LOS ANGELES – Borislava Hristova moved into 20th on the Pac-12 Conference all-time scoring list on Sunday against No. 10/10 UCLA, but the Washington State University women's basketball team fell to the Bruins, 66-50, at Pauley Pavilion to bring an end to their weekend in Los Angeles.
Hristova tallied 14 points against the No. 10-ranked team in the country to surpass Stanford's Nicole Powell for 20th on the Pac-12 all-time scoring list for women's basketball. The redshirt senior now has 2,066 career points and is now just 13 points away from passing Stanford's Val Whiting for 19th.
Washington State entered the second quarter in a tie with UCLA at 14-all, but the Bruins opened the frame with three-consecutive steals that resulted in a fast break layup to take a 20-14 lead. UCLA held the Cougars scoreless for over four minutes in the second quarter to jump out to a nine-point advantage at 27-18 midway through the stanza, and took a 32-20 lead over WSU into the half.
The Cougs saw its deficit expand in the third, with UCLA leading by as many as 24 points in the quarter. Washington State used a 13-4 run to open the fourth quarter to pull within 12 points of the Bruins, but that would be as close as WSU would get to the No. 10-ranked team in the nation, as UCLA came away with the 16-point victory.
The loss extends Washington State's losing streak to four games, three of which have come to teams ranked inside the top-25. WSU now stands at 9-11 on the season and drop to 2-6 in Pac-12 contests. Conversely, UCLA improves to 18-1 on the year and 7-1 in league play.
Hristova was the lone WSU player to hit double figures on Sunday, however, 10 of the 11 players who played against UCLA scored at least one field goal. Freshman Bella Murekatete provided a seven-point, eight-rebound performance, while senior Chanelle Molina pulled down a team-best nine caroms and dished out a game-high six assists.
Washington State put on a strong defensive effort against UCLA by holding the Bruins to eight points below their season scoring average of 74.8 points per game. The Cougars were tenacious around the 3-point line all afternoon, as UCLA went 0-of-15 from behind the arc. WSU pulled down 17 offensive rebounds, which led to a 12-11 edge in second-chance points, while they also held a 10-point edge in points off the bench at 17-7. UCLA forced the Cougars into 19 turnovers, which helped them to a 19-8 edge in points off turnovers.
Washington State returns to action next Friday, Jan. 31, as they open a four-game homestand inside Beasley Coliseum. First up for the Cougars is a battle against California, who WSU defeated 96-76 in Berkeley back on Jan. 5. Tip-off against the Golden Bears is set for 7 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network Washington.
COUG QUOTES
Coach Ethridge on Today's Result: "It's just the same old thing, where you get something fixed, then all of a sudden UCLA throws a zone at us that we hadn't seen in a while. We stumbled a little bit against it and it led to run outs, and that's on me for not getting the team ready for that. We lost a lot of confidence and gave up some easy baskets. Their guards put a lot of pressure on us and we weren't able to get into our offense at times because of it."
COUGS NOTES
- The loss on Sunday to No. 10 UCLA puts Washington State's record against ranked teams this season at 0-8, while they have now dropped 30 consecutive games to teams ranked inside the Associate Press and USA Today Coaches Polls.
- With 14 points on Sunday, redshirt senior Borislava Hristova improves her double-digit scoring streak to 14 games. The 14-consecutive games in double figures ties her with Heather Norman for the five-longest double-digit scoring streak by a senior in Washington State history.
- Freshman Bella Murekatete has now pulled down eight rebounds in two of her last three contest, while the seven-point effort marks her highest point total since Jan. 5 in a win at California.
- The 21 minutes played by Murekatete against UCLA is a new career-best for the freshman.
- Today's six-assist performance from senior Chanelle Molina gives her 396 for her career. She needs just nine more assists to move into second place on Washington State's career assists list.
