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The Washington State women’s basketball team captured its fourth-straight victory on Saturday with an 85-76 win over in-state rival Washington. Shalie Dheensaw had another monster second half to help the Cougs secure their 10th victory of the season.
More on WSU's win over UW
More on WSU's win over UW
With the win the Cougs are now 10-6 (4-0) on the season and are guaranteed at least a tie for first place in Pac-12 by the end of the weekend – or the squad could be all alone at the top if USC loses on Sunday.
In the first half, WSU’s leading scorer Lia Galdeira got into foul trouble and it slowed down a Cougar offense that had raced off to a quick 10-point lead before the first media timeout. Despite the fact that Galdeira spent a large portion of the first half on the bench, the offense still scored 42 points, and that was thanks in large part to Tia Presley’s 23 points – including the last six points of the half.
Galdeira saw much more of the floor in the second half. But it was Shalie Dheensaw who put on an offensive show in the final 20 minutes on the way to her second-straight double-double, including a career-high 20 points
The Cougs and Huskies traded buckets throughout the second half, with the largest lead of the for either team until the final minute coming with 13:23 left when the Cougs led by six, 55-49. At that point, Husky point guard Jazmine Davis hurt her hand and left the game for a couple of possessions. Davis’s return sparked the Washington offense, and the game again became a back and forth affair.
With 2:56 left and the game tied at 71, WSU head coach June Daugherty took a timeout, setting up a play for Tia Presley. She scored to give the Cougs a lead they would not relinquish.
After sealing the game with free throws late, WSU would earn its first season-sweep of the Huskies since 1975, and the program’s first win in Seattle since 1993. Next up for WSU is No. 17 Colorado on Friday, January 17th at 7:00 pm; and Utah on Sunday, January 19th at 1:00 pm – the latter will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks.