In Case You Missed It ...
PULLMAN, Wash. –  On a night the Cougars big three did not have their A-games, Washington State (9-19, 4-13) struggled to keep pace with No. 7 Stanford (24-4, 14-3) as the Cardinal pulled away fo a 67-42 win Friday night at Beasley Coliseum. While Cougar vets struggled, the freshmen did all they could to keep the Cougs within reach of the Cardinal led by the efforts of
Ula Motuga who scored a team-high 10 points. Motuga got the ball rolling for WSU early, scoring the first five points of the game as the Cougars took an early lead on Stanford, 7-3. Despite the quick start, the Cougars could not hold back the on rush of the Cardinal as Stanford put together a 14-2 run midway late in the opening frame to break open the contest early and never look back. Stanford would push its lead to 15 at the break as WSU was held to just seven points in the second quarter. The Cougars would get no closer than the 15-point margin at the halftime break as the Cardinal used a 7-0 run to end the third to push the lead over 20 points heading into the final frame before outscoring WSU, 12-10, in the games final 10 minutes to seal the victory and take control of second place overall in the Pac-12 standings with just one game to play.
Coach Ethridge Quote of the Game
"It's a tough game, obviously disappointing with our offensive output. I feel like I say it every game though, when we do succeed we generally have a really high shooting percentage from
Chanelle Molina. I think she is the key often times to our game and I think the weight of the world is on her because we basically only have one ball handler on the court and she's it. You're asking her to carry a really heavy load, to handle the ball on every possession and we need her to make every shot. That's the reality."
Moments of the Game
Things You Need To Know
- The Cougs dropped both halves of the season series to the Cardinal who moved into sole possession of second place in the Pac-12 with the victory. Stanford improved to 65-0 against the Cougars all-time.
- Ula Motuga was the lone Cougar to reach double-figures in the contest as the Aussie freshman scored 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting. The 10 points marked the third double-digit game of the season for Motuga.
- Freshman Shir Levy finished the game with eight points while Chanelle Molina scored seven to go with a team-high six rebounds and three assists. Borislava Hristova was held to a season-low five points on just 2-of-7 shooting.
- WSU was without senior center Maria Kostourkova who missed her first-career game as a late scratch. She had played in 123 consecutive games prior to tonight.
- Stanford put three in double-figures with Dijonai Carrington scoring 19 points to go with eight rebounds and five assist. All-American Alanna Smith came up with the double-double with 18 points and a game-high 11 rebounds while Kiana Williams added 11 points, four rebounds, and four assists.
- The Cougars close out the regular season Sunday, March 3, when they host Cal for senior day at noon. The game will mark the first of two-straight games against the Golden Bears as the two teams are locked into their 7/10 seeds for the upcoming Pac-12 Tournament in Vegas.Â
