PULLMAN, Wash. – Behind a career-best 15 points from their junior point Pinelopi Pavlopoulou, the Washington State women's basketball team outpunched a tough San Diego squad, 83-73, at the Beasley Coliseum on Friday night. The Cougars (5-2) won their fourth-straight over the West Coast Conference while handing the Toreros (4-2) just their second loss of the season.

In what proved to be a tight battle throughout the night it was clutch free throw shooting and lock down defense in the waning moments by the Cougars that proved to be the difference. After struggling from the line early, the Cougars found their stroke in the final minutes of the game, knocking down 11-of-14 from the line including hitting eight-straight to keep a surging Torero team at bay.

It was Pavlopoulou's two from the charity stripe with 1:28 to play that knocked the lid off the basket for the Cougars and started the final run towards victory. The two would be the final points of the night for the Athens native who scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half of play.

The free throws down the stretch proved huge for the Cougars who had to hold off the Toreros late after USD cut a 10-point WSU lead to just five at 72-67 with 1:37 to play in the contest. The Cougars had built their lead to double-digits in the fourth quarter thanks to a 12-5 run to open the final period of play. The early run was thanks in large part to a stifling defense that forced four turnovers in five minutes.

Prior to the fourth quarter the game appeared as if it would come down to who held the ball last as the Cougars could not slip the Toreros. For the first 30 minutes of the contest, WSU's lead bounced between one and two possessions after snapping a 29-29 tie midway through the second quarter.

The Toreros were able to stay within reach of the Cougs through the use of a handful of runs including an 8-0 run in the first that gave USD its largest lead of the night at five points five minutes into the game. They would close the gap to just one with 1:32 to play in the first half but four-straight by the Cougars gave WSU the breathing room it would need the rest of the way. USD would get no closer than three points in the second half despite a huge effort out of Maya Hood who finished the game with 27 points.

In addition to Pavlopoulou, the Cougars put two others in double-figures with sophomore Borislava Hristova coming up with a team-best 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting while freshman Chanelle Molina chipped in 13 for her second-straight 10+ point effort. Molina did most of her damage in the first quarter as the first-year Coug had her hand in WSU's final seven points of the period. As a team, the Cougars shot a season-best 51.6% (32-of-62) from the floor.

The Toreros put four players in double-figures as Carolina Buhr, Katherine Hamilton, and Aubrey Ward-El all scored 10 to follow Hood. On the glass, USD came away with a 38-to-37 edge over the Cougars despite WSU entering the night as the second-best rebounding team in the nation.  Hood led all rebounders with nine in the game while Nike McClure tallied six including five on the offensive glass while Kayla Washington grabbed five tin 11 minutes for the Cougars.

For the seventh-straight game the Cougars played all 12 with 10 of the 12 scoring. The Cougs came up with 15 assists in the game with junior Caila Hailey dishing out a career-best five on the night to go along with three steals. WSU was able to record 13 steals while forcing 23 Torero turnovers.

The Cougars close out their home slate of non-conference contests on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 2:00 pm when they host Boise State at the Beasley Coliseum.