Roundup: Cougars hold off Dons for first win of season

Borislava Hristova scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds to guide the Washington State Cougars to a 74-70 victory over the San Francisco Dons in nonconference action on Wednesday night in San Francisco.

The Cougars (1-2) led 36-35 at halftime, but were outscored 19-12 in the third period and headed to the fourth quarter trailing 54-48.

But Hristova scored six points, including a go-ahead layup with 6:57 remaining to give the Cougars a 62-61 lead. Alexys Swedlund and Louis Brown hit consecutive 3-pointers to stretch the lead to 68-61 with 5:44 left.

The Dons battled back to pull within 71-70 when Shannon Powell made 1 of 2 free throws, but Kayla Washington hit 1 of 2 free throws and scored on a layup at the buzzer to preserve WSU’s first win of the season.

Chanelle Molina scored 11 for WSU, despite missing all six of her 3-point attempts. She also finished with six assists and two steals. Washington, a reserve, scored 13 on 6-of-8 shooting with six rebounds and two steals.

San Francisco was led by the 16 points and 10 rebounds of Shannon Powell. Kalyn Simon was the only other Don in double figures, scoring 11.

The Cougars won despite hitting just 4 of 17 3-pointers (23.5 percent) and 8 of 16 free throws. WSU shot 43.1 percent from the floor, while holding USF to 39.1-percent shooting. The Cougs also outrebounded the Dons 50-39.

(9) Ohio State 99, Idaho 56: Linnae Harper and Stephanie Mavunga each notched double-doubles to lead the Buckeyes (2-1) to a comfortable victory over the visiting Vandals (1-1) in nonconference play in Columbus, Ohio.

Harper finished with game highs of 18 points and 18 rebounds, while Mavunga added 17 points and 14 boards.

Ohio State dominated the boards 59-35. The Buckeyes outscored Idaho 19-0 on second-chance points and had a 19-7 advantage in points off turnovers.

Ohio State also received double-figure scoring from Kelsey Mitchell (16), Sierra Calhoun (15) and reserve Jensen Caretti (14).

Mikayla Ferenz topped the Vandals with 17 points, but was just 3 of 11 from 3-point range. Geraldine McCorkell added 14 points, but missed all five of her shots from beyond the 3-point arc. Allison Kirby grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

The Vandals connected on just 36.7 percent from the floor (22 of 60), including a dismal 18.8 percent from long range (6 of 32).

Washington 80, BYU 72: Amber Melgoza scored 20 points to lead five players in double figures and the Huskies (1-1) used a decided advantage at the free-throw line to hold off the Cougars (1-1) in nonconference action in Seattle.

Khayla Rooks and reserve Mai-Loni Henson each scored 13 for the Huskies, who entered the fourth quarter with a 72-58 lead.

Cassie Broadhead Devashrayee scored a game-high 22 points for BYU, hitting 4 of 10 from 3-point range. Shalae Salmon added eight points and a game-high 15 rebounds, while Brenna Chase and reserve Liz Eaton each scored 12.

The Huskies shot 40 percent from the floor (24 of 60) and 3-point range (12 of 30) and hit 20 of their 29 free throws. BYU shot 40 percent from the floor and 39.1 from long range, but hit just 11 of 17 free throws.