IOWA CITY, Iowa (November 24, 2024) – Washington State women's basketball went to Iowa and fell, 72-43 Sunday evening at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Cougars (2-3, 0-0 WCC) hit seven threes as a team while holding Iowa to just 2-of-17 from beyond the arc.

Tara Wallack and Jenna Villa each led the team with 11 points and a trio of 3-pointers each. Wallack added seven rebounds and a block, and Villa had a steal and two rebounds.

Eleonora Villa grabbed seven boards to go with her five points and a steal.

Astera Tuhina scored eight points along with two steals and three assists, and Alex Covill recorded two blocks.

Dayana Mendes finished with four points, four rebounds, two assists and a block, while Candace Kpetikou also added four boards.

After a Tuhina jumper opened the scoring, WSU traded points with Iowa in the first quarter. A Wallack three and a bucket from Mendes evened things at 11-11 midway through the period before back-to-back threes from Wallack and Jenna Villa put the Cougs ahead 19-18 at the end of the first. Iowa hit a groove in the second quarter, and despite a pair of Tuhina buckets, the Cougs trailed the hawkeyes 38-23 at the half.

Out of the locker room, Mendes dropped in a layup and Eleonora Villa connected for three, but Iowa extended its lead to 55-28 heading into the final quarter of play. A pair of Jenna Villa threes and a trey from Wallack made it 65-37 before Villa added a layup with 2:05 to play to make it a 68-41 Iowa lead. In the final seconds, Jean Chiu added in a quick steal and score before the game went final, 72-43.

RECORD BOOK CLIMBERS AND MILESTONE CHASERS
•    Tara Wallack's 11 points put her at 911 for her career, 89 points away from 1,000.
•    Wallack's seven rebounds gives her 467 for her career, 33 away from 500.
•    Wallack's block gives her 111 career blocks, sixth all-time at WSU.
•    Wallack's 29 minutes played puts her at 2,997 career minutes, three away from 3,000.
•    Astera Tuhina's three assists put her at 191 for her career, nine assists away from 200.


UP NEXT
WSU heads down to Puerto Rico for the 2024 Discover Puerto Rico Shootout where they will open against Norfolk State on Thursday, Nov. 28 at 1 p.m. PT. The team will then play Virginia on Friday, Nov. 29 at 1 p.m. PT and Drake on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 12 p.m. noon PT. All three games will be broadcast live on FloCollege.com/events.

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