobcats stayed in the game by hitting 7 of 12 from the foul line.

The Eagles pulled away 34-24 with 16:09 remaining on a free throw by Napier.

Montana State battled back to tie the game at 45-all on a jumper by Blythe Hommes with 5:58 remaining.

Napier scored six points in a 7-0 Eastern Washington run as the Eagles took a 52-45 lead with 4 minutes remaining in the game.

Montana State was forced to foul in the final minute, and Eastern Washington made 5 of 6 free throws to seal the victory.

Brooke Svendsen was the only Montana State player in double figures with 15 points and four assists.

Eastern is the No. 4 seed and will play champion Montana in the first round of the Big Sky tournament Friday night in Missoula. Montana State is No. 3 and will play No. 2 seed Boise State.

MONTANA STATE (14-12)

Nickelson 1-4 2-2 4, Beil 2-4 0-1 4, Wheeler 0-4 0-0 0, Svendsen 6-13 2-3 15, S. Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 0-1 2-2 2, Bowman 1-3 4-4 6, Hommes 3-6 1-2 7, N. Smith 0-1 3-5 3, Fluss 1-14 0-0 3, Wood 4-9 0-0 8. Totals 18-59 14-19 52.

EASTERN WASHINGTON (12-14)

T. Smith 6-11 0-0 15, Missall 4-11 0-0 8, Napier 6-12 5-6 17, Watterson 1-6 0-0 2, Sutter 1-1 6-9 8, Schwenke 2-5 0-0 5, Laky 2-3 0-0 5, Hollingbery 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 23-53 11-15 62.

Halftime-E. Washington 22, Montana St. 20. 3-point goals- Montana St. 2-16 (Svendsen 1-3, Fluss 1-11, Nickelson 0-1), E. Washington 5-12 (T. Smith 3-4, Laky 1-1, Schwenke 1-4, Watterson 0-1, Napier 0-2). Fouled out-none. Rebounds- Montana St. 39 (Beil 6), E. Washington 39 (T. Smith, Missall 11). Assists-Montana St. 11 (Svendsen 4), E. Washington 19 (Sutter 9). Total fouls-Montana St. 16, E. Washington 16. A-675.

Montana 83, Idaho 49

Kristy Langton-Schlimgen led five Montana players in double figures with 18 points as the Grizzlies thumped the Vandals at Moscow, Idaho.

Montana (12-2, 23-6) shot 57 percent in the first half in rolling out to a 45-25 halftime lead.

Eleven of 12 Grizzlies scored in the romp.

Mindy Rice led Idaho (3-11, 5-21) with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

Montana outrebounded Idaho 45-31 led by Jodi Hinrichs with nine.

MONTANA (23-6)

Langton-Schlimgen 7-13 2-2 18, Morast 2-4 0-0 4, Hinrichs 5-7 0-2 10, Koss 5-8 0-0 10, Brooks 6-13 0-0 14, Sisco 6-12 1-2 14, McElmurry 1-5 1-2 3, Turner 2-5 0-0 4, Sather 1-4 0-0 2, Bieber 0-1 0-0 0, Sackman 1-3 0-0 2, Kipp 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 37-77 4-10 83.

IDAHO (5-21)

McDaniel 2-2 0-0 4, Wykes 3-6 0-0 6, Rice 7-10 8-9 22, Johnson 1-7 0-0 3, Skorpik 1-8 2-2 5, Ortner 0-6 0-0 0, Payne 0-2 0-0 0, Ackerman 4-7 1-2 9, Edwards 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-49 11-13 49.

Halftime-Montana 45, Idaho 25. 3-point goals-Montana 5-14 (Sisco 1-1, Langton-Schlimgen 2-4, Brooks 2-7, Sisco 0-2), Idaho 2-13 (Skorpik 1-3, Johnson 1-4, Payne 0-1, Ortner 0-5). Fouled out-Bieber. Rebounds-Montana 45 (Hinrichs 9), Idaho 31 (Rice 10). Assists-Montana 14 (Brooks 4), Idaho 8 (Skorpik 3). Total fouls-Montana 18, Idaho 13. A-458.