Coug Women Come Up Big Against Bears

Washington State’s twin towers, Alke Dietel and Yvonne Kunze, combined for 41 points as the Cougars upended the host California Bears 72-65 Saturday afternoon in a Pacific-10 Conference women’s basketball game at the Kaiser Arena.

Dietel scored 21 and Kunze 20 for WSU (9-7 overall, 3-4 Pac-10), while Tricia Lamb added 13 points, all in the second half, and Joanna Smith scored 12. The Cougars outrebounded the Bears 41-37 on the strength of Kunze’s 12 rebounds, and

after turning the ball over 18 times in the first half, WSU made just eight turnovers in the second 20 minutes.

Masa Radovic scored 18 for California (5-12, 1-6), while Paige Bowie added 13, Amber Lacey 12 and Kenya Corley 10.

WSU shot 48.2 percent, including 9 of 16 3-pointers. Smith scored all of her points from beyond the arc, making all four attempts, while Dietel added three 3-pointers and Lamb two. The Cougars made 14 of 26 shots in the second half.

“We talked about pride at halftime,” WSU coach Harold Rhodes said after the game. “We needed to slow down and play under control instead of rushing our passes and our shots. We also needed to back up and not allow their swarming pressure to get to us. It came down to picking up our intensity in all areas and yet being patient.”

WSU took the lead for good on a rebound basket by Kunze that broke a 43-43 tie early in the second half. Lamb then hit a 3-pointer and WSU, during the course of a 23-9 run over the next 10 minutes, went up by 14, 66-52, with 2:25 to play.

Kunze and Dietel paced WSU in the first half with 12 points each. Still, after jumping out to an 11-point lead, 21-10, with 10:30 left in the half, the Cougars squandered much of their hard work. Cal used a half-court trapping defense to force WSU into 18 turnovers in the first half.

WSU ran off eight straight to take an 11-4 lead. Kunze had a pair of buckets in the 13-2 run that produced a 16-6 lead.

In the middle of the first half, California ran off 11 points, including four from Bowie. WSU’s only answer was a Dietel jumper and a free throw by Kunze after Bears coach Marianne Stanley was hit with a technical foul with 8:17 remaining before intermission.

WSU led by seven late in the first half before the Bears scored five straight to end the first 20 minutes.

“We talked before the game about how important this game was,” Rhodes said. “We are not happy playing .500 basketball, but it is better than being swept. We needed a win to keep us up in the Pac-10 standings.”

WSU returns home for four straight at Friel Court, including USC Thursday and UCLA Saturday afternoon.

Washington St. 72, California 65

Washington St. (9-7) - Dietel 9-17 0-0 21, Evans 2-4 0-0 4, Kunze 8-16 0-0 20, Lamb 4-8 3-6 13, Myseth 0-0 0-0 0, Kerns 0-2 2-2 2, Volkman 0-1 0-0 0, Rubio 0-4 0-0 0, Smith 4-4 0-0 12. Totals 27-56 9-14 72.

California (5-12) - Bowie 5-12 1-2 13, Folsom 2-10 2-2 7, Lacey 6-10 0-0 12, Johnson 0-10 3-4 3, Radovic 7-11 3-3 18, Leanader 0-2 0-0 0, Churchill 0-0 0-0 0, Corley 5-9 0-0 10, Ashbaugh 0-2 2-4 2, Inoue 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 25-69 11-15 65.

Halftime-Washington St. 32, California 30. Fouled out-none. 3-Point goals-Washington St. 9-16 (Smith 4-4, Dietel 3-5, Lamb 2-6, Volkman 0-1), California 4-9 (Bowie 2-4, Folsom 1-2, Radovic 1-1, Corley 0-1, Johnson 0-1). Assists-Washington St. 16 (Kerns 5), California 18 (Bowie 5). Rebounds- Washington St. 41 (Kunze 12), California 37 (Ashbaugh 8). Total fouls- Washington St. 17, California 17. Technical fouls-California coach Stanley. A-575.