In Case You Missed It ...
PULLMAN, Wash. –  Behind a combined 65 points out of
Borislava Hristova and
Chanelle Molina, Washington State (8-16, 3-10) outgunned the visiting Wildcats of Arizona (15-8, 5-7), 90-88, Saturday afternoon at Beasley Coliseum. The Cougars stars put on a show in front of their home crowd, splitting the scoring duties over the 40 minutes of action to take down the Wildcats and the nation's second leading scorer. After a game two nights prior, Molina came out scorching on Saturday afternoon as the junior point scored the Cougars' first eight points of the game and netted 12 in the opening stanza. It was the final four of those 12 that kick started a 9-0 closing run for the Cougars to capture a three-point lead after the first 10 minutes of action. After falling behind by six midway through the second quarter Molina again would spur the Cougars' answer as she scored five of a quick seven for WSU to recapture the lead. From there, Hristova led a free flowing attack that saw WSU again close the frame strong with a 16-6 spurt to nab a 42-38 at the break. The 10 from Hristova in the second quarter was only a warmup as the star forward scored 12 of the Cougars' 23 in the third and 13 of 25 in the fourth to help put away a pesky Wildcat team that refused to go home quietly. The Cougars would need every bit of the dynamic duos scoring thanks to the play of Aari McDonald, who scored nine points in the game's final 1:48 to make the home crowd at Beasley sweat. In the end, Hristova and Molina would hit the free throws needed to keep the Wildcats at arms length while Molina got her hand on a final three-point attempt by McDonald, blocking the last ditch effort by the Wildcats' star and securing the victory for WSU.
Coach Ethridge Quote of the Game
"Well what an entertaining game especially when we find away to win. I just am really proud of our team and how hard we sustained our effort. I think that has been a big problem for us to sustain effort, execution, and focus and kind of purpose through a 40 minute game. I thought this was one of our better games where we really, for the things we wanted to do before this game and for this game, I thought we were really good for most of the game. Two phenomenal performances by Bobi and Nelle."
Moments of the Game
Things You Need To Know
- WSU snapped a seven-game skid with the win over the Wildcats, their second-straight over Arizona and seventh in the last nine matchups.
- The Cougs shot a season-best 57.4% (35-61) from the floor. It was their best shooting day in the last decade for WSU.
- Borislava Hristova finished with 37 points, one shy of her career high, tying for the fourth most points in a single game in WSU history. She scored 25 in the second half, the second best scoring half in program history only trailing Tricia Lamb's 27 first half points against Arizona Jan. 7, 1999.
- Hristova's 37 points marked her fourth 30 point game of the year and 13th 20+ point game of the season.
- Hristova became just the seventh Cougar to record 500 points in a season as she finished the day with 505 for the year.
- Chanelle Molina ended her day tying a season best with 28 points to go with nine assists and three rebounds. Molina moved into the program's single season top-10 for assists finishing with 126 for the year, ninth most in WSU history.
- Together, Hristova and Molina scored 65 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and dished out 12 assists while shooting a combined 25-of-35 (71.4%) from the floor. The 65 points were the most combined points for a Cougar duo in program history.
- Not to be left out, Alexys Swedlund provided the support for the dynamic duo netting 12 points while Ula Motuga added two points to go with five rebounds and a career-best six assists.
- With the tip of the contest, senior Maria Kostourkova officially played in her 120th career game at WSU, moving into a tie for 10th all-time in program history in games played. She finished her day with one point, six rebounds, and three assists as she was limted to just 19 minutes due to foul trouble.
- The Cougars recorded 25 assists on 35 made baskets, one shy of their season-best of 26 assists.
- Arizona put four in double-figures to counter the Cougars led by Aari McDonald's 26 points. McDonald entered the game averaging just under 26 points as the nation's second-leading scorer. Cate Reese (19), Sam Thomas (16) and Lucia Alonso (14) rounded out the Wildcats' scoring. Arizona shot 54.2% (32-59) from the floor.
- The Cougars renew their Boeing Apple Cup Series rivalry with Washington Friday, Feb. 15 in Pullman. WSU took the opening game of the series in December, defeating the Huskies 79-76 in Seattle.
