WSU Duo Too Much For Arizona

Jenni Ruff and Amy Saneholtz scored 17 points each and Washington State used a second-half burst to beat Arizona 78-72 Thursday in a Pacific-10 women’s basketball game in Pullman.

The Cougars (3-5 Pac-10, 10-7) rallied from five down with 14:38 left in the game to take a 59-57 lead on a layup by Saneholtz. WSU extended its lead to as many as 11 behind a 3-pointer by Susie Jarosch and eight free throws.

The win snapped WSU’s fourgame losing streak against Arizona, halted a three-game conference slide and gave the Cougars their first 3-0 start at home since joining the Pac-10 in 1986-87.

Arizona (4-4, 9-11) was led by Adia Barnes, JiJi Sweet and Brenda Pantoja, each scoring 14. Former Central Valley High standout Jacqui Clark scored four points for the Wildcats.

Jarosch scored 16 and Kireen Ellis 13 for Washington State, which held a 33-31 halftime lead.

Washington St. 78, Arizona 72

Arizona (9-11, 4-4)

Adia Barnes 7-17 0-2 14, Michelle Giordano 4-6 0-0 8, JiJi Sweet 5-10 4-5 14, Brenda Pantoja 3-8 6-7 14, DeAngela Minter 3-7 0-0 6, Atina Harris 1-5 2-2 4, Andrea Constand 3-4 0-0 6, Marte Alexander 1-1 0-0 2, Jacqueline Clark 2-3 0-0 4, Totals 29-61 12-16 72. WSU (10-7, 3-5)

Jenni Ruff 5-10 7-9 17, Amy Saneholtz 5-7 7-10 17, Kireen Ellis 5-13 3-5 13, Susie Jarosch 4-11 4-4 16, Julie Wight 2-9 0-0 6, Kelli Kronberger 1-3 0-0 2, Kristin Erickson 3-10 1-2 7, Yvonne Kunze 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 25-64 22-30 78.

Halftime-WSU 33, Arizona 31. 3-Point goals-Arizona 2-8 (Pantoja 2-6, Sweet 0-1, Johnson 0-1). WSU 6-16 (Jarosch 4-7, Wight 2-6, Kronberger 0-2, Erickson 0-1). Fouled out-Barnes. Rebounds-Arizona 39 (Barnes 10). WSU 41 (Wight, Erickson 9). Assists-Arizona 19 (Pantoja 13). WSU 13 (Jarosch, Ruff 3). Steals-Arizona 9 (Pantoja 3). WSU 11 (Jarosch 6). Turnovers-Arizona 26 (Barnes, Pantoja 5). WSU 19 (Ruff 5). Total fouls-Arizona 24. WSU 12. Technicals-None. A-554.

Washington 82, Arizona St. 37

In Seattle, Rhonda Smith scored 12 of her 16 points during a 35-8 first-half run that gave the No. 13 Huskies (6-2, 16-5) a comfortable lead in a victory over the Sun Devils (2-6, 8-9).

The Huskies forced 37 turnovers, a season-high total for them and a season-worst for the Sun Devils.

Arizona State registered its lowest point total since the 1975-76 season. The Sun Devils have lost seven of their last nine games.

The Huskies enjoyed a huge advantage at the free-throw line, hitting 17 of 25, while Arizona State got to the line a season-low four times, hitting two.

Melissa Wuschnig scored 11 points for Washington and Laure Savasta added 10.

Molly Tuter scored 12 points for Arizona State.

ARIZONA ST. (8-9)

Tuter, 6-11 0-0 12, Witkowski 2-5 0-0 4, Boyle 0-0 0-0 0, Kotilainen 2-5 0-0 5, Krahenbuhl 4-15 0-0 8, Freeman 2-7 2-4 6, Lambert 1-1 0-0 2, Thorngren 0-2 0-0 0, Ziuraitis 0-1 0-0 0, Kellams 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 17-49 2-4 37.

WASHINGTON (16-5)

Gonsalves 2-5 0-0 4, Lewis 2-3 0-4 4, Smith 6-10 4-4 16, Foucade 2-4 2-2 7, Kelly 4-9 0-0 9, Wuschnig 4-5 2-3 11, Savasta 5-10 0-1 10, Pelz 2-4 2-2 6, Perkins 2-3 1-1 5, Niemela 1-2 2-4 4, Hills 1-1 2-2 4, Tilbrook 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 31-56 17-25 82.

Halftime-Washington 42, Arizona St. 19. 3-point goals- Arizona St. 1-3 (Kotilainen 1-1, Tuter 0-1, Krahenbuhl 0-1). Washington 3-7 (Foucade 1-1, Wuschnig 1-1, Kelly 1-3, Savasta 0-2). Fouled out- Witkowski. Rebounds-Arizona St. 30 (Tuter 8), Washington 33 (Wuschnig 5). Assists- Arizona St. 9 (Witkowski 3), Washington 16 (Foucade 5). Total fouls-Arizona St. 23, Washington 12. A-2,959.

WSU baseball

Greg Walbridge blasted a three-run home run and four Southern Cal pitchers combined to shut out Washington State 8-0 in the season-opener for the Cougars, in Los Angeles.

The shutout also spoiled the coaching debut of WSU’s Steve Farrington, in his first season as a Cougar after replacing the retired Bobo Brayton last spring.

Eric Estes started and took the loss for WSU, working into the fourthChad Moeller singled to lead off the USC third and later scored on a double play to give the host club their first run. USC added two runs in the fourth, taking advantage of five walks and one single.