WSU Women Continue Skid

College women

Washington State wasted a school-record scoring performance by Jenni Ruff and, perhaps, its postseason tournament chances Saturday afternoon by dropping a 91-83 Pacific-10 Conference women’s basketball decision to cellar-dwelling California at Friel Court.

Ruff finished with 41 points to eclipse WSU’s single-game scoring record previously held by Jeanne Eggart, who scored 40 against Santa Clara in 1981. (Eggart is now Jeanne Helfer, girls coach at Mead.)

The senior forward also grabbed 11 rebounds, but could not prevent the devastating loss to a Cal team that had dropped a school-record 12 in a row. The defeat ran WSU’s losing streak to five.

Eliza Sokolowska paced Cal with a career-high 31 points. Four teammates also were in double figures.

Kristin Erickson scored 26 points for WSU, but the Cougars lost the rebounding battle 42-29.

Cal built a 66-50 lead midway through the second half and WSU could get no closer than six points. Ruff scored the Cougars’ last 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers in the final 26 seconds, to make the final score deceivingly close.

“It was a disappointing loss for us,” WSU coach Harold Rhodes admitted. “They were able to shut us down in the zone and a lot of what Jenni Ruff does best, driving the key, was not open today.”

California 91, WSU 83

California (6-18, 2-13) - Barrett 4-6 7-8 15, Caepiec 0-3 0-0 0, Tatum 5-13 4-4 16, Kennon 0-1 0-0 0, Sokolowska 12-18 6-6 33, Rizzo 3-5 5-7 12, S.Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Dmitrieva 0-0 2-2 2, Leander 5-5 1-2 11. Totals 30-52 25-29 91. Washington State (15-10, 6-8) - Ruff 14-22 9-11 41, Erickson 11-25 4-4 26, Kunze 3-6 0-0 6, Hyett 2-5 1-1 5, Kronberger 0-10 0-0 0, Wight 0-2 0-0 0, Kerns 0-1 1-2 1, Wilder 0-3 4-4 4, Whaley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-74 19-22 83. Halftime - WSU 31, Cal 42. 3-Point goals - Cal 6-14 (Czepiec 0-2, Tatum 2-5, Sokolowska 3-4, Rizzo 1-3), WSU 4-26 (Ruff 4-6, Erickson 0-6, Hyett 0-2, Kronberger 0-9, Wight 0-2, Kerns 0-1). Total fouls - Cal 21, WSU 20. Fouled out - Barrett, Kennon, Kunze. Technical - None. Rebounds - Cal 42 (Barrett 15), WSU 29 (Erickson 9). Assists - Cal 15 (Rizzo 7), WSU 14 (Hyett 7). Steals - Cal 3 (Sokolowska 2), WSU 12 (Hyett 5). Turnovers - Cal 23 (Sokolowska 12), WSU 10 (Ruff, Erickson 3). A - 565.

NAU 65, EWU 63

Jess LeBlanc scored from inside with just 3 seconds left to lift the Lumberjacks past the Eagles at Reese Court.

EWU, which got 26 points and 10 rebounds from Kristy Missall, led by as many as 18 points in the first half, but couldn’t protect its advantage.

Northern Arizona caught the Eagles at 44 less than 8 minutes into the second half and took a 63-61 lead with 1:23 remaining after Marisa von Bromssen was fouled shooting a 3-pointer and converted all three free throws.

Missall tied the game at 63 on a layin with 47 seconds left, but the Eagles couldn’t contain LeBlanc in the waning moments.

The Lumberjacks got 12 points from Karli Rickli, 11 from Keturah Mattox and 10 from LeBlanc.

Tina Smith’s 15 points and Shana Ray’s 10 gave Eastern three double-figure scorers.

Northern Arizona (14-11, 6-7) - Mattox 4-7 2-4 11, Matchinski 2-4 2-2 6, Rikli 4-10 4-7 12, von Bromssen 1-8 3-3 6, Shayani 2-3 1-2 6, Hoopes 2-3 0-0 4, Travers 0-3 2-2 2, Warren 0-1 1-2 1, LeBlanc 3-7 4-4 10, Hofer 3-6 1-1 7. Totals 21-52 20-27 65.

Eastern Washington (7-17, 5-7) - Watterson 1-4 0-0 3, Smith 6-12 2-2 15, Missall 13-23 0-0 26, Bartleson 2-5 0-0 4, Sutter 2-5 1-2 5, King 0-2 0-0 0, Ray 4-8 2-2 10, Sloan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-59 5-6 63.

Halftime-Eastern Washington 40, Northern Arizona 34. 3-Point goals-Northern Arizona 3-10 (Shayani 1-1, Mattox 1-2, von Bromssen 1-5, LeBlanc 0-2), Eastern Washington 2-5 (Watterson 1-2, Smith 1-2, Sutter 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Northern Arizona 36 (Rikli 8), Eastern Washington 30 (Missall 10). Assists-Northern Arizona 9 (Shayani 5), Eastern Washington 16 (Sutter 10). Total fouls-Northern Arizona 11, Eastern Washington 22. A-NA.

Santa Clara 87, Gonzaga 75

Nicole Silacci scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lift the Broncos to an easy home win over the Bulldogs.

Silacci was one of four double-figure scorers for Santa Clara, which sprinted to a 49-30 halftime lead and never let GU within 10 the rest of the way.

The Bulldogs got 20 points from Rebekah Sherfey and 17 from Lydia Ledgerwood, but couldn’t overcome a 41-27 rebounding deficit and Santa Clara’s 56.1-percent shooting.

GU shot a respectable 43.1 percent from the field, but was doomed when Santa Clara started a decisive 16-0 run midway through the first half.

Gonzaga (4-22, 2-12) - Phillips 2-3 0-0 4, Pauley 6-14 0-0 12, Ledgerwood 7-13 2-2 17, Sherfey 8-17 1-2 20, Andrews 5-9 3-4 15, McCullough 0-1 0-0 0, Gere 0-4 3-3 3, Steward 0-1 0-0 0, McCliment 0-1 4-4 4. Totals 28-65 13-15 75.

Santa Clara (14-12, 8-6) - Gonzalez 2-3 0-0 4, Swank 5-8 1-1 11, Silacci 9-12 3-3 21, Sacco 7-13 1-1 17, Ressa 6-15 0-0 15, Riedman 1-2 0-1 2, Brantley 4-6 0-0 9, Hill 2-6 2-2 6, Banford 1-1 0-0 2, Hurley 0-0 0-0 0, Vail 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 37-66 7-8 87.

Halftime-Santa Clara 49, Gonzaga 30. 3-Point goals- Gonzaga 6-18 (Sherfey 3-6, Andrews 2-2, Ledgerwood 1-4, Gere 0-2, Pauley 0-4), Santa Clara 6-17 (Ressa 3-6, Sacco 2-6, Brantley 1-2, Riedman 0-1, Hill 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Gonzaga 27 (Pauley 8), Santa Clara 41 (Silacci 11). Assists-Gonzaga 14 (Andrews 4), Santa Clara 27 (Ressa 7). Total fouls-Gonzaga 11, Santa Clara 16. A-327.

Weber State 69, Idaho 66

Natalie Hawks scored a career-high 21 points, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the banged-up Vandals from losing their final home game of the season to the Wildcats.

Shelley Berg led Weber State’s scoring with 19 points and also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. Mika Brown finished with 14 points and nine rebounds before fouling out late in the second half.

Idaho was without star center Mindy Rice, who has missed her second straight game with an aggravated foot injury. In addition, Ari Skorpik played only 5 minutes because of pneumonia and Melisa McDaniel was limited to a reserve role because of a concussion suffered Thursday night.

Michelle Greenwood came off the bench for Idaho to tie her career high with a 20-point scoring effort.

Idaho will close out its regular season later this week with road games at Montana and Montana State.

Weber State (14-11, 8-5)- Brown 4-10 6-6 14, Sorenson 2-6 3-6 7, Berg 7-10 5-7 19, Martin 1-7 2-2 5, Gardner 3-14 4-4 12, Allen 0-2 1-2 1, Hansen 0-3 0-0 0, Friend 1-4 0-0 2, Wimmer 3-6 3-5 9. Totals 21-62 24-32 69.

Idaho (7-17, 4-8)- Hawks 9-18 3-5 21, Morris 1-4 1-3 3, Stone 2-6 3-3 7, Ortner 0-4 0-0 0, Johnson 1-9 2-2 5, Skorpik 0-0 2-2 2, McDaniel 3-7 2-2 8, Greenwood 6-20 8-8 20. Totals 22-68 21-25 66 3-point goals - Weber St. 3-17 (Sorenson 0-1, Martin 1-5, Gardner 2-8, Allen 0-1, Hansen 0-2), Idaho 1-7 (Ortner 0-2, Johnson 1-5). Fouled out - Brown, Weber St. Rebounds - Weber St. 54 (Berg 13), Idaho 40 (Morris, Ortner 7). Assists - Weber St. 11 (Martin, Gardner 3), Idaho 13 (Ortner 5). Total fouls - Weber St. 20, Idaho 26. Halftime score - Weber St. 38, Idaho 29. Technicals - none. A-658.

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