Washington State women hold off Utah 61-55

SALT LAKE CITY – Pinelopi Pavlopoulou scored 14 points, Alexys Swedlund added 13 and Washington State defeated Utah 61-55 on Sunday.

The Cougars (10-13, 5-7 Pac-12), coming off a 70-58 loss at Colorado where they blew a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter, saw a 13-point lead with 7 1/2 minutes evaporate to two with 1:47 to go on a 3-pointer by Utah’s Malia Nawahine. But the Cougars made four free throws and Utah didn’t score again.

Johanna Muzet’s 3-pointer with 1:33 left in the first half gave the Cougars a lead they wouldn’t surrender. WSU started the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run with seven points from Swedlund to take a 54-41 lead.

Paige Crozon made five 3-pointers and scored 25 points for the Utes (14-9, 3-9), who have lost two straight and five of six. Emily Potter added nine points and 12 rebounds.

Neither team shot over 37 percent but the Cougars were 7 of 12 from 3-point range to Utah’s 6 of 24 with WSU scoring 16 points off 22 turnovers.

The Cougars had 12 turnovers in the fourth quarter of their collapse against Colorado but had only a dozen total against the Utes.