Cougs fall short at UCLA

LOS ANGELES – The Washington State Cougars hit the road and gave the UCLA Bruins all they could handle before falling 68-63 in Pacific-10 Conference women’s basketball play on Sunday at Pauley Pavilion.

Former Mead High School graduate Adriane Ferguson and Keisha Moore barely missed double-doubles for the Cougars (5-17, 1-12).

Ferguson finished with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Moore tallied nine points and 11 rebounds. Teammate Ariana Scales hit four 3-pointers en route to a season-high 18 points. WSU’s Kate Benz, the leading rebounder in the conference, reeled in a game-high 12.

Nikki Blue led UCLA (15-7, 9-4) with a game-high 22 points.

The difference in the game came from the free throw line as UCLA buried 20 of 25 attempts, compared to a 4-of-5 effort from the Cougs.

The game was tied at 58 with 3:27 remaining before the Bruins went on an 8-0 run to pull away.

A Scales’ 3-pointer cut the deficit to five, but that was as close as the Cougars would get.

UCLA 68, Washington State 63 Washington State (5-17, 1-12)–Ferguson 7-18 2-2 19, Benz 1-8 0-0 2, Moore 4-7 1-1 9, Perry 4-8 0-0 10, Jones 2-13 1-2 5, Scales 7-12 0-0 18, Joneby 0-1 0-0 0, Montgomery 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-68 4-5 63. UCLA (15-7, 9-4)–Livingston 4-11 3-5 11, Willis 6-15 3-4 16, Pluimer 2-7 4-4 8, Pedersen 2-4 0-0 5, Blue 5-15 10-12 22, Oren 3-8 0-0 6, Zaidi 0-0 0-0 0, Lezcano 0-2 0-0 0, Tautolo 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-63 20-25 68. Halftime–Washington State 35, UCLA 29. 3-point goals–Washington State 9-27 (Scales 4-6, Ferguson 3-9, Perry 2-3, Benz 0-4, Jones 0-5), UCLA 4-12 (Blue 2-4, Pedersen 1-2, Willis 1-5, Oren 0-1). Fouled out–Jones. Rebounds–Washington State 50 (Benz 12), UCLA 38 (Willis 10). Assists–Washington State 15 (Jones, Scales 4), UCLA 15 (Blue 7). Total fouls–Washington State 20, UCLA 9. A–908.