WASHINGTON ST. (10-16, 3-11) at UTAH (15-10, 6-8)
6 p.m. PT | Friday | Feb. 16, 2018
Salt Lake City, Utah | Huntsman Center (8,590)
MATCHUP NOTES
The Cougs hit the road for the final time in the regular season with a trip to Utah and Colorado. WSU looks for some revenge against Utah as the Utes stole a win in Pullman last month, beating the Cougs on last second free throws (Utah went 22-24 at the line in the game), 81-79, after coming back from 13 points down. In the loss
Borislava Hristova scored 29 points on 14-23 shooting. Last season, the Cougs beat the Utes in Utah behind 13 points from
Alexys Swedlund. The two teams split the season series with each nabbing the road win from each other. Utah holds the 15-6 advantage and has won four of the last five meetings between the two teams.
LAST TIME OUT
Taking on one of the nation's top offenses, the Cougars (10-16, 3-11 Pac-12) threw everything they had at the high-powered Ducks (23-4, 12-2 Pac-12), forcing No. 9/10 ranked Oregon to use every weapon in its arsenal to take home a 90-79 victory in Beasley Coliseum Sunday afternoon. From the outset the Cougs knew they were going to be in for a high-paced battle as the two teams traded shots early, the Ducks from in close while the Cougs bombed away from deep. Despite missing just one shot in the opening 10 minutes, Oregon held just a six-point lead after one quarter of action thanks to 11 points, including a trio of threes, from
Alexys Swedlund. When a quick third foul sent Swedlund to the bench early in the second quarter, the Ducks took advantage of the shorthanded Cougs, breaking the game open with nearly perfect offensive execution. Despite falling behind by as much as 23 points to start the second half, the Cougs fought back, using a 15-2 run capped by a
Borislava Hristova three to cut the deficit to just nine late in the third. Unfortunately for WSU, the nine points would be as close as the Cougs would get the rest of the way as the Ducks answered every make with one of their own in the final 10 minutes of play. As the Cougs tried to foul and shoot their way back into the game Oregon closed things out from the line where it knocked down 10-of-11 in the quarter to finish the game 18-of-19.
ABOUT THE UTES
Utah enters the Friday matchup in eighth place in the Pac-12 standings at 6-8 in conference play. The Utes enter the week as the 4th ranked offense in the Pac-12 scoring 69.6 ppg in conference play while allowing 70.2 ppg. Megan Huff has been Utah's best player in Pac-12 games averaging 15.4 ppg on 52.8% shooting while Daneesha Provo sits just behind at 14.9 ppg. Huff has been close to a double-double averaging 8.1 rebounds per game as well.
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