SEATTLE – Washington State suffered a 67-48 defeat to No. 9/8 Arizona State University in the quarterfinal round of the Pac-12 Conference Tournament at KeyArena Friday.

The Cougars (17-13) will wait until selection Monday, March 16 to see if they are selected to a postseason tournament. Arizona State, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, improved to 26-4 overall and advances to play Stanford in Saturday's semifinal round.

Senior guard Tia Presley led Washington State with 16 points and made a career-high seven steals while junior guard Lia Galdeira finished with 12 points and three steals. Both players experienced a couple injury scares in the game as Galdeira limped off the court after going down have getting her knee banged into just minutes in the game's opening minutes while Presley had to be helped off the court after rolling an ankle early in the second half. Presley's 16 points pushed her career point total to 1,530, moving her past Jenni Ruff (1992-96 – 1,526) for third all-time in WSU scoring. Galdeira, already second in WSU history for career 3-point field goals, sank one 3-pointer to move three away from Katie Appleton's (2005-09) school record of 161.

With its leading scorers limited, Washington State battled through some shooting struggles, shooting 27 percent in the first half but stayed within striking distance for the first 30 minutes before the Sun Devils slowly pulled away late in the second half. ASU shot over 70 percent from the floor in final 20 minutes and 47 percent for the game while WSU went 1-for-14 behind the arc and 11-of-24 at the free throw line.

In a game very similar to the Pac-12 Tournament opening round game against the Sun Devils in 2013, both defenses controlled the first half. The Cougars held ASU to 27 percent shooting and forced 11 turnovers in the first 20 minutes but struggled to take advantage at the foul line, going 3-of-13 in the first half and 1-7 behind the arc.

Midway through the half, Galdeira sank WSU's only three after returning from the injury, keeping the Cougars within one at the 6:54 mark. Washington State later received two runners from Presley and Brown before freshman guard Caila Hailey and Galdeira each added a free throw in the closing minutes to send the WSU into the half trailing 19-16.

The defenses continued to dominate for the first seven minutes of the second half before both teams traded runs. ASU scored six straight and Washington State came right back with six of their own on buckets from Brown and junior point guard Dawnyelle Awa and a jumper from the top of the key from junior forward Mariah Cooks. Minutes later Galdeira scored on a drive to the right side, cutting the ASU lead to 11, 46-35 at the 9:16 mark.

Arizona State started to heat up down the stretch and Washington State again struggled to get shots to fall. The Sun Devils countered another Galderia layup with a 12-3 run that proved to be the difference, opening up a 19-point advantage with 3:40 remaining. Presley would score on a nice up-an-under move from the right block but was later whistled for her fifth foul. With ASU owning double-digit lead, both teams subbed in their benches and the Seattle crowd gave a loud applause for the senior guard Presley as she exited the floor.