WSU women fall to USC at home, 81-71

From staff reports

Junior Ula Motuga had a career-high 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 24 on Sunday in Pullman, but Washington State went cold down the stretch in its 81-71 loss to Southern California.

Leger-Walker scored eight points and Motuga four in a 15-6 run that made it 71-all with 2:35 to play, but the Cougars went 0 for 5 from the field thereafter as USC (9-7, 7-6 Pac-12) closed with a 10-0 run.

Endyia Rogers led the Trojans, who have won three in a row, with 22 points.

Motuga, whose previous career best was 16 points, is averaging 12.7 points and 9.0 rebounds over the past four games.

Leger-Walker has scored 20-plus points nine times, tying Borislava Hristova’s for the program’s freshman single-season mark. Hristova, whose 2,269 career points rank 11th all-time in the Pac-12, had 24 points in the final game – No. 30 – of the 2015-16 season to set the WSU mark.

The Cougars (9-7, 7-7) scored nine of the first 11 points, and Leger-Walker hit two free throws to make it 18-11 with 3:26 left in the first quarter.

Desiree Caldwell made a layup, capping a 7-0 spurt that made it 27-25 with 5:44 left in the first half, and USC never again trailed.

Alissa Pili’s layup 22 seconds into the fourth quarter gave the Trojans their largest lead at 65-56.

WSU has lost six of eight since its 71-69 overtime win over Arizona at home on Jan. 10. The Cougars play the No. 9 Wildcats on Friday in Tucson.