Cougars Pull Last-Second Escape Controversial Foul, Free Throw Give WSU 72-71 Win Over Idaho

Washington State women’s basketball coach Harold Rhodes and Idaho coach Julie Holt were hopping mad after their teams met Tuesday night at Idaho’s Memorial Gym.

WSU won the game with .1 of a second left when Jade Hyett made her second free throw in a two-shot foul situation to give the Cougars a 72-71 win.

The score was tied 71-71 when Hyett went to the free-throw line, where she missed on her first attempt. Hyett went to the line after she was fouled by Idaho’s Michelle Greenwood.

Hyett drove the length of the floor with 6.2 seconds left and put up a shot when Greenwood was whistled for a blocking foul by referee Marla Denham with .1 seconds remaining.

Holt’s anger was two-fold. Not only did she disagree with the blocking foul called, she also felt that Hyett got away with carrying the ball twice up the floor.

“If they don’t call that carry, then they shouldn’t call that foul,” Holt said. “That’s garbage.”

Idaho (2-4) knotted the game at 71 when Ari Skorpik hit her only 3-pointer of the game with 6.2 seconds left.

Afterward, Rhodes was probably more angry than Holt - his Cougars (5-2) blew leads of 14 points in the first half and 10 in the second.

And while there is no question that Idaho is much improved over this time last year, that wasn’t of much consolation to Rhodes.

“Idaho deserved to win this game,” Rhodes said. “We just got out-hustled. They got after it defensively and we relaxed.”

In the first half, WSU had success going to center Kristin Erickson in the low post. She recorded two three-point plays right out of the gate and the Cougars cruised to a 24-10 lead. But she stopped getting the ball from her teammates and Idaho got back into the contest.

“We did a horrible job of executing,” Rhodes said. “We got Julie (Wight) cranking up the ball from all over the place and she shoots 3 for 10 in the first half. Kristin’s shooting the lights out and we stop getting it to her? Hell, get the damn ball to the person inside with the hot hand.”

As for the Vandals, they did an excellent job of making big plays when they had to.

Trailing 69-63 with 2:09 to play, UI’s Mindy Rice made her first 3-pointer of the season to cut the lead to 69-66. WSU’s Jenni Ruff scored with 1:40 left for a 71-66 lead before Rice countered again and cut the lead to 71-68 before Skorpik’s 3-pointer tied the game.

“I’m really pleased with the effort this team gave,” Holt said. “For us to be able to comeback like that says a lot about where they are. We started out slow against them last year and they went on to beat us by 42. I’m proud of our players.”

Last year, Idaho started 0-8. The year before, it was 0-15. This season, each of Idaho’s four losses has been by fewer than four points.

Idaho returns to action at Memorial Gym on Saturday at 3 p.m. against Portland. The Cougars travel to Cheney for a 7 p.m. Friday contest against Eastern Washington.

Washington State 72, Idaho 71

WASHINGTON STATE (5-2)

Kronberger 2-3 0-0 4, Ruff 7-16 6-10 20, Erickson 7-16 4-4 19, Hyett 3-4 1-3 7, Wight 4-12 1-2 11, Kearns 0-0 1-2 1, Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Wilder 1-1 1-1 3, Whaley 0-1 0-0 0, Kunze 2-4 3-4 4, Keith 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-59 17-26 72.

IDAHO (2-4)

Johnson 1-9 0-0 3, Hawks 0-0 0-0 0, Rice 11-20 5-5 28, Skorpik 3-11 4-4 11, McDaniel 2-4 2-2 8, Ortner 2-3 0-0 4, Morris 0-1 0-0 0, Greenwood 6-9 0-0 12, Blakley 3-5 0-1 6, Stone 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-64 11-12 71.

Halftime-Washington State 42, Idaho 36. 3-Point goals-Washington St. 3-7 (Wight 2-4, Erickson 1-3), Idaho 4-18 (Rice 1-2, Skorpik 1-3, McDaniel 1-4, Johnson 1-8, Blakley 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Washington St. 37 (Ruff 11), Idaho 39 (Rice 8). Assists-Washington St. 13 (Hyett 5), Idaho 15 (Skorpik, Johnson 4). Total fouls-Washington St. 17, Idaho 17. Technicals- None. A-618.

, DataTimes