Nov. 26, 2000

Box Score

PISCATAWAY, N.J - Yvonne Volkman and Szudia Bragg led all scorers with 12 points each to propel the Washington State Cougars to a 69-47 win over the Vermont Catamounts Sunday in the consolation game of the Rutgers Coca-Cola Classic at the Louis Brown Arena.

Volkman and Bragg led a Cougar team (2-1) that had ten different players making a mark on the scoreboard.

And while the Cougar offense had no trouble finding the scoreboard, their defense was making that a difficult proposition for the Catamounts (2-3), especially in the first half.

WSU was not spectacular from the field in the first half, hitting on 10-of-29 (.345) shots. However, Vermont's shooting was as dreary as the New Jersey weather. The Catamounts converted on only 6-of-31 (.194) field goals in the first half and was 14-of-52 (.269) from the field for the game.

"We felt that the key was to pressure," said WSU head coach Jenny Przekwas. "We wanted to play high pressure defense on the ball and the trapping lanes, and we did that."

After falling behind 6-2 early, WSU scored six straight points to take an 8-6 lead at the 13:49 mark of the first half. The run was highlighted by a Katie Nyseth three-pointer that gave the Cougars a 7-6 lead. It would be a lead that WSU would not relinquish for the remainder of the game.

Vermont did tie matters at 13, but WSU blitzed the Catamounts with a 10-0 run to take control of the game 23-13 with 4:15 left in the first half. In that run, Vermont missed nine consecutive shots.

Vermont responded with four straight points to cut the lead to six to 23-17 but that was as close as the Catamounts would come to the Cougars.

The win caps a weeklong road swing for WSU along the East coast in which they took two of three games. WSU returns to Pullman for their home opener against the BYU Cougars, Thursday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m.

"I am very pleased with the 2-1 record off of this road trip," said Przekwas. "I am happy that we are going back home with some momentum and some confidence."