The Washington State women's basketball team ended its three game losing streak on Friday by beating USC 79-75 in Galen Coliseum.
WSU started off the game sluggishly early on in the first half, thanks to several defensive and offensive miscues. But the Cougs eventually fixed those issues and took a 35-29 lead into the locker room at the half.
The second half started off hot for the Cougs as their defense kept USC's offense from functioning fully, but that started to change heading into the second media timeout of the half. USC went on a 7-0 run to make it a two point game -- 50-48 - with 11 minutes left in the game. At that point, the game's pace picked up and the teams began to swap buckets. Washington State managed to outscore the Trojans, and they were forced to foul.
The Cougs won 79-75 and our now 12-9 (6-3) on the season
Washington State's trip down to Eugene and Corvallis last weekend was disappointing for a program that is hoping to get back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1991. With a pair of losses, WSU's skid extended to three after starting the year 5-0 in conference play.
The Beavers built an early 25 point lead in the first half, thanks to some hot shooting from beyond the arc, and never really looked back. For WSU, the situation was made even worse by the fact that the poor shooting from the losses to Oregon and Utah - the Cougs shot 25 percent from the field in the first half. Washington State slowed the Beavers' offense down and the Cougar offense actually started to improve its production. But it wasn't enough for the Cougs to complete the comeback, and Oregon State won 72-57.
Before the loss to Oregon State, the women's hoops team traveled to Eugene to take on the Ducks. Oregon used a hot shooting hand early in the first half to build 20-9. The Cougs' poor shooting was again a major problem - WSU shot 29.2 percent from the field in the game. Unfortunately for the Cougars, every time WSU would go on a run the Ducks would respond with their own run, and Oregon won the game 82-66.
While the loss to Oregon State probably isn't going to look that bad on an NCAA Tournament resume; the loss to Oregon 11-8 (2-6) could end up being harmful to the Cougs chances.
Next up for WSU is a trip across town to take on UCLA at noon on Sunday.
Swimming gets Senior Night victory
The Washington State swim team finished off its home schedule for the 2013-2014 year with a win on Senior Night, Jan. 24. WSU beat Oregon State with a score of 148-112 at Gibb Pool; the Cougs won thanks to the fact that the team won five of the 12 individual events, as well as both relays.
The Cougs are now 3-5 in dual meets for the year.
Washington State started the meet off on the right foot when its 200-yard medley relay team - consisting of Emma Johansson, Anne Kenne, Alison Mand, and Haley Rose Love - won with a time of 1:44.35.
The Cougs widened their team lead when Nicole Proulx captured the 200 free and Johansson won the 100 back. Johansson won her final individual event of her college career with a victory in the 100 fly.
WSU secured the victory in the dual meet when the 400 free relay team -- consisting of Johansson, Proulx, Kenney, and Love - won with a time of 3:29.44.
Washington State finishes off its schedule with a dual meet against BYU in Provo, Utah on Feb. 7.
Tennis starts off its season with four wins
Tennis began with wins in home dual matches over Montana State and Idaho. The Cougs picked up a 7-0 victory over Montana and a 5-0 victory over Idaho.
The Cougs then traveled to Hawaii to take on Hawaii Pacific. WSU had two of its doubles teams pick up victories in their matches. In singles play, the Cougs saw two of their players win their matches. Unfortunately for the Cougs, Hawaii Pacific posted a better day and the Sea Warriors won the day, 4-3.
WSU picked up its third victory of the season when it beat Hawaii 4-3. The Cougs saw three of their doubles teams win their respective matches. As for the singles matches, Washington State had three of its athletes win their individual matches.
WSU traveled to Missoula to take on Montana on Friday. The Cougs picked up their fourth win of the season by beating the Montana Grizzlies 6-1 on Friday. The Cougs had two, of their three, doubles teams pick up the "W'; and four of the team's singles players also picked up wins. This victory was Washington State's most dominant victory since the team cruised past Idaho 5-0 earlier on Jan. 17th.
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