Cougar Women Pound Out Another Win

Julie Wight and Jenni Ruff combined for 38 points as the Washington State women pounded out an 83-59 non-league basketball win over Oral Roberts on Monday night.

Wight and ORU’s Kisa Bradley shared scoring honors with 20 points each. Ruff added 18 for the Cougars (12-3), while Kristin Erickson and Yvonne Kunze each scored 14. Kunze also grabbed 10 rebounds for her third straight double-double and fourth in the last five games.

Bradley had support from Valeria Dos Santos, who had 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Frenanda Souza chipped in 12 points for the Golden Eagles (6-11), who had a modest two-game win streak snapped.

The Cougars took command quickly in registering their fourth straight win and 11th in the last 12 games.

Erickson’s 3-pointer nearly 3 minutes into the game gave WSU a 5-4 lead it never gave up. That started a string of 10 consecutive points by the Cougars in less than 5 minutes and ignited a 16-4 run.

“Our kids played a lot better than we anticipated, coming off the weekend we had,” Cougars coach Harold Rhodes said, alluding to weekend Pacific-10 Conference wins at home against Oregon and 11th-ranked Oregon State. “I’m proud of the way we are playing right now. I was concerned we might come into this game flat and that we might take Oral Roberts for granted.”

The reward came Monday from the CNN/ USA Today and Associated Press polls. After not having drawn any votes, the Cougars gained enough support to be 26th in the CNN/USA Today poll and 34th in the AP poll.

“Julie (Wight) had a good game and did a super job both on offense and defense,” Rhodes said. “Jenni Ruff was double- and triple-teamed, so we had to look for other people. Julie came up big for us.”

The Cougars, having played eight of their last 10 games on the road, including long trips to Tulsa, Houston and Los Angeles, return home to prepare for Saturday’s battle with cross-state rival Washington. Game time at Friel Court is 7 p.m.

Washington St. 83, Oral Roberts 59

Washington St. (12-3) - Ruff 6-9 5-6 18, Erickson 5-10 3-4 14, Kunze 6-8 2-2 14, Hyett 2-5 0-0 4, Wight 7-12 4-4 20, Fode 0-0 0-0 0, Kerns 1-2 2-2 5, Evans 1-2 2-2 4, Wilder 1-2 0-0 2, Keith 0-0 2-2 2, Cooper 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-50 20-22 83.

Oral Roberts (6-11) - Bradley 7-20 5-6 20, Souza 5-12 2-3 12, Dos Santos 7-19 3-4 17, Rose 1-6 1-2 3, Magueira 0-2 3-5 3, Collier 1-2 0-1 3, Porter 0-4 0-0 0, Arruda 0-0 0-0 0, Riles 1-1 0-1 2. Totals 22-66 14-22 59.

Halftime-WSU 42, ORU 34. 3-Point goals-WSU 5-9 (Ruff 1-2, Erickson 1-2, Wight 2-4, Kerns 1-1), ORU 1-7 (Bradley 1-3, Rose 0-2, Porter 0-2). Fouled out- None. Rebounds-WSU 40 (Kunze 10), ORU 33 (Dos Santos 15). Assists-WSU 22 (Hyett 7), ORU 4 (Bradley, Rose, Magueira, Porter 1 each). Total fouls-WSU 19, ORU 19. Technicals-None. A-315.