Huskies’ Second-Half Surge Buries Cougars, 93-76

College women

Earlier in the week, Washington State women’s basketball coach Harold Rhodes said he was having a hard time sleeping in anticipation of Saturday night’s game against the Washington Huskies.

If Rhodes got any sleep after the Huskies’ 93-76 win at Friel Court, chances are it wasn’t the most peaceful rest.

The Huskies used a second-half blizzard to snow the Cougars after leading by just one point at halftime, 46-45.

“Our ability to score from the perimeter has improved considerably since last year,” UW coach Chris Gobrecht said. “This team is so unpredicatble. I think we need to get through January; if we do, we might be able to do some good things this season.”

The win moves the young, but rapidly maturing Huskies, into sole possession of second place in the Pacific-10 Conference with a record of 10-6, 4-1.

Washington State (12-4, 3-2) is tied for third with Arizona (12-1) and Oregon State (11-3).

The loss ended the Cougars’ four-game winning streak.

UW shot a season-high 63 percent from the floor, which included a 9-for-14 effort from freshman Jamie Redd. She led four Huskies players in double figures with 23 points.

The Huskies are 3-0 on the road in conference play this year.

As for the Cougars, they were plagued by poor free-throw shooting, hitting 21 of 36 from the line.

“We missed our free throws and we were outhustled,” Rhodes said. “There were loose balls with everyone standing around watching.”

The Cougars travel to California (5-9, 1-4) on Thursday and then face Pac-10 leader and No. 5-ranked Stanford (13-2, 6-0) Saturday night at Stanford.

Washington 93, WSU 76

Washington - Wusching 3-5 2-2 9, Pelz 8-11 0-1 16, Savasta 6-12 2-4 2-15, Redd 9-14 5-5 23, Kelly 2-6 0-0 5, Teel 0-0 0-0 0, Hall 2-2 0-1 4, Hills 1-2 0-0 4, Niemela 1-1 0-0 3, Lynch 6-7 2-2 14, Hoffman 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 39-62, 11-15 93.

WSU Ruff 8-21 14-19 30, Erickson 6-12 5-7 19, Kunze 3-4 0-4 6, Hyett 3-6 0-4 7, Wight 3-11 0-0 6, Kronberger 1-5 2-2 4, Kerns 0-0 0-0 0, Evans 1-1 0-0 2, Wilder 1-2 0-0 2, Keith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-62 21-36 76.

Halftime score: Washington 46, WSU 45. 3-Point goals: Washington 4-10,. WSU 3-10. Fouled out: Kelly, Erickson. Rebounds: Washington 39, WSU 34. Assists: Washington 18, WSU 14. A: 1350.

Southern Utah 75, Eastern 74 (OT)

Despite losing its two leading scorers to injury, Southern Utah (8-11) beat Eastern Washington (4-11) in a non-conference women’s basketball game at Reese Court at Cheney.

Southern Utah - Frandsen 4-7 1-2 9, Mortensen 4-10 0-0 8, Larsen 7-7 2-4 16, Wardle 5-7 2-3 12, Newton 0-0 0-0 0, Webster 0-0 0-0 0, Shaheen 3-6 2-2 8, Welch 0-1 0-0 0, Torres 2-8 0-2 4, Sparrow 0-1 0-0 0, Doman 7-12 4-7 18, Totals 32-59 11-20 75.

Eastern - Watterson 3-8 0-0 8, Smith 5-12 2-2 13, Missall 5-13 8-10 18, Bartleson 0-3 4-4 4, Sutter 2-2 0-0 5, Ray 5-15 2-2 12, King 2-7 2-4 7, Ferguson 2-4 3-3 7, Hollingbery 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 24-65 21-25 74.

Halftime score: Eastern 41, S. Utah 35. 3-point goals: S. Utah 0-4, Eastern 5-9. Fouled out: Frandsen. Rebounds: S. Utah 40, Eastern 36. Assists: S. Utah 21, Eastern 17. A-510.

San Francisco 76, Gonzaga 54

The Dons’ (11-5, 4-0 WCC) 6-foot-4 center Valerie Gillon finished with a game-high 28 points and 19 rebounds - 12 offensive - and the Bulldogs (3-13, 1-3) just couldn’t keep up.

Gonzaga - Phillips 4-7 4-6 12, Pauley 10-19 0-1 24, McCliment 2-4 1-2 5, Ledgerwood 1-3 1-2 3, Andrews 4-10 0-0 8, Herman 0-5 0-0 0, McCullough 1-2 0-0 2, Sherfey 0-3 0-0 0, Steward 0-2 0-0 0, Gere 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-56 6-11 54.

San Francisco - Wanless 2-5 0-1 5, Demirdjian 3-8 0-0 6, Gillon 12-19 4-6 28, Shadian 2-7 2-2 8, Lindhe 4-12 2-6 11, Matthews 0-0 0-0 0, Murdent 2-6 3-4 7, Itow 0-0 2-2 2, Voiland 0-0 0-0 0, Kagie 4-6 0-0 9. Totals - 29-63 13-21 76.

Halftime score: San Francisco 29, Gonzaga 27. 3-point goals: Gonzaga 4-8, San Francisco 5-11. Fouled Out: McCliment. Rebounds: Gonzaga 33, San Francisco 42. Assists: Gonzaga 13, San Francisco 20. A: 811.

George Fox 59, Whitworth 53

Whitworth (3-12, 1-4 Northwest Conference) shot an abysmal 36 percent from the floor, but stayed close as George Fox (9-6, 3-2) shot 35 percent from the freethrow line.

Whitworth was led by Jennifer Tissue’s 21 points and George Fox got 21 points from Liz Stephens.

Whitworth - Tissue 8-21 3-4 21, Elliot 2-6 0-2 4, Northington 1-6 1-4 16, Moore 3-14 4-4 11, Davis 4-10 0-0 12, Sanowski 1-2 0-0 2, Sherer 0-2 0-2 0, Werner 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-63 8-16.

George Fox - Stephens 10-16 1-3 21, Rissmiller 5-9 2-4 12, Pettit 3-15 1-2 7, Bain 0-1 0-0 0, Gardea 0-4 0-2 0, Carroll 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 1-4 2-3 5, Harper 4-9 0-3 9, Keown 1-1 0-0 2, Powell 0-2 0-0 0. Totals - 25-64 6-17 59

Halftime score: George Fox 33-27. 3-point goals: Whitworth 7-24, George Fox 3-11. Fouled Out: Tissue, Northington. Rebounds: Whitworth 42, George Fox 53. Assists: Whitworth 9, George Fox 14. A: 215

CC Spokane 61, Walla Walla 48

The Community Colleges of Spokane played “smarter” in the second half, according to Sasquatch coach Bruce Johnson, and ran away from Walla Walla after trailing 31-20 at halftime.

Kelly Gaines of Spokane (9-9, 2-4 NWAACC East) led all scorers with 21 points.

Pullman High graduate Melissa Schletert led Walla Walla with 15 points.

Walla Walla - Whitney 0-1 0-0 0, Dickinson 1-4 0-0 3, Wars 0-0 0-0 0, McLain 3-9 2-2 11, Fuller 2-6 0-1 4, Schletert 6-12 3-5 15, Naught 0-1 1-2 1, Schreiner 2-5 0-2 4, Barron 2-7 4-4 8, McDonald 1-2 0-1 2. Totals 16-43 10-16 48.

CC Spokane Fine 1-4 2-2 4, Stark 0-0 0-1 0, Shepherd 2-4 4-5 11, Humphrey 1-3 1-2 3, Brandt 2-4 2-2 6, Lawler 0-2 3-4, Davies 5-8 3-4 13, Greenside 0-0 0-0 0. Totals - 19-42 20-25 61.

Halftime Score: Walla Walla 31, Spokane 20. 3-point goals: Walla Walla 2-13, Spokane 1-6. Fouled Out: None. Rebounds: Walla Walla 26, Spokane 31. Assists: Walla Walla 10, Spokane 13. A: NA

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