by Washington State Univ. athletics
PULLMAN, Wash. –
Washington State
University used a second-half comeback to post its fourth consecutive win with a
57-54 victory over the University of Southern California at Beasley Coliseum
Friday.
Washington State improved
to 9-13 overall and 5-6 in Pac-12 Conference play and posted its first four-game
conference winning streak since 1994-95. The Cougars shot 52 percent in the
second half and outscored USC (8-14, 5-6 Pac-12) 34-26 in the final 20 minutes
to post its first home victory over the Trojans since 2001.
Freshman guard Dawnyelle
Awa scored a career-high 11 points after hitting all three of WSU's threes and
dished out five assists. Freshman guard Lia Galdeira added 10 points, eight
coming in the second half, and grabbed a team-high six rebounds while
redshirt-senior guard Katie Grad chipped in with seven points. WSU was
outrebounded 50-30 but scored 19 points off of 14 USC turnovers and committed a
season-low eight turnovers.
Southern California took
an early lead with an 8-0 run behind a couple threes and later built a
double-digit advantage with a 7-0 spurt midway through the half.
Late in the half, the
Cougars received at three from Awa, the first of her career, and later got
within two after a 7-0 stretch of their own. Following an Edmondson free throw,
junior forward Hana Potter sparked WSU off the bench with a pair of buckets
before freshman guard Alexas Williamson made a steal and went coast-to-coast for
layin to cut the USC lead to two with 29 seconds left.
USC answered right back
with a three in the closing seconds to take a 28-23 lead into the break. WSU was
down five despite shooting 32.1 percent from the floor and 1-for-11 from three
in the first 20 minutes.
Washington State opened
the second half with an 8-3 run that tied the game at 31 after junior forward
Sage Romberg hit a jumper, Awa followed with a three and Grad added three points
with a driving layup and a free throw.
The pace really picked up
over the next six minutes as both teams traded baskets before sophomore forward
Shalie Dheensaw's jumper from the left wing gave the Cougars a 41-39 lead at the
12:21 mark, their first lead since the opening minutes of the game.
Midway through the half
and following a 6-0 steak by the Trojans, Galdeira knotted things up at 47 with
a jumper and added another jumper from the left elbow. Awa then followed an
Edmondson free throw with her third and final three of the night that opened up
a six-point WSU advantage with 2:56 to go.
With under a minute
remaining, Southern California cut the Cougars lead to one, 55-54 after making
one of two free throw attempts with 50 seconds on the clock. WSU then turned the
ball over on its ensuing possession but USC's go-ahead jumper rolled around and
off the back of the rim. The Trojans grabbed the rebound but had their putback
attempt blocked by Romberg and Galdeira snatched the rebound. She was fouled and
went on to hit both free throws to seal the 57-54 victory.
Washington State closes
out the homestand Sunday, against No. 17/17 UCLA at Noon.
