Women’s basketball: WSU, Whitworth win; Idaho loses in overtime
Dawnyelle Awa scored a career-high 19 points and Washington State beat Kansas 66-53 in Lawrence, Kansas, on Sunday, in the Cougars’ final tuneup for Pac-12 play.
Washington State (9-2) opens the conference season at home against Washington on Dec. 29 after traveling over 15,000 miles during its nonconference schedule.
Away made 8 of 11 shots, including all three of her 3-point attempts. She also had four assists, as did Taylor Edmondson, who added 12 points. The Cougars made 9 of 16 3-point tries.
Three-pointers by Edmonson and Awa with 2:14 left in the third quarter gave the Cougars the lead for good over the Jayhawks (5-5) and started a stretch in which WSU made 10 of its final 14 shots.
The Vandals (7-4), who lost their third straight, went 2 of 11 from the field in overtime, opening and closing with 3-pointers, while the Wildcats (7-2) salted the game away by going 9 of 12 from the foul line down the stretch.
Sara Williamson opened the extra session with a layup and Lizzy Dimba did the same after a Vandals turnover for a 57-53 lead. After Christina Salvatore’s 3, Williamson hit a 3 and the Vandals went cold and soon after that the free-throw parade began.
Salvatore had 13 points and 12 rebounds for Idaho and hit two 3-pointers to pass Stacy Barr for the school record with 270 treys. Geraldine McCorkell had 12 points for the Vandals, Ali Forde had 11 with 11 rebounds.
Forde stole the ball with 12.6 seconds to play in regulation. After a timeout, Mikayla Ferenz missed a shot but Forde rebounded and was fouled with five seconds left. She made the first throw but when she missed the second, McCorkell got the rebound but her shot from the free-throw line was off.
Renae Mokrzycki had a career-high 15 boards as the Vandals had a 60-51 rebounding advantage.
The Vandals are home against Carroll College on Dec. 28 before North Dakota visits to open Big Sky Conference play on New Year’s Eve.
KC McConnell added 14 points, 11 at the free-throw line, and had five of the Pirates’ 10 blocks. Emerson was 7 of 8 from the free-throw line as Whitworth made 23 of 27 free throws.
The Pirates (6-3) committed 23 turnovers but outrebounded Chapman (2-5) 48-37.
Whitworth will travel to Nashville, Tennessee, for the Music City Classic with games on Dec. 28-29.
The Pirates led 34-33 when the offenses finally got on track in the fourth quarter with Whitworth outscoring the Panthers 30-26 in the period, nearly doubling both teams’ points through the first three periods.
Emerson made a 3-pointer and then converted a three-point play for a 52-47 lead. Whitworth led the rest of the way.