PULLMAN, Wash. (January 2, 2025) – Washington State women's basketball fell to Santa Clara, 68-62 Thursday night.
Although the Cougars (8-7, 3-1 WCC) didn't see as many shots fall as they would have liked, going 5-of-30 from beyond the arc, there were still some positives as they out-rebounded SCU 42 to 38, and hauled in 20 offensive boards while forcing 13 turnovers.
Alex Covill led the offense with a career-high 15 points, going a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor.
Tara Wallack finished with her fifth-career double-double, tallying 10 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Eleonora Villa also scored in double-figures with 13 points, two rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Astera Tuhina dished out a team-high six assists, and had five rebounds and two steals to go with her nine points.
Charlotte Abraham finished with five points, four rebounds and a steal, and
Jenna Villa put up four boards, three assists, a block and a steal.
An 8-0 Cougar run backed by a couple of threes from Abraham and
Eleonora Villa and a Wallack jumper put WSU ahead 8-5 early. SCU would move back ahead, but six straight makes from Covill put Wazzu on top, and a Tuhina floater helped give the Cougs a 20-19 lead at the end of the first quarter
Jean Chiu opened the second with a triple to make it 23-19, but the Broncos would move ahead 27-23 before both teams cooled off and SCU would take a 35-27 lead into halftime.
The Broncos led by as many as 13 out of the break, 40-27, before Wallack ended the WSU scoring drought with a layup which led to a 7-2 spurt and make it 42-34 midway through the third. Nearing the end of the third quarter, Tuhina buried a three and then forced a turnover on the other side of the court that turned into a breakaway layup by
Eleonora Villa to cut the SCU lead to 49-43 entering the final quarter of play.
Teams traded points to start the fourth, but SCU would move to a 10-point lead, 60-50 with five minutes left to play. A layup from
Eleonora Villa and a trey by
Dayana Mendes brought it back to a 6-point game, 62-56 as the game entered its final two minutes.
As time ticked down, Villa added two more with a quick steal and score to make it a 5-point game, before a Mendes layup made it 65-62 with 23 seconds remaining, but it would be too late as Santa Clara held on to win 68-62.
RECORD BOOK CLIMBERS AND MILESTONE CHASERS
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Tara Wallack's 10 points put her at 1,049 for her career, ranking 20th in program history.
• Wallack has 128 career blocks, sixth all-time at WSU.
• With 31 minutes today, she has played 3,325 career minutes, ninth all-time at WSU.
• Wallack is also 635 minutes away from matching the most in program history.
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Alex Covill has 85 career blocks, eight away from entering the WSU all-time top-10 list.
NOTES
• Wallack's three assists tonight put her over 200 for her career, putting her at 1,000+ points, 500+ rebounds and 200+ steals.
UP NEXT
The Cougs stick around in Pullman to host Oregon State on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 12 p.m. noon. The game will be live on ESPN+ with Ann Schatz and Mary Murphy on the call.
FOLLOW US
For more information on the Washington State women's basketball team, follow @WSUCougarWBB on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
