WSU women's hoops gets blown out in regular season finale at Stanford, 84-64

Washington State’s women’s basketball got blown out by the Stanford Cardinal, 84-64, on Saturday night. The Cardinal (29-2, 16-1 Pac-12), in particular Chiney Ogwumike, dominated the Cougs in the paint,  and used a heavy rebounding advantage to win the game.

Washington State finishes the regular season with a 15-15 (9-9 Pac-12) record.

Stanford took control of the game with the first ten points of the second half, building and insurmountable 19-point lead. The Cardinal run was fueled by WSU’s defensive breakdowns, openeing up the lob pass to Ogwumike (37 points on 14-23 from the field and 9-10 from the charity stripe). When the Cougs were able to stop Ogwumike, she often kicked the ball out to Amber Orrange (20 points on 7-9 from the field, and 6-7 on free throws).

The Cardinal controlled the glass on both ends. Stanford grabbed 36 percent of its own misses while pulling down 81 percent of WSU's.

The Cougars struggles on defense in the second half were in direct contrast to the first half when Washington State was able to contain the lob pass. That forced the Cardinal to find another way to get the ball to Ogwumike, and the Cougs were able to do this despite the fact that Shalie Dheensaw and Hana Potter both earned three first-half fouls.

Washington State’s best chances on offense were whenever they forced a Stanford turnover and beat the Cardinal to the bucket in transition. Those opportunities disappeared in the second half and the Cougs were never able to compensate.

Lia Galdiera led the Cougs with 16 points on 5-14 from the field and 1-4 from the beyond the arc; Sage Romberg and Tia Presley each finished with 10 points.

Next up for the Cougs is the Pac-12 tournament at the Key Arena; Washington State is will be the seventh seed and play on the first day of the tournament.