WSU women lose in tournament

LOS ANGELES – Less than a week ago, the USC Trojans handed Washington State’s women a Pac-10 Conference defeat at the Galen Center by dominating inside and getting to the free-throw line. It worked once, right, so why not go back to the well? In a win-or-go-home, Pac-10 tournament first-round game at the same site Wednesday, USC attacked the Cougars relentlessly around the rim, pounding its way to a 78-66 victory and ending WSU’s season at 8-23. “With the lineup change, they certainly went inside a lot more, then the first time we played them six days ago,” said Washington State coach June Daugherty. The lineup change Daugherty was referring to concerned USC point guard, and All-Pac-10 first-team selection, Ashley Corral. The junior from Vancouver was serving a two-game, violation-of-team-rules suspension instituted after the Trojans’ 74-67 win over WSU last Thursday. Without Corral the Trojans rotation was thin, with only seven playing. But solidly built 6-foot-2 freshman Cassie Harberts (a career-high 31 points and 14 rebounds) and 6-5 senior Kari LaPlante (10 and 8) made the Cougar inside players look even thinner. “Our goal was to rebound,” said USC coach Michael Cooper. His team fulfilled it, dominating the boards 49-33, though WSU’s 6-foot Katie Madison grabbed 11 in her last game as a Cougar. “We’re missmatched anyway unless Carly (Noyes, a 6-5 center) is on the floor,” Daugherty said, “just because they’re 6-6 and they’re so long.” But the Cougars, who have yet to win in 10 Pac-10 tournament appearances, had their mismatches to exploit as well. Jazmine Perkins was a perpetual-motion machine, racing around to grab 11 rebounds and score a team-high 17 points, giving the junior 1,009 in her career. Freshman Sage Romberg is about 700 points behind her, but had just two less Wednesday, hitting three 3-pointers as WSU tried to compensate for the size differential by launching from beyond the arc 32 times. The Cougars made 11, the most exciting of which was April Cook’s 43-footer that banked in as the halftime buzzer sounded, cutting USC’s once 14-point first-half lead to 35-29. “I just knew the time was running out, I was wide open so I called for it,” said Cook, who ran off the court jumping up and down. “Half-court shots, I actually practice them at practice. “I was just trying to get my team excited.” She did. “It was definitely a momentum swing for us and gave us a lot of confidence going into the locker room,” Daugherty said. But a few stops would have helped more. The third-seeded Trojans (19-11) continually overloaded WSU’s matchup zone, then reversed the ball to a big matched against a guard who had to drop low. When WSU adjusted to that, USC guard Jackie Gemelos attacked with the bounce, finishing with 13 points. Leading 39-34, USC methodically pulled away, using a late 10-2 run – half of the points coming from the line – to seal it. The Trojans shot 23 second-half free throws and 31 overall, with Harberts making 11 of 13. “They did a lot of pick-and-roll Thursday night and we were late rotating on that,” Daugherty said. “Tonight they went more to the overload sets and tried to pound us inside.” Despite the loss, Daugherty looked at the roster and saw just two seniors, Madison and Katie Calderwood, leaving. “We’re a way different program in a lot of positive ways from the day they stepped in the door,” Daugherty said.