Los Angeles, Calif. (January 25, 2025) – Washington State women's basketball fell to LMU, 79-76 Saturday afternoon.

The Cougars (12-10, 7-4 WCC) bested the Lions on boards 35-29, and out-shot them in makes and shooting percentage, both from the field and from beyond the arc, but it wasn't be quite enough.

WSU had four in double-digit scoring, led by Eleonora Villa and Candace Kpetikou who each tallied 13 points.

Kpetikou posted a career-high in points for the third straight game and added three rebounds and a steal. Eleonora Villa dished three assists in addition to her 13 points.

Astera Tuhina pitched in 12 points, two assists and two rebounds, while Kyra Garder tallied a season-best 10 points.

Alex Covill matched a career-high with eight rebounds, and had eight points, four assists, a block and a steal.

Tara Wallack finished with seven points, four boards and a block, while Charlotte Abraham had six points and four rebounds.

Dayana Mendes added four rebounds and three steals, and Marta Alsina recorded three rebounds and a block.

Tuhina nailed a three to open a back-and-forth start to the first quarter, and buckets from Wallack and Covill put the Cougs up 9-8 midway through the period. LMU would stretch out to a 20-10 lead, but a 9-0 Cougar run to end the first behind five points from Gardner and layups from Mendes and Kpetikou had WSU trailing by one, 20-19, going into the second.

A triple from Alsina helped extend the scoring run to 13-0 and get WSU back on top, 24-20. Teams traded points from there and a pair of clean-up buckets from Covill and four points from Abraham made it 36-31 before taking a 38-34 lead into the locker room.

Both teams started slow out of the break, but layups from Eleonora Villa and Kpetikou kept the Cougs ahead 48-46 with under five to play in the third. LMU would even things back up, though, and free throws on both ends saw the Lions with a 59-56 lead at the end of the third quarter.

After Gardner splashed a three to tie the game at 59-all, teams continued to go blow-for-blow as Eleonora Villa and Tuhina scores made it 72-70 going into the final three minutes of play. Wallack drained a three to pull the Cougs within one, 74-73 as the game entered its final minute, but despite another late three from Tuhina to make it 77-76, LMU would seal the game on free throws to win 79-76.

RECORD BOOK CLIMBERS AND MILESTONE CHASERS

• Tara Wallack's seven points put her at 1,122 for her career, ranking 18th in program history.
• Wallack's one block puts her at 141 for her career, fifth all-time at WSU.
• Wallack had four rebounds, putting her at 588 career boards, 43 from 10th all time at WSU.
• With 18 minutes tonight, Wallack has played 3,550 career minutes to move up to fifth all-time at WSU.
• Wallack is also 410 minutes away from matching the most in program history.
• Alex Covill's one block today puts her at 99 career blocks, moving alone for ninth all-time at WSU, and one away from 100.

NOTES

• Candace Kpetikou scored in double-figures for the third-straight game, and for the fourth time this season.
• It was also Kpetikou's third-straight game with career-high points, scoring 10 at Santa Clara (1/18), 12 against Portland (1/23), and 13 today.

UP NEXT
The Cougs now travel up to Corvallis, Oregon to play Oregon State on Monday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Ann Schatz and Mary Murphy on the call.

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