Women’s basketball: Washington State holds off Portland; Idaho falls to Texas A&M-Commerce

Astera Tuhina gave Washington State a critical spark off the bench Wednesday night.

Tuhina scored eight of her 12 points in the final 21/2 minutes of the Cougars’ 69-63 victory over host Portland in a nonconference women’s basketball game.

Tuhina’s two free throws gave WSU (7-1) a 59-58 lead with 2:29 remaining, and her layup increased the Cougars’ advantage to 63-59 with 1:12 left.

Tuhina converted two more foul shots with 35 seconds left, and her layup with 22 seconds remaining gave WSU a 67-61 lead.

Charlisse Leger-Walker paced the Cougars with 15 points.

Bella Murekatete and Johanna Teder added 14 and 13, respectively.

Alex Fowler led the Pilots (5-5) with 15 points.

Texas A&M-Commerce 88, Idaho 72: Dyani Robinson scored 23 points to lead the Lions (2-6) to a nonconference win over the Vandals (2-5) in Commerce, Texas.

At one point, Idaho led 37-27 in the first half before the Lions cut the Vandal lead to 39-37 at halftime.

Beyonce Bea totaled 27 points and 10 rebounds for Idaho. Brooke Malone added 13 points and Rosa Smith scored 10.