SAN JUAN, P.R. (November 29, 2024) – Washington State women's basketball's stout defense in the final seconds came up big as the Cougars downed Virginia, 75-74 Friday evening.

The Cougars (4-3, 0-0 WCC) had four score in double-figures and knocked down 11 three-pointers in the game while going 12-of-14 from the charity stripe.

Eleonora Villa led the scoring attack with 17 points to go with three rebounds and five assists.

Tara Wallack and Dayana Mendes each finished with 13 points. Wallack added seven boards, four assists, a block and a steal, and Mendes had five rebounds and an assist.

Alex Covill matched a career-high 12 points along with seven rebounds, three blocks and two steals.

Charlotte Abraham went 2-of-3 from deep for seven points, four rebounds, four assists and a steal.

Jenna Villa also nailed a pair of threes for six points, and had three assists and a rebound.

Astera Tuhina dished four assists and had a steal and two rebounds. 

A pair of early buckets from Eleonora Villa and a Tuhina three kept pace with Virginia as the game was 9-9 midway through the first. After a Mendes layup, Virginia put up seven-straight points to move ahead 16-11, but another Mendes make, this time from deep, brought it back to within a possession, 16-14. From there, though, Virginia created some separation and held a 25-18 lead at the end of the first quarter.

UVA added on in the second to lead by as many as 29-18, but an Eleonora Villa layup kicked off a 7-2 spurt to draw back to within six, 31-25 with seven minutes left in the first half. Wallack connected for three, and then later knocked down a couple of free throws to make it a one-possession game, 33-30, before a triple from Eleonora Villa and a pair of Abraham free throws sent the game into halftime with the Cougs trailing 42-37.

Back-to-back treys from Eleonora Villa out of the break and a Mendes layup brought Wazzu back to within one, 47-46 with 5:17 in the third. After a Mendes layup, Jenna Villa used a pair of threes to tie the game at 54-54 before a Wallack three put the Cougs in front, 57-56 with 1:35 to go in the third before WSU went into the final quarter down one, 60-59.

Into the fourth quarter, the Cougs quickly grabbed the lead with a pair of Covill layups to make it 63-60, and then a Gardner layup and a pair of threes from Abraham extended the lead to 71-62 midway through the final period. UVA would chip away from there, though, and WSU held a slim 75-74 lead as time winded down, but three huge defensive stops from the Cougs in the closing seconds sealed the 75-74 win.

RECORD BOOK CLIMBERS AND MILESTONE CHASERS
•    Tara Wallack's 13 points put her at 946 for her career, 54 points away from 1,000.
•    Wallack's seven rebounds gives her 482 for her career, 18 away from 500.
•    Wallack's one block moves her to 119 career blocks, sixth all-time at WSU.
•    Astera Tuhina's four assists put her at 198 for her career, two assists away from 200.
•    With the win, Head Coach Kamie Ethridge has 99 wins at WSU, one away from 100.
•    Coach Ethridge now also has 182 career wins as a head coach, 18 from 200.


UP NEXT
WSU wraps up at the 2024 Discover Puerto Rico Shootout against Drake on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 12 p.m. noon PT. The game will be webstreamed live on FloCollege.com/events.

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