Area college basketball: Washington State women lose to No. 17 South Florida after cold first half

Nothing went right for Washington State’s women’s basketball team during the first half Friday.

The Cougars (1-3) suffered through a scoreless first quarter and reached halftime with only eight points during an 82-45 loss to 17th-ranked South Florida (4-0) at the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Florida.

The Cougars hadn’t been held scoreless in a quarter since the women’s game switched to quarters two seasons ago. WSU’s eight first-half points were its lowest 20-minute output since joining the Pac-10 Conference in 1986-87.

Kitija Laksa hit five 3-pointers and scored 23 points for the Bulls, who had never played the Cougars.

WSU’s Louise Brown scored seven of her team-high nine points in the third quarter.

Washington 67, Creighton 64: Mai-Loni Henson’s putback with 35 seconds left broke a tie and allowed the Huskies (2-2) to edge the Bluejays (3-2) to open the South Point Shootout in Las Vegas.

Henson capped the win by grabbing a defensive rebound with 5 seconds left and hitting 1 of 2 free throws. She finished with 17 points and nine rebounds.

The Huskies play No. 2 Texas on Saturday.

Idaho 80, Cal State Fullerton 75: Geraldine McCorkell scored 25 points and Mikayla Ferenz added 22 as the Vandals (22) stopped the Matadors (0-5) at the Warner Center Marriott Thanksgiving Basketball Classic in Northridge, California.

McCorkell and Ferenz combined to hit 18 of 34 from the floor. The Vandals finished 13 of 31 on 3-pointers.

Taylor Pierce hit four 3-pointers and had seven rebounds for Idaho, which will meet TCU at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Whitworth 66, Evergreen State 64: Madison Moffat scored five points during an 8-0 first-half run and had a key steal with 1 second left as the Pirates (3-1) held off the Geoducks (0-1) in nonconference play in Walla Walla.

Camy Aquinaldo had 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Pirates, who overcame an 11-point, first-half deficit and held tough when the Geoducks had a late 8-0 run.

Chloe Quinnett, Erika Kuehn and Moffat scored during a 7-0 run that gave the Pirates a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Men

Whitworth 75, North Central (Illinois) 72: Kyle Roach scored 22 points and the Pirates (4-0) made key late plays to defeat the 12th-ranked Cardinals (1-2) at the Hoops in Hawaii Thanksgiving Classic in Honolulu.

After preseason All-American Alex Sorenson hit a jumper to give the Cardinals a 69-68 lead with 2:29 to play, Ben Bishop answered with a basket with 2:02 left and a free throw 11 seconds later to put Whitworth ahead for good.

Jordan Lester sealed the win with two free throws with 15 seconds left.

Bishop finished with a season-high 17 points. Whitworth’s Jared Christy added 14 points and six rebounds.

The Pirates will meet Arcadia (Pennsylvania) on Saturday.

CC Spokane 106, Mt. Hood 76: Cameron Gay led five players in double figures with 18 points and the Sasquatch (1-0) shot 14 of 29 on 3-pointers to roll past the Saints (0-3) to open the Red Devil Classic in Longview, Washington.

Gay finished 7 for 12 from the floor.

Isaiah Gotell came off the bench to score 17 for the Sasquatch, hitting 6 of 9 from the field and tying Taron Mesropian with a team-high six rebounds.

Ryan Alexander added 15 points for CCS, shooting 6 of 8 from the floor, including 3 of 5 from long range. Anthony Parker added team highs of seven assists and six steals.

The Sasquatch will meet Olympic (2-0) at 6 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals.