Cougars Let One Slip

Of the 19 defeats this season, this one has got to rank high in the season-low department.

After leading from early on, the Washington State University women’s basketball team suffered a meltdown - or more like a blackout - in the final minutes and fell to Oregon State University 65-62 Saturday afternoon at Friel Court.

The Beavers took their first lead since the opening basket when Reda Petraitis drove the lane and scored a layup with 28.8 seconds left in the game to give OSU a 63-62 lead. On WSU’s next possession, Jen Kerns put up a 6-foot baseline shot that hit the rim.

Felicia Ragland extended OSU’s lead to three points when she converted a pair of free throws. The game ended when WSU’s Katie Nyseth long 3-point attempt bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

The loss dropped Washington State to 4-19, 1-12 in the Pacific-10 Conference. But with 14 minutes left, it appeared the Cougars were on their way to a second conference win. After Cathy McNeely hit her second straight jumper, WSU led 49-35 with 14:02 left. Two minutes later, Kerns nailed a 3 and the Cougars lead remained comfortable at 54-41.

Over the final 12 minutes, WSU was outscored 24-8.

“When teams start picking up their defense, Washington State plays on their heels a little bit. They started to second-guess themselves. I’m sure our blocked shots had something to do with that,” said Oregon State coach Judy Spoelstra, whose team leads the conference in defense scoring (59.1 ppg) and blocked shots (5.27 per game).

In Saturday’s game, the Beavers finished with four blocked shots and outrebounded Washington State 38-20.

“I wouldn’t describe my feeling as devastated (like I was) after the U-Dub loss,” said Washington State coach Jenny Przekwas, whose team blew an 18-point lead against Washington earlier this season. “This is more like … I’m not even sure what the word is for this one.”

But the first-year coach did find a way to describe what she liked about Saturday’s performance.

“Nothing. Not a thing,” she said.

The Cougars did get solid games from Alke Dietel, who scored 20 points, shooting 7 of 12 after going 5 of 5 in the first half and Kerns, who handed out a career-high 12 assists.

However, Dietel failed in the final minute when she flung up a wild shot in an attempt to give WSU a 3-point lead with less than 1 minute to play.

Oregon State took its 63-62 lead on the next possession. Kerns followed with her missed shot on a play that was not necessarily designed for the able shooting guard from Coeur d’Alene.

“At that point I don’t think there was a player who I personally was confident going to,” Przekwas said. “Down the stretch, I don’t think anybody was showing they wanted the ball and that they wanted to take it aggressively. I was a little disappointed in that.”

The Beavers came away from the weekend with a feeling of accomplishment. For the first time since 1983, they swept the season series against the Washington schools. They improved to 12-13, 8-5 in the conference for sole possession of fifth place. Ragland, OSU’s top scorer with a 12.9 ppg average, led all scorers with 24 points.

OSU 65, WSU 62

Oregon St. (12-13) - Petraitis 4-5 0-1 8, Pierce 3-6 2-4 8, Chassie Wiersma 3-7 2-2 8, Cherrith Wiersma 0-2 0-0 0, Ragland 8-18 7-7 24, Rukstelyte 0-0 0-0 0, Cook 3-6 0-0 6, Thomas 0-2 2-3 2, Funn 3-3 1-2 7, Estell 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 25-50 14-19 65.

Washington St. (4-19) - Volkman 1-6 2-2 4, Dietel 7-12 3-3 20, Nyseth 3-4 0-0 6, McNeely 4-11 0-0 10, Kerns 3-8 2-3 10, Harrodd 4-7 2-2 10, Collins 0-0 0-0 0, Eldridge 0-0 0-0 0, Berglund 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 22-49 11-12 62.

Halftime-Washington St. 37, Oregon St. 26. 3-Point goals-Oregon St. 1-11 (Ragland 1-4, Chassie Wiersma 0-3, Cherrith Wiersma 0-2, Thomas 0-2), Washington St. 7-12 (Dietel 3-6, McNeely 2-2, Kerns 2-2, Volkman 0-1, Nyseth 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Oregon St. 38 (Ragland 8), Washington St. 20 (Dietel 4). Assists-Oregon St. 12 (Cherrith Wiersma 3), Washington St. 17 (Kerns 12). Total fouls- Oregon St. 15, Washington St. 15. A-561.

Top 25

(5) UND 78, (8) Rutgers 74 (OT)

In Piscataway, N.J., freshman Alicia Ratay forced overtime with two late 3-pointers and hit two free throws with 22.7 seconds left in the extra period as the Irish (23-2, 14-0 Big East) won their 19th in a row by edging the Scarlet Knights (17-6, 9-4).

(12) Tex. Tech 86, (20) Okla. 81

In Lubbock, Texas, Keitha Dickerson scored 23 points in leading the Raiders (21-3, 10-3 Big 12) over the Sooners (20-6, 10-3).

(24) UCLA 80, (15) Arizona 66

In Los Angeles, Michelle Greco scored 18 of her 22 points in the second half and had six steals to lead the Bruins (15-7, 9-3 Pac-10) over the Wildcats (20-5, 9-4).