PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State used a 16-4 run late in the second half to post a 63-54 come-from-behind victory over the University of Utah at Beasley Coliseum Friday.

The Cougars improved to 12-6 overall and 3-4 in Pac-12 Conference play while the Utes dropped to 6-12 including 0-7 in conference.

Washington State overcame a sluggish first half with a dominating second half, outscoring the Utes 37-21, to erase a seven-point halftime deficit. The Cougars scored 14 points off of 19 Utah turnovers and held the Utes to 35 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes. Utah shot over 45 percent in the game while WSU shot 32 percent from the field but did connect on eight 3-pointers.

Senior guard Tia Presley led Washington State with 17 points and four steals, junior guard Lia Galdeira added 14 points, four assists and four steals and freshman forward Louise Brown tallied 10 points and four rebounds in her first home start. Junior guard Taylor Edmondson added nine points and junior point guard Dawnyelle Awa chipped in with seven points including a game-turning three-pointer late in the second half. The Cougars, playing its first home game since losing senior center Shalie Dheensaw to season-ending knee injury in last weekend's Oregon road swing, gave up a 38-29 rebounding advantage but committed a season-low six turnovers and made 12 steals.

Utah was led by forward Taryn Wicijowski's 23 points and nine rebounds.

Utah shot over 54 percent from the floor in the first half, slowly building to a nine-point advantage at the 4:25 mark. Leading 29-20, the Utes held WSU to just six points over the final four-plus minutes on two 3-pointers from Presley. Utah closed the half with basket at the buzzer and limited the Cougars to 31 percent shooting in the first period to own a 33-26 lead at the break.

A re-energized Washington State team took the floor to start the second half as Awa scored on a floater in the lane, Brown hit a three from the left corner and Edmondson drained a three from the left wing as she was fouled. Edmondson sank the free throw for the four-point play, cutting the Utah lead to 39-37 nearly six minutes in.

Minutes later, junior forward Mariah Cooks cut the lead to one on a pair of free throws before the Cougars took their first lead of the game after a big block from Cooks led to a fastbreak layup by Galdeira for a 45-44 advantage with 6:36 left in the game.

Utah followed with a bucket but Washington State answered and took the lead for good as Awa sank a three from the right wing with 5:38 remaining. The three brought the Beasley Coliseum crowd to its feet and sparked a 16-4 WSU run. Galdeira followed Awa's three with a pair of free throws and Awa then dropped in a high-arching runner from the baseline. Washington State followed a Utah basket with nine straight points as Presley made a steal and went coast-to-coast for a layup and was fouled on the play. After Presley converted at the line, she added two more free throws before Galdeira made a steal and layup as the Cougar fullcourt press wreaked havoc on the Utes down the stretch. Cooks capped the run with a two free throws for a 61-50 advantage with 1:50 remaining.

Utah scored on a Wicijowski layup but Galdeira sealed things up with a pull jumper from the baseline.

Washington State will close out the weekend hosting the University of Colorado Sunday at 1 p.m. on the Pac-12 Networks.