Cougars Toppled By Trojans ‘Zombie’ Performance Hands Usc Women Victory Over WSU

This was the one that was supposed to kick-start the four-game Pac-10 Conference homestand.

This was supposed to be the easier of the first two games, considering that the University of Southern California was bringing a losing record into Friel Court.

So what did the Washington State women’s basketball team do Thursday night? It came out and scored its lowest point total of the season, looked as flat as day-old beer, and was badly beaten up by the Trojans 57-48.

“We were like zombies on the floor,” said Cougars coach Harold Rhodes, whose team dropped to 9-8, 3-5 in the conference, with UCLA coming in Saturday afternoon. “You can’t wait until you’re down 10 points with 2 minutes to go and all of a sudden find that energy.”

Score the first stop of Chris Gobrecht’s reunion tour through the state of Washington to the former Huskies coach. In 11 years coaching at UW, Gobrecht saw only one of her teams lose in Pullman.

Back in the great Northwest, where a brownout occurred in 12,058-seat Beasley Coliseum, empty seats out-numbered fannies 23-to-1.

“It’s not like the first time we played in front of a sparse crowd,” said Rhodes. “Tonight we didn’t play with the same energy or the same level of enthusiasm that we normally do.”

But it may have been the first time the Cougars watched their opponents put up 30 shots in the first half and convert just nine, for 20 percent shooting. On the flip side, WSU shot 7 of 27 in the first half. After building a modest 11-4 lead, Washington State went cold. At one point, the Cougars missed seven consecutive shots. USC’s 6-0 run at the end of the first half allowed it to knot the score at 18-18.

“That first half set the game back 50 years,” said Gobrecht, whose team improved to 8-5, 3-5 and has a date with the Huskies in Seattle Saturday. Gobrecht said that will be “the hardest day of my life.”

Thursday’s game was indeed a pleasant win but not a pleasant sight, as the Trojans shot 20 for 72 to the Cougars’ 19 for 50.

The Trojans lead the Pac-10 in points allowed with 65.9 and in their 12 previous games, they’ve been out-rebounded by 9.1 per game. But against the Cougars, they pulled in an impressive 30 rebounds in the first half and finished with 57 rebounds to Washington State’s 48. USC finished with 28 offensive boards and constantly hurt WSU with putback buckets in the second half.

Tiffany Washington, a 6-foot-1 forward, and Adrian Williams, a 6-4 center, did the most damage for USC on the boards, pulling in 12 and 10 rebounds, respectively. USC point guard Kristin Clark led all scorers with 16 points on 5-of-18 shooting.

Center Yvonne Kunze led the Cougars with 16 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots.

“I think we had the energy in the beginning, but we didn’t come out and play hard (in the second half) and they took advantage of it,” said Kunze, the team’s leading scorer (16.3) and rebounder (6.7).

USC 57, WSU 48

USC (57) - Tashara Carter 3-9 4-4 10, Tiffany Washington 4-16 0-0 8, Adrain Williams 5-12 3-5 13, Kiyoko Miller 2-7 0-0 5, Kristin Clark 5-18 7-12 18, Whitney Houser 1-7 0-0 2, Adria Sneed 0-3 1-2 1, Team 20-72 15-23 57.

WSU (48) - Alke Dietel 3-6, 5-6 12, Doreen Evans 0-3 0-2 4, Yvonne Kunze 8-15 0-1 16, Katie Nyseth 1-1 1-2 3, Tricia Lamb 5-10 0-0 11, Victoria Harrod 0-1 0-0 0, Joanna Smith 1-3 0-0 3, Cathy McNeely 1-1 1-1 3, Jennifer Kerns 0-5 0-0 0, Yvonne Yolkman 0-2 0-0 0, Alicia Rubio 0-3 0-0 0, Team 19-50 7-12 48.

Halftime - WSU 18, USC 18. 3-point goals - USC 2-7 (Carter 0-1, Miller 1-1, Clark 1-5), WSU 3-8 (Dietel 1-3, Lamb 1-3, Smith 1-2). Fouled out - None. Rebounds - USC 51 (Williams 12), WSU 40 (Kunze 15). Assists - USC 8 (Carter, Miller, Clark 2), WSU 12 (Lamb 3). Steals - USC 6 (Williams 3), WSU 8 (Lamb 3). Turnovers - USC 14 (Williams, Miller 3), WSU 24 (Kerns 6). Total Fouls - USC 15, WSU 23. Technical - Kerns. A-554.

UCLA 80, (18) Washington 59

In Seattle, Janae Hubbard scored 10 of her 12 points in the first half as UCLA (11-6, 6-2) built a substantial lead en route to stunningly easy upset of the Huskies (12-5, 3-5).

UCLA - Philman 2-5 5-6 9, Martin 4-6 2-4 10, Hubbard 5-12 2-3 12, Gomez 3-5 0-0 6, Grimes 1-1 2-2 4, Pearson 4-6 2-2 11, Oenning 1-1 0-0 2, Houser 0-1 1-2 1, Jackson 3-4 0-0 7, Veasley 3-5 1-4 7, Funicello 2-2 2-2 6, Flannigan 1-3 3-4 5. Totals 29-51 20-29 80.

Washington - Franza 5-13 0-0 10, Hall 5-12 3-4 13, Pelz 1-2 3-5 5, Redd 2-10 0-0 4, Pimley 0-5 4-4 4, Erickson 0-1 0-0 0, Doxsee 0-1 0-0 0, Duncan 0-1 0-0 0, Hills 1-5 2-6 4, Lynch 5-12 3-6 13, Sheets 1-4 3-6 5, Tuiaea 0-4 1-2 1. Totals 20-70 19-33 59.

Halftime-UCLA 42, Washington 20. 3-Point goals-UCLA 2-2 (Pearson 1-1, Jackson 1-1), Washington 0-18 (Pimley 0-1, Lynch 0-1, Sheets 0-1, Redd 0-3, Hills 0-4, Franza 0-8). Fouled out-Hall, Redd. Rebounds-UCLA 40 (Martin 6), Washington 41 (Redd 8). Assists-UCLA 17 (Gomez 8), Washington 11 (Redd 3). Total Fouls-UCLA 25, Washington 23. A-2,816.

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