LUBBOCK, Texas (November 16, 2024) – Washington State women's basketball went blow-for-blow with Texas Tech Saturday night, falling 56-52.

The Cougars (2-2, 0-0 WCC) used strong defense to hold the Lady Raiders to 56 points while tallying five blocks and two steals, and on offense shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half, and 60 percent in the fourth quarter.

Eleonora Villa and Jenna Villa both scored in double-digits, with 12 points and 10 points, respectively. Eleonora Villa drained a pair of threes and added three assists, three rebounds and a steal. Jenna Villa was 3-of-4 from deep and grabbed three boards.

Dayana Mendes scored nine points and added seven rebounds, a block and a steal while Tara Wallack grabbed eight rebounds and put up two blocks.

Alice Dart finished with eight points and a block, and Astera Tuhina tallied six points, two assists and two rebounds.

Points were hard to come by in the first half with stingy defense on both sides. After a layup from Mendes tied the game at 5-5, a layup and a trey from Eleonora Villa put the Cougs up 10-7 before the first quarter ended with the score locked at 12-all.

A Mendes 3-point play and a Charlotte Abraham bucket put WSU ahead 17-16 midway through the second quarter. Texas Tech took a lead shortly after, but five points from Dart down the stretch kept it a one possession game as the Cougs trailed 24-22 at the break.

WSU quickly worked back ahead out of halftime as a jumper from Eleonora Villa tied the game at 24-24 and then an Alex Covill layup put them ahead 26-24 with 6:25 to play in the third. A Tuhina layup kept the Cougars ahead 31-29 before a corner three from Eleonora Villa helped the Cougs to a 34-31 lead going into the fourth quarter.

A 3-point play from Dart extended the WSU lead to 38-31 to start the fourth. Texas Tech would retake a lead, though, using an 11-0 run to move on top 42-38, but the Cougs answered back as Jenna Villa knocked down back-to-back threes to take a 44-42 lead with under five to play.

After going back-and-forth for several possessions, TTU took a 51-48 lead, but Jenna Villa buried her third three of the quarter to lock the score at 51-51 with 1:13 remaining. However, back-to-back scores for the Lady Raiders gave them a two-possession lead in the final seconds as they went on to win 56-52.


RECORD BOOK CLIMBERS AND MILESTONE CHASERS
•    Tara Wallack's two points put her at 900 for her career, 100 points away from 1,000.
•    Wallack's eight rebounds gives her 460 for her career, 40 away from 500.
•    Wallack's two blocks gives her 110 career blocks, sixth all-time at WSU.
•    Astera Tuhina's two assists put her at 188 for her career, 12 assists away from 200.


UP NEXT
The Cougars are back on the road next weekend at Iowa on Sunday, Nov. 24. Tipoff will be at 1 p.m. PT, live on Big Ten Network.

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