SPOKANE, Wash. – Tia Presley scored the go-ahead basket with 35 seconds left and Lia Galdeira sank two free throws with five seconds remaining for Washington State who came from behind to post a 59-58 victory over Gonzaga University in front of 5,363 fans at the McCarthy Athletic Center Tuesday.

The Cougars closed the game with a 12-4 run, erasing a 10-point halftime deficit to notch its third straight win and improve to 7-2 overall. Washington State defeated Gonzaga (5-3) in Spokane for the second straight time, snapping the Bulldogs 27-home game winning streak.

WSU shot over 44 percent in the second half and scored 25 points off of 24 turnovers. Senior guard and Spokane, Wash. native Tia Presley scored a game-high 21 points, 18 coming the second half while battling foul trouble. Senior center Shalie Dheensaw added 10 points and a team-high seven boards while blocking two shots. Junior guard Lia Galdeira struggled shooting but finished with nine points after going 5-of-6 at the charity stipe, added five steals and came away with a steal and hit two foul shots to put WSU up three with five seconds remaining. Junior forward Mariah Cooks added eight points and six rebounds.

The Cougars took an early lead as both teams struggled to knock down shots in the opening minutes. WSU received buckets from Cooks, a runner off the glass from Presley and a long two from the right wing from Galdeira.

Gonzaga countered with eight straight points and eventually pushed the run to 10-2. The Cougars answered with five straight and later took an 18-17 lead after a three from junior guard Taylor Edmondson. Late in the half, the shots began to rattle out for Washington State and the Zags took advantage, closing the period with a 12-2 run to take a 30-20 lead into the break.

WSU was held to 28.6 percent shooting in the first half while the Zags shot 50 percent from the floor including five 3-pointers.

The Cougars erupted out of the locker room, starting the second half with nine straight points. Cooks got things started with a steal and a long outlet pass to Awa for a layup, Dheensaw followed with a baseline jumper, Cooks then knocked down a three from the left corner and Presley capped the run with a layup. The run grew to 15-5 as Dheensaw added another bucket and Presley got her runner to fall to tie the game at 35 just over four minutes into the second period.

The Bulldogs countered with back-to-back threes and later scored six straight to take a 54-45 lead with 7:35 remaining. Presley led the comeback and started to attack the lane, scoring on a drive while she was fouled, hitting the free throw. Galdeira then knocked down a free throw and Presley added another runner in the lane that made it 56-53 with 3:05 to go. She made a steal on the following possession, was fouled and again sank both free throws to make it a one-point game.

Washington State buckled down on defense once more as Dheensaw blocked a shot. Galdeira had her driving layup rattle out but the Bulldogs missed two free throw attempts on the other end setting up Presley's go ahead shot. Presley drove the right side of the lane through traffic and finished with a layup for a 57-56 lead with 35 seconds remaining.

Following a Gonzaga timeout, the Bulldogs tried to get the ball into the post but Galdeira poked the ball away, corralled the loose ball and was fouled on the play. A Gonzaga player fell on Galdeira's ankle on the play. She was able to walk off and the Cougars called timeout. Galdeira limped to the free throw line and calmly sank both free throws to push the lead to three with five seconds left. Following a timeout, the Zags raced the length of the floor and got a shot to fall, but not a three, sealing a 59-58 Washington State victory.

The Cougars will take an 11-day break to focus on finals and will return to the court for a matchup against Montana State Dec. 20 at 1 p.m. in Beasley Coliseum.