Women’s basketball: Colorado beats Washington State

Jen Reese scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Colorado built a 21-point lead in the first half and cruised to a 72-51 Pac-12 Conference win over Washington State Friday night in Boulder, Colorado.

Alina Hartmann knocked down a 3-pointer and followed it with a three-point play as Colorado (11-13, 4-9) doubled up the Cougars, 24-12 with 8:26 to play in the first half. Reese hit a jumper and a layup in the final 33 seconds of the half to cap an 8-1 run that made it 41-20 at intermission.

Washington State opened the second half with five straight points and later used an 11-2 run to cut the Buffaloes lead to 11 midway through the second half.

Colorado, however, responded with a quick 6-0 run to make it 53-36 with 9:08 left.

Lexy Kresl finished with 12 points and Hartmann added 11 as the Buffaloes were 26 of 62 from the floor, including 6 of 18 from beyond the arc, and were a perfect 14 for 14 from the free-throw line.

Lia Galdeira and Tia Presley scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, to lead Washington State (13-11, 4-9), which shot 22 of 67 from the field (32.8 percent) and just 3 of 24 from 3-point range.

The loss was the Cougars’ fifth straight. They play Utah in Salt Lake City on Sunday. Washington State beat the Utes 63-54 in the teams’ first meeting in Pullman on Jan. 23.

Utah 69, Washington 61: Taryn Wicijowski’s layup with 5:16 left gave Utah an 18-point lead and the Utes held on to upset the Huskies in a Pac-12 game in Salt Lake City.

Utah did not score again until Wicijowski hit a pair of free throws with 30 seconds left after the Huskies cut the lead to four points, 63-59.

Kelsey Plum knocked down three consecutive 3-pointers as Washington staged its comeback, but once the Huskies were forced to foul, the Utes were 6-for-6 from the free throw line.

Wicijowski finished with 20 points and nine rebounds to lead Utah (8-16, 2-11). Danielle Rodriguez added 11 while Tanaeya Boclair and Nakia Arquette both contributed 10 points.

Plum finished with 22 points to lead Washington (18-7, 7-6), shooting 7 of 14 from the field and 4 of 6 from beyond the arc. Talia Walton added 17 points and Jazmine Davis added another 14.

Washington made 10 of 12 free throws and forced 17 turnovers. Utah, however, won the rebounding battle 35-25.

The Huskies play Colorado in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday. Washington beat the Buffaloes 85-82 in Seattle on Jan. 23.

They host Washington State on Friday.