GU, WSU women have growing rivalry

Two of the last three Gonzaga-Washington State women’s basketball games have come down to the final seconds. In all three games, Gonzaga came out on top. Gonzaga (10-3) will have the home crowd in its corner when the regional rivals meet at 2p.m. today at the McCarthey Athletic Center before a sellout crowd of 6,000. Taelor Karr’s layup with 3 seconds left gave Gonzaga a 71-69 victory at WSU last season. The year before, at a tournament in Honolulu, the Bulldogs won 67-65 when Katelan Redmon made two free throws with 5 seconds left. Two weeks later, the Bulldogs toppled WSU 93-75 at GU. “(The Cougars) have the athletes to win, there’s no question about it, and this is becoming a pretty good rivalry,” GU coach Kelly Graves said. The Cougars are 3-7, but one of those wins came Dec. 15 against Ohio State, which two days later beat Gonzaga. “I think June (Daugherty, WSU coach) has the best group she’s had,” Graves said. The game will reunite former Greater Spokane League rivals Tia Presley of WSU (Gonzaga Prep) and Jazmine Redmon of GU (Mead). “It should come down to who plays harder and all the little things,” Presley said.