PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State suffered another tough defeat in the closing seconds Thursday, falling 74-69 to visiting UCLA at Beasley Coliseum.

The Cougars (15-13, 6-11 Pac-12) received 25 points from senior guard Tia Presley and 24 points from junior guard Lia Galdeira but were held to 32 percent shooting including at 26 percent clip in the second half. WSU dropped to 3-5 in games decided by five or fewer points despite hitting nine from behind the arc. UCLA (12-17, 8-9 Pac-12) blocked 10 shots, shot over 57 percent in the first half and received 28 points from its bench. Washington Stat held the Bruins to 22 percent shooting in the second half but UCLA went 8-of-11 at the free throw line in the final 20 minutes to hold off a Cougar comeback attempt.

Presley sank five 3-pointers to push her career total to 108, moving her into tenth in school history for career made threes. Galdeira, wearing uniform number 23 in honor of senior center Shalie Dheensaw who suffered a season-ending knee injury Jan. 16, added four 3-pointers to push her career total to 151, trailing on Katie Appleton's school record of 161. Junior forward Mariah Cooks and freshman forward Louise Brown each brought down eight rebounds.

The Cougars received a pair of threes from Presley and Galdeira in the opening minutes to own an early five-point lead. Galdeira would add two more 3-pointers and Presley later converted on a driving layin that kept the WSU advantage at five the 9:19 mark.

UCLA caught fire late in the half, using a 12-0 run to build a 36-29 lead. Galdeira and Presley kept the Cougars in it as each knocked down a three before Presley capped the half with a crazy scoring sequence. The senior from Spokane, Wash. scored on a fastbreak layup and was fouled. She missed the free throw but came away with the rebound and quickly went back up for the bucket and was fouled again on the putback. Presley sank the free throw with under a minute to go and the Cougars got a stop to end the half.

The Bruins held a 49-46 lead at the break after shooting nearly 56 percent from the floor. Presley led the way with 16 points and Galdeira added 14 for WSU who shot 37 percent from the field but kept things close after connecting on seven 3-pointers.

Washington State opened the second half with a couple big threes from Presley, both from the left wing to give the Cougars a 58-54 lead at the 16:52 mark. Presley later scored on an aggressive baseline drive as she was fouled and went on to hit the free throw but the Bruins answered with four straight to tie the game at 61 with just under 10 minutes remaining.

Both teams traded buckets over the next five minutes as Galdeira gave the Coguars a two-point lead with a driving layup but UCLA came right back with a three and added another basket to own a 70-67 advantage with 4:30 to go.

Neither team could get a shot to fall down the stretch with a Galdeira three rattling out with a minute remaining before her baseline line driving layup rolled around the rim and out with 54 seconds to go. UCLA corralled the rebound and eventually knocked down a jumper from the right wing to go up five with 30 seconds remaining. Galdiera raced up the floor and scored to again make it a three-point game with 21 seconds left.

The Cougars were forced to foul and UCLA missed the first of a 1-an-1. Galdiera grabbed the rebound and eventually got a good look from the left wing but missed off the front rim and UCLA came away with rebound. WSU was forced to foul and UCLA sealed things up at the free throw line.

The Cougars will close out the regular season Saturday hosting USC at 3 p.m. on the Pac-12 Networks.