CORVALLIS, Ore. – A game of big runs finished on the wrong end for the Washington State women's basketball team as the Cougars fell at No. 15 Oregon State, 80-58, Friday night at Gill Coliseum. The Cougars (5-8, 0-2 Pac-12) dropped their second game of the three-game road trip to begin conference play while the Beavers (12-1, 1-0 Pac-12) ended a perfect month of December with the win.
Starting the game off with a bang, the Cougars jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the opening minutes of quarter one thanks to seven quick points from their freshman point, Chanellel Molina. As with any game, the Beavers answered, pushing back from the inside behind Marie Gulich, who came up with six points and four rebounds in the quarter to setup what would be a career night. The two teams exchanged baskets and leads throughout the remainder of the period until finally settling on 17-17 tie after 10 minutes.
The second quarter of action picked up where the first left off as the lead changed hands four times over the first three minutes. However, the hot start for the Cougs would fizzle as WSU went over six minutes without scoring allowing the Beavers to break away. Despite the drought, the Cougars found themselves down just 10 points at the break.
Out of the locker room, the Cougars hit their rhythm offensively, pouring in a program-best 29 points in the 10-minute period to get back into the game. With 2:30 to play in the quarter the Cougs had cut the deficit to just one on a three-ball by sophomore Alexys Swedlund who would finish with eight points. Even after the Beavers answered with a three of their own and finished the quarter up six, WSU looked poised to make a run at the upset in the final quarter. However, the comeback was not to be as the Cougs ran out of gas from their initial run at OSU which used an 8-0 run in the first four minutes of the final quarter to separate for good from WSU. In all, the Beavers would outscore the Cougs 20-4 in the fourth quarter, holding WSU to its lowest-ever 10-minute scoring output.
After running out to a fast start, Molina would finish the game with a team-best 11 points for her eighth-straight double-digit scoring effort. Senior Ivana Kmetovska matched the freshman with 11 points for her second-consecutive 10+ point effort. On the glass, redshirt-sophomore Nike McClure matched her career high with nine rebounds while scoring a season-best nine points to go along with one block.
Gulich ended her night with three career marks as the Beaver center posted 27 points, 13 rebounds, and six blocks underneath for OSU. Kat Tudor added 11 points and Katie McWilliams tallied 10 while the Beavers' leading scorer, Sydney Wiese, was held to just eight points, all of which came in the second half.
The 58 points for the Cougars marked a season-low in scoring for the Cougars who shot 20-of-63 (31.7%) from the floor. The Beavers finished 31-of-63 (49.2%) while going 6-of-21 from deep.
Washington State will close out its month-long road trip with a final game at Oregon, Sunday, Jan. 1, as the two teams ring in the new year at 2 p.m. The Ducks are coming off of a conference opening loss to No. 9 Washington as the Huskies beat the Ducks, 99-77, Friday in Eugene.
