WSU Rides Ruff’s 35 To Ot Win Over Ucla

College women

Senior Jenni Ruff scored 35 points Saturday afternoon in her final game at Washington State, leading the Cougars to an 88-81 women’s basketball victory over UCLA in overtime at Friel Court.

WSU is 17-12 overall, 8-10 in the Pacific-10 Conference. Yvonne Kunze overcame a scoreless first half to finish with 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Cougars, posting her ninth double-double of the season.

Ruff closed her career second on WSU’s career list with 1,526 points. Her 685 points this season is a WSU record.

The Bruins (13-14, 8-10) were led by five players in double figures. Kisa Hughes had 18 points, while Tawana Grimes added 17, Aisha Veasley 15, Erica Gomez 14 and Mari Bruningham 10 off the bench. Hughes had 12 rebounds and Veasley pulled down 10.

Four UCLA players starters Zrinka Kristich and Nickey Hilbert, plus Ricarda Kuypers and Allison Arredondo - missed the game while serving suspensions for violating unspecified team rules.

There were nine lead changes during the last 10 minutes of the second half, with neither team holding more than a three-point lead. A pair of Ruff free throws with 33 seconds left in regulation gave WSU a 68-66 lead, but Gomez answered to force OT.

Erickson hit a 3 early in OT, and Kunze followed with four quick points as the Cougars led 75-68. WSU held on by hitting 11 of 13 free throws in overtime, including 7 of 9 for Ruff.

“All year long we have done a great job down the stretch,” Cougars coach Harold Rhodes said. “I knew when we were up by seven it was over.”

WSU hit 4 of 5 from the floor in OT, compared to 5 of 14 for UCLA. The Bruins outrebounded the Cougars 45-43 and grabbed more steals, 12-7, but made only 7 of 15 free throws to WSU’s 17 of 21.

WSU 88, UCLA 81

UCLA (81) - Aisha Veasley 7-15 1-2 15, Kisa Hughes 9-16 0-4 18, Erica Gomez 6-18 1-2 14, Jamie 3-7 1-2 7, Tawana Grimes 6-12 4-4 17, Mari Burningham 5-11 0-0 10, Laura Tomich 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 36-83 7-15 81.

Washington State (88) - Jenni Ruff 11-18, 10-13 35, Kristin Erickson 3-8 2-2 9, Yvonne Kunze 8-13 2-2 18, Jade Hyett 0-0 3-4 3, Kelli Kronberger 2-9 0-0 1-6, Julie Wight 3-7 0-0 9, Jennifer Kerns 2-3 0-0 4, Wilder 2-4 0-0 4, Whaley 0-0 0-0 0, Adrienne Keith 0-0 0-0 0, Amyu Cooper 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-63 17-21 88.

Halftime - 33-30. 3-Point goals - UCLA 2-13 (Gomea 1-8, Oenning 0-2, Grimes 1-3). WSU 9-21 (Ruff 3-6, Erickson 1-4, Kronberger 2-6, Wight 3-5). Fouled out - Veasley. Rebounds - UCLA 45 (Hughes 12). WSU 43 (Kunze 12). Assists - UCLA 17 (Gomez 8). WSU 22 (Hyett 9). Steals - UCLA 12 (Veasley 6). WSU 7 (Ruff, Kunze 2). Turnovers - UCLA 24 (Gomez 8). WSU 28 (Ruff 8). Total fouls - UCLA 16. WSU 14. Technical - Wight. A - 655. Washington 63, USC 57

Jamie Redd scored 11 of her 17 points during a 26-9 second-half run that put the Huskies ahead for good against the visiting Trojans.

Washington (16-13, 10-8 Pac-10) finished the regular season tied for third in conference with Arizona and Oregon.

USC (13-14, 8-10) finished with its first losing season since 1990.

Southern Cal (13-14) - Thompson 10-16 5-9 26, Anton 1-8 0-0 2, Williams 6-8 1-3 13, Jackson 0-1 0-0 0, Mashia 3-11 3-4 9, Clark 1-2 0-0 3, Jeffrey 1-1 0-0 2, Campbell 1-4 0-0 2, Parriott 0-0 0-0 0, Circle 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-51 9-16 57.

Washington (16-13) - Wuschnig 6-14 2-3 15, Pelz 1-5 0-1 2, Hoffman 1-1 0-0 2, Savasta 4-15 5-6 13, Kelly 4-8 0-2 9, Redd 5-9 7-12 17, Hall 1-2 3-9 5, Niemela 0-0 0-1 0, Lynch 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-56 17-34 63.

Halftime-Southern Cal 29, Washington 23. 3-Point goals- Southern Cal 2-6 (Thompson 1-1, Clark 1-1, Anton 0-4), Washington 2-7 (Kelly 1-2, Wuschnig 1-4, Savasta 0-1). Fouled out-Jeffrey. Rebounds-Southern Cal 40 (Thompson 8), Washington 36 (Hall 10). Assists-Southern Cal 5 (Jackson 2), Washington 8 (Kelly 4). Total fouls-Southern Cal 27, Washington 17. A-5,018.

Big Sky championship

At Missoula, Mont., Greta Koss scored a career-high 32 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Montana Grizzlies (24-4) to a 72-60 victory over Weber State (17-12) for the conference title. The Griz won their third straight Big Sky title and ninth in the past 11 years. With the victory, Montana earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Weber St. (17-12) - Sorenson 1-3 1-2 3, Berg 3-13 1-3 7, Brown 7-14 12-12 26, Martin 2-6 0-1 5, Gardner 2-10 2-2 8, Allen 1-7 2-2 4, Hansen 0-8 3-4 3, Friend 0-1 0-0 0, Wimmer 1-4 2-2 4. Totals 17-66 23-28 60.

Montana (24-4) - Koss 11-16 9-9 32, Kipp 2-6 0-0 4, Bieber 3-8 0-0 6, Beattie 1-8 6-6 8, Brooks 5-17 3-6 14, Redpath 1-3 0-0 2, McElmurry 0-3 0-0 0, Turner 2-2 2-2 6, Rasmussen 0-0 0-0 0, Sackman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-63 20-23 72.

Halftime-Montana 33, Weber St. 24.

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