LEXINGTON, Ky. – A last ditch effort and a pair of career efforts proved not to be enough for the Washington State women's basketball team as the Cougars dropped a tough 69-67 decision to No. 18 Kentucky on Wednesday afternoon. The Cougars (5-6) closed out non-conference play with the loss to the Wildcats (9-3) who ran their streak to 65-straight non-conference wins in Memorial Coliseum.
For the second-straight contest, the Cougars found themselves coming up just short of a big comeback on the road as WSU trailed 26-8 after one quarter. Despite the early hole, the Cougars were unfazed as the defense ratcheted up and the shots started to fall leading to an 11-0 run in the final 3:00 minutes of the half that turned the game around.
Leading the charge was the Cougs' freshman point guard, Chanelle Molina, who came up with 14 points in the 10-minute period. The 14 points by the Hawaiian native was the most scored in a single quarter by a Cougar in 2015-16. The big run by WSU cut the deficit to just two points at half time leading to a hotly contested final 20 minutes.
Out of the break, the Cougs would find themselves back down eight with just over five to play in the quarter. Once again, WSU mounted a rally with nine-straight points including a three by freshman Cameron Fernandez that gave the Cougars their first and what would be their only lead of the game at 50-49 with 3:23 to go in the quarter. Fernandez accounted for five-consecutive points during the run and would finish the game with eight points on 3-of-5 shooting. The momentum for the Cougars would come to a screeching halt, however, as a string of calls went against the Cougs helping the Wildcats take back the lead. Kentucky would finish the quarter on a 9-2 run as the Wildcats led by six heading into the fourth.
Down by as much as nine in the final period, the Cougs fought their way back into the game for a third time, eventually tying the game at 67-67 with 1:12 to go on a three-pointer by sophomore Alexys Swedlund. The three by Swedlund was her sixth of the game and part of an eight-point outburst in just three minutes. Despite the rally the comeback was not to be as the Wildcats hit a pair of free throws in the final minute and the Cougars saw a pair of put-backs fall short as the 18th ranked Wildcats escaped with the win.
Overall, the Cougs were led by Swedlund with game-high 20 points. The 20 points marked a career high for the South Dakota native as she did most of her damage behind the arc with a career-best six three-pointers. She would also come up with three of the Cougs' nine steals on the day. Right behind the sophomore, Molina came up with a career-best 17 points to go with five assists. Redshirt-sophomore Nike McClure led the way with a career-best nine rebounds as WSU won the rebounding battle 38-to-37.
For the Wildcats, three players hit double-figures with Makayla Epps matched Swedlund's 20-point effort while Evelyn Akhator finished with the double-double thanks to 19 points and 13 rebounds. Maci Morris would add 14 points.
The Cougs finished the day outshooting the Wildcats 41.3%-to-.36.7% despite a first quarter shooting display that saw Kentucky go 10-for-14 from the floor while WSU finished 2-for-15 to open. WSU would hit 10 more three-pointers in the game marking their second-straight double-digit effort from deep and third of the season. The Wildcats were able to take advantage of the charity stripe where they held a 17 to five advantage in made free throws over the Cougars.
With the finish of non-conference play, the Cougars will run head first into Pac-12 play when they return from the holiday break. Conference play begins on Dec. 27 with the instate rivalry as the Cougars go to Seattle to take on No. 9 Washington.
