Wildcats Knock Off Cougars From Long Range

Area women

Five 3-pointers in the second-half from Arizona’s Lisa Griffith lifted the Wildcats over the Washington State Cougars, 62-53, in a women’s Pac-10 basketball game Thursday at Pullman’s Friel Court.

WSU (9-15, 3-12) had three players score in double figures. Yvonne Kunze led the way with 13 points.

Jade Hyett and Doreen Evans added 12 and 10, respectively. Evans also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

Griffith finished with a game-high 18 points for the Wildcats (21-5, 11-4).

Teammate Adia Barnes scored 16 and snared a game-high 12 rebounds.

Arizona went on a 19-7 run 7 minutes into the contest to pull ahead 21-9. The Cougars followed with a 14-1 run to take a 23-22 lead at the half.

“I was pleased with the effort the last 8 minutes of the first half,” head coach Harold Rhodes said. “Our defense was solid and we were able to hold them to just one point in those last 5 minutes.”

The second half started off slow for the Cougars as Arizona quickly grabbed a six-point lead, 31-25, 5 minutes into play. WSU battled back with a 13-2 run, taking a 38-33 lead, with 10:39 to play.

Griffith then buried four 3-pointers in the next 7 minutes to spark the Wildcats to a 53-48 lead.

“I was really on Lisa (Griffith) at halftime to start shooting and she really opened things up in the second half,” Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini said. “It wasn’t pretty, but we won. I am just really proud of the team. We hadn’t won up here in three years.”

Arizona outrebounded the Cougars 51-39, grabbing 22 offensive boards to WSU’s nine. WSU had seven in the first half, getting only two the final 20 minutes of play.

“We were just a tired team in the second half,” Rhodes said. “Not having the numbers became a big hurdle for us in the second half. It was such a physical ball game and it’s not just fatigue, but the physicalness that wears you down.”

WSU currently has five injured players on the bench, meaning Rhodes has only three players he can go to off for substitutions.

The Cougars honor seniors Kristin Erickson and Amy Saneholtz Saturday at 7 p.m. when they play their final home game of the season against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Friel Court.

Arizona 63, Washington St. 52

Arizona - Monika Crank 2-9 3-4 8, Adia Barnes 7-16 2-4 16, Marte Alexander 3-9 2-9 8, Lisa Griffith 5-9 3-4 18, Felecity Willis 1-3 0-0 2, DeAngela Minter 1-6 1-3 3, Cha-Ron Walker 1-2 0-0 2, Mikko Giordano 0-6 0-0 0. Jacque Barrington 2-2 1-2 5. Totals 22-62 12-26 62.

Washington State - Doreen Evans 4-6 2-4 10, Amy Saneholtz 2-4 1-2 5, Yvonne Kunze 3-8 7-12 13, Jade Hyett 5-7 2-3 12, Joanna Smith 2-13 0-0 6, Cathy McNeely 0-0 0-0 0, Jennifer Ludwicki 0-6 1-2 1, Alicia Rubio 2-4 2-3 6. Totals 18-48 15-26 53.

Halftime - WSU 23, UA 22. 3-point goals - UA 6-14 (Crank 1-3 Griffith 5-9 Willis 0-1, Giordano 0-1). WSU 2-14 (Evans 0-1, Hyett 0-1, Smith 2-9, Ludwicki 0-3). Fouled out - Saneholtz, Kunze, Rubio. Rebounds - UA 51 (Barnes 12). WSU 39 (Evans 9). Assists - UA 13 (Willis 5). WSU 11 (Hyett, Evans 3). Steals - UA 8 (Barnes 3). WSU 13 (Hyett 5). Turnovers - UA 24 (Griffith 7) WSU 21 (Hyett 9). Total fouls - UA 22 WSU 23. Technical - None. A - 410.

Idaho St. 49, EWU 44

Stacy Nelson opened the second half with a 3-pointer, breaking a 21-21 tie, and The Bengals (14-11, 10-5) never trailed again in posting a Big Sky win over Eastern Washington (5-21, 2-14) at Pocatello, Idaho.

Nelson finished with a game-high 22 points. Teammate Mandi Ortega added 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

Tanya Kirk’s 16 points topped the Eagles. Rachel Ferguson chipped in 11 points.

Eastern led early, 10-5, before five straight points from Nelson knotted the score. The Eagles played catch-up the rest of the half until Tracy Ford’s basket at the buzzer tied the score.

Eastern Washington - Kirk 7-17 1-2 16, Sloan 0-0 0-0 0, Ferguson 5-9 1-2 11, Sutter 1-3 0-0 3, Ray 3-10 1-2 8, Bartleson 1-4 0-0 2, Schmick 0-0 0-0 0, Ford 2-4 0-0 4, Olson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals - 19-48 3-6 44.

Idaho State - Nelson 5-9 7-9 20, Togiai 2-10 2-4 6, Ortega 5-20 3-3 13, Munger 1-2 0-0 3, Mallak 0-10 0-0 0, Irwin 1-3 1-2 3, Bray 1-3 0-0 2, Cheskaty 0-0 0-0 0, Moser 0-0 2-2 2, Packer 0-2 0-0 0. Totals - 15-59 15-20 49.

Halftime - Eastern Washington 21, Idaho State 21. 3-point shots - Eastern Washington 3-9 (Kirk 1-4, Sutter 1-1, Ray 1-1, Ford 0-1, Bartleson 0-2), Idaho State - 4-10 (Nelson 3-5, Munger 1-1, Mallak 0-3, Irwin 0-1). Fouls - Eastern Washington 14, Idaho State 8. Fouled out - none. Rebounds - Eastern Washington 38 (Kirk, Ferguson 7), Idaho State 38 (Ortega 12). Assists - Eastern Washington 17 (Sutter 5), Idaho State 9 (Mallak 4). Attendance - 350.

Idaho 69, North Texas St. 57

The Vandals won at Denton, Texas.

No details were available.

, DataTimes