WSU women improve to 8-1 by holding off Gonzaga

PULLMAN – The women’s basketball rivalry between Gonzaga and Washington State has been full of heart-pounding finishes in recent years.

Louise Brown figured she’d spare her blood pressure.

WSU’s sophomore forward from Australia took over in the final 5 minutes on offense and defense, pushing the Cougars to a comfortable 55-48 nonconference victory in front of 1,302 fans.

“We have just so much respect for Gonzaga and what they’ve done in their program year after year, after year,” WSU coach June Daugherty said. “They were 5 minutes away from an Elite Eight. We know it’s going to be a good game. We have great, healthy respect for their players. We knew it was going to be a heck of a ball game, and it was.”

Just 17 total points decided the previous four matchups. Tuesday’s game was nearly another classic, but the Bulldogs (6-4), who were playing their first true road game of the season, could not keep pace with the Cougars.

With 2:20 left in the game and WSU leading just 42-40, Brown drew a charge on Bulldogs guard Emma Stach. She then inbounded the ball to a streaking Borislava Hristova, who got behind GU’s press defense for an uncontested layup.

Stach cut the lead with a 3-pointer but the Bulldogs were called for another charge – this one by Elle Tinkle – and Brown buried a 3-pointer to make it a two-possession game. Brown then secured a rebound that was so hotly contested that a foul was called on GU’s Kiara Kudron, sending Brown to the line to extend WSU’s lead.

The Bulldogs were led by senior center Shelby Cheslek – a Pullman native – who paced them with 15 points and 14 rebounds.

Neither team scored consistently. The Cougars shot 31.7 percent from the field, GU 28.1 percent.

“They’re a great defensive team,” Brown said. “It was going to be a defensive battle from the get-go.”

WSU (8-1) is off to its best start since the 1989-90 season, despite losing two players – Lia Galdiera and Tia Presley – who accounted for 50 percent of the team’s scoring last year.

The game was another showcase for Hristova, WSU’s star freshman, who led all scorers with 17 points and added six rebounds. Hristova is the team’s leading scorer, averaging 20.6 points per game entering Tuesday’s game.

The Cougars shot their way to an early lead, making 3 of 5 3-point attempts in the first quarter to give themselves a 21-12 advantage at the break.

GU opens the second half on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 29-27. Dawnyelle Awa’s 3-pointer ended the run.