SALT LAKE CITY, UT - Behind stifling defense down the stretch the Washington State women's basketball team survived a fourth quarter comeback attempt by the Utah Utes as the Cougs took home the road win, 61-55, Sunday afternoon. The win for the Cougs (10-13, 5-7 Pac-12) put WSU in double-digits in the win column for the year while the Utes (14-9, 3-9 Pac-12) suffered the weekend sweep at home by the conference's Washington schools.

After suffering a tough loss on the road on Friday night, the Cougs would not let the history repeat itself Sunday afternoon as Washington State held off a late charge by the Utes to come up with their second road Pac-12 victory. The Cougs used a a swarming defense in the final minutes and a handful of clutch free throws to thwart the comeback attempt, snapping a two-game skid to Utah.

The fourth quarter was owned by sophomore Alexys Swedlund who came up with 10 of her 13 points in the games final 10 minutes including hitting one of two from the line in the final seconds to seal the deal for the Cougs. Ultimately, the Cougs needed every last effort in the game's final minutes as Utah erased a 13-point WSU lead in the fourth quarter with a 12-2 run midway through the period. The Cougs would absorb the charge and force four missed shots in the final minute of play including seeing senior Ivana Kmetovska finish off the win with a block on the game's final shot.

Prior to sweating out the fourth quarter the Cougs overcame an tough start on the offensive end of the floor by ramping up their defensive efforts as WSU turned the Utes over 11 times in the second quarter alone en route to coming up with 22 turnovers in the game. Scoring 11 points off of the Utes' mistakes in the second frame and using a 9-2 run over the last four minutes of the half, the Cougars were able to turn a small three-point deficit into a five-point halftime lead.

Out of the break, the Cougs would catch fire once again thanks to the hot hand of junior Pinelopi Pavlopoulou who scored five-straight for WSU including drilling a three from the corner during an 11-4 run that gave the Cougars their first double-digit lead of the day. The run took the Cougs to a 38-26 lead just five minutes into the new half, but a bevy of missed shots and the outside stroke of Paige Crozon cooled off WSU and let the Utes climb back into the game. WSU would score just five points in the final 4:41 of the third to take a six-point lead into the final frame. From there, it became a battle of wills with the Cougs persevering despite Crozon coming up with eight unanswered points during the Utes' 9-0 run that cut WSU's lead to just one possession with 3:27 to play.

Overall, the Cougs were led by Pavlopoulou as the junior point guard finished with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting to end one-point shy of tying her career high in scoring. She would match a career mark with five assists in the game while also grabbing five rebounds. The double-digit effort for the Athens native was her fourth-straight 10+ point effort and the fifth time she scored in double-figures in her sixth start since taking over as the Cougs' floor general. Right behind Pavlopoulou was Swedlund with 13 points as the two back-courtmates were the lone Cougs to reach double-figures in the game. Kmetovska just missed double-figures as she finished with nine points while sophomore Maria Kostourkova added six points and led the team in rebounding with eight on the day. Three other Cougs just finished one shot off of the 10-point mark giving the Cougs the balanced effort they would need to win on the road.

As a team, WSU shot 36.7% (22-of-60) from the floor, but hit 7-of-12 from deep and 10-of-18 from the line. The Utes finished the game shooting 34.5% (19-of-55) from the floor while hitting 6-of-24 from distance and 11-of-16 from the line. The 18 free throws by the Cougars marked the first time in Pac-12 play WSU attempted more free throws than its opponent as Utah was forced to foul at the end of the game driving the Cougs' number north.

Corzon would finish the day with a game-best 25 points as she single-handedly kept the Utes in the contest with five threes. Underneath, the Utes' standout center, Emily Potter, finished the game with just nine points to go with 12 rebounds and five blocks before fouling out of the contest late.

Washington State heads home for a pair of contests against the Arizona schools next week beginning with a Friday matchup against No. 23/18 Arizona State. The contest is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum. The Cougs will sport pink uniforms as they Play For Kay in support of breast cancer awareness.