Area college hoops: Cougar women hold off Huskies 78-75 in overtime

Borislava Hristova scored seven of her game-high 25 points in overtime and Nike McClure added a double-double with 16 points and 16 rebounds as the Washington State Cougars women held off the Washington Huskies 78-75 in Pac-12 Conference play on Wednesday night in Pullman.

Chanelle Molina added 13 points and four assists for the Cougars (9-7, 2-5) in a game that was tied at the end of the first, second and fourth quarters.

Amber Melgoza topped the Huskies (6-12, 0-7) with 22 points, Hannah Johnson added 13 points and 16 rebounds and Colton High graduate Jenna Moser scored 11.

WSU trailed 28-23 in the second quarter, but a Kayla Washington basket started a 13-0 run and gave the Cougars their largest lead of the night 36-28. But Johnson and Moser buried 3s in an 8-0 run to pull the Huskies even at halftime.

WSU took a four-point lead into the fourth quarter and led 68-67 on Molina’s 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in regulation, but Melgoza hit 1 of 2 free throws with 4 seconds left to force overtime.

The Cougars shot 44 percent from the floor and held the Huskies to 36 percent shooting. The Cougars shot better from the 3-point line than the free-throw line. WSU hit 7 of 17 from long range (41 percent), but just 7 of 18 (39 percent) from the foul line.

Alexis Castro tallied 17 poiints, eight assists and four steals, Aspen Fiander scored 16 and Sara Ramirez snared 10 rebounds to lead the visiting Columbia Basin Hawks (15-4, 5-0) to a 64-48 victory over the Community Colleges of Spokane Sasquatch in Northwest Athletic Conference action.

Jessica Olson topped the Sasquatch (10-6, 1-4) with 18 points, Rose Mongoyak scored 10 and Shaye Swannack chipped in with eight points and nine rebounds.

CC Spokane hit just 18 of 58 shots from the floor (31 percent), including 4 of 26 from the 3-point arc (15 percent).

Jade Skidmore finished with a triple-double and Cierra Jo McKeown scored 31 with six rebounds and six assists to power the visiting Walla Walla Warriors (17-1, 5-0) to a 101-89 victory over the North Idaho Cardinals (13-5, 3-2) in NWAC play.

Skidmore totaled 22 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, while McKeown, who graduated from Touchet High and is headed for UC Davis next season, hit 12 of 16 shots from the floor, including 7 of 9 from 3-point range.

Ronnie Harris hit three 3-pointers and scored 22 to pace NIC. Cierra Dvorak added 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Whitney Meir added 14 points and reserves Lana Berg and Zosha Krupa scored 11 apiece.

Men

Lamar Harris and Cesar Sandoval scored 17 apiece, with Harris adding 11 rebounds off the bench to complete a double-double and the CC Spokane Sasquatch (14-4, 4-1) romped to a 108-54 win over the visiting Columbia Basin Hawks (3-15, 1-5) in NWAC play.

Isaiah Gotell added 15 points for the Sasquatch, while Dedrick Pakootas and George Pilimai each scored 14.

Reserves Levi Noethe and Josh Brantley paced the Hawks with 16 and 15 points, respectively.

Landon Radliff played all 40 minutes and hit six 3-pointers on his way to 31 points to propel the visiting Walla Walla Warriors (14-4, 4-1) to an 85-82 win over the North Idaho Cardinals (13-5, 3-2) in NWAC action.

Damen Thacker added 16 points for the Warriors, who hit 15 of 36 (42 percent) from long range.

RayQuan Evans paced the Cardinals with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Jalen Burkett and Charles Williams added 15 points each.

NIC hit just 3 of 12 (25 percent) from distance.