In Case You Missed It ...
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Behind a dominant defensive effort in the first half and a balanced offensive attack late the Washington State women's basketball team (2-4) closed out their first road win of the year, defeating Jacksonville State (2-3), 64-51, Friday at the Warner Center Marriot Thanksgiving Basketball Classic. The Cougars saw their stars come out to play as
Borislava Hristova posted her first-career double-double scoring 18 points and grabbing a career-best 11 rebounds while
Chanelle Molina chipped in 10 points and grabbed a career-best nine rebounds to go with six assists to lead the way. Yet, while the dynamic duo were finished the game off for the Cougars, it was senior captain
Alexys Swedlund that got her team out of their funk from the night prior, shooting WSU to an early lead thanks to a quick eight point blitz out of the gate. In addition to her shooting that netted the senior sharp-shooter 15 points in the game, Swedlund's defense sparked her team's early success as she came up with three steals in the first half as the Cougars refocused and clamped down defensively, allowing just three points over the final 8:30 of the half to break open the game for good. While WSU allowed just seven points in the second quarter. Hristova took over on the offensive end, netting 11 points in the quarter to push the Cougar advantage to 16 points at the break. The onslaught would continue in the third behind another big run with four different Cougars getting into the action with the lead swelling to its largest of 24 points at 51-27 with just under five to play in the third quarter. The big lead would pay off as it allowed WSU to overcome a tough shooting fourth quarter, holding off an attempted rally by the Gamecocks to hold on for the double-digit victory.
Coach Ethridge Quote of the Game
"I loved our first half. That was as good of a half as we've played, consistency, effort-wise, and talking. You just saw some pride in our players that they really wanted to be better and knew that they had to do certain things energy-wise and competitive-wise and physical-wise to make us a team that can compete. I thought we really dominated the game. We still have our spurts and still have moments where we just struggle scoring the basketball, but at least today we had a really great effort on the defensive end."
Moments of the Game
Things You Need To Know
- The Cougs won their first game away from Beasley in 2018-19 while picking up the win in the first meeting between the Cougars and the Gamecocks.
- WSU nearly missed having three players record double-doubles in the win as Maria Kostourkova fell one basket shy to post eight points and 10 rebounds in the game alongside of Hristova and Molina.Â
- Hristova scored in double-figures for the sixth-straight game to start the year while Molina posted her fifth-straight double-digit scoring effort.
- The Cougars went exceptionally young late in the third quarter as the team's four-true freshmen were on the court together for nearly two minutes from the 3:06 mark until the 1:24 mark of the period. Shir Levy, the lone freshman starter, scored a career-best seven points while grabbing one rebound and dishing out one assist in 23 minutes.
- WSU held JSU to just 29.5% (18-of-61) shooting in the game while hitting 44.0% (22-of-50) of their own shots.
- JSU's Destiney Elliot was the lone Gamecock in double-figures scoring 17 points on 5-of-14 shooting. Rayven Pearson added nine points to go with a game-best 12 rebounds.
- WSU returns home Thursday, Nov. 29 to face San Francisco at 7 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum. The meeting marks the third-straight season the two teams have met in the regular season and the ninth time overall. The Cougars are 6-2 all-time against the Dons including winning the last six contest.
