Ruff Helps Cougars Crown Wildcats

Washington State’s women’s basketball team played in Bohler Gym Saturday afternoon because the annual Junior Miss Pageant was being held on Friel Court.

With that said, let’s just call WSU’s Jenni Ruff the queen of Saturday’s Senior Miss Pageant at Bohler.

In typical Ruff fashion, the 5-foot-10 senior forward scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Cougars past the Arizona Wildcats, 71-65.

Pacific-10 Conference coaches must face the truth. There may be no legal way to stop her.

“That Ruff is tough inside,” said Arizona coach Joan Bonvicini. “We kept running double teams at her, she’d step through them, get off the shot and hit it.”

With Arizona holding a 53-52 lead in the second half, Ruff scored nine of WSU’s last 19 points from outside and inside. She was 12 for 23 from the floor and played all but a minute of the game.

“The last couple of games, I’ve actually been more tired at the start then at the end,” Ruff said. “Today, I had more energy at the start and felt a lot better.”

Washington State moved its record to 15-5 overall and 6-3 in conference. Arizona dropped its third straight and fell to 13-5, 4-5.

At the halfway point of the Pac-10 season, WSU coach Harold Rhodes likes where his team is sitting.

“This was a must win for them,” Rhodes said. “But it was just as critical for us to go 6-3 in the first half. It means a lot because it takes the pressure off having to win big games on the road.”

For Washington State, four of its final nine games are away from home.

As for Arizona, the Wildcats started the week tied with WSU. After losses to Washington and Washington State, they are two games behind the Cougars.

As for mementos from the state of Washington, the Wildcats collected turnovers. They committed 31 at Seattle and 15 more on Saturday.

“We’re not making good decisions right now,” Bonvicini said. “We’re not reading defenses and making that extra pass.”

And it showed too. While Arizona’s leading scorer, Adia Barnes ,finished with a team-high 17 points on 8-for-15 shooting, the physical 5-11 forward was out of position most of the game.

Washington State’s 6-2 forward Kristin Erickson was assigned to cover Barnes, and for the most part, Barnes had contested shots.

It was uncontested shots that allowed the Cougars to race to a 16-4 lead at the start of the game. Arizona then switched to a 2-3 zone, as well as a full-court press, and outscored Washington State 29-16 to hold a 33-32 lead at the half.

Washington State led for most of the second half, although the largest lead either team had was six points.

Saturday’s contest marked the return of Arizona’s Jacque Clark to the area. The 6-2 Central Valley alum found the going rough and scored just four points in 26 minutes of action.

Washington State 71, Arizona 65

Arizona (13-5) - Barnes 8-15 1-2 17, Constand 2-8 0-0 5, Clark 2-2 0-0 4, Pantoja 5-15 2-5 14, Minter 1-4 0-0 2, Hambrick 1-1 0-0 2, Crank 2-6 2-2 8, Girdano 3-3 0-0 6, Imara 0-0 0-0 0, Alexander 4-4 0-0 8. Totals 28-58 5-9 65.

Washington State (15-5) - Ruff 12-23 1-3 25, Erickson 4-13 0-0 10, Kunze 6-9 3-6 15, Hyett 0-3 2-3 2, Wight 3-7 3-4 11, Kronberger 1-4 0-0 3, Kerns 1-1 0-0 3, Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Wilder 0-1 2-4 2, Keith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-61 11-20 71.

Halftime-Arizona 33, Washington State 32. 3-Point goals- Arizona 4-14 (Constand 1-5, Pantoja 2-7, Minter 0-1, Crank 1-1), Washington State 6-17 (Ruff 0-1, Erickson 2-5, Hyett 0-1, Wight 2-5, Kronberger 1-4, Kerns 1-1). Fouled out-Barnes. Rebounds- Arizona 39 (Barnes 13), Washington State 34 (Kunze 11). Assists- Arizona 15 (Pantoja 6), Washington State 18 (Hyett 6). Total fouls- Arizona 19, Washington State 13. A-579.

, DataTimes