LAS VEGAS, Nev. (March 10, 2025) – Washington State women's basketball fell in the WCC Semifinals to No. 2 Portland, 72-57 Monday afternoon.
The Cougars (20-13) had three score in double-figures, led by
Dayana Mendes who recorded her fourth-career double-double.
Mendes finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds, while
Eleonora Villa and
Tara Wallack each also scored 11.
Wallack added five rebounds, four assists and a block, and
Eleonora Villa had three assists and two steals.
Alex Covill scored seven points to go with three boards and two blocks.
Astera Tuhina finished with five points, five assists, two blocks and four rebounds.
Charlotte Abraham pitched in six points, five rebounds, a block and a steal.
Tuhina opened the scoring with a three, and then a trio of Wallack layups put the Cougs ahead 9-5. Teams traded points as shots from Abraham and Covill kept the advantage weighted towards WSU, taking a 15-14 lead into the second quarter.
Both teams continued to throw punches, and a couple of Gardner layups extended the Wazzu lead to 21-16. The Pilots would even the score at 21-all, but WSU had an answer with buckets from
Eleonora Villa, Mendes and Tuhina to regain some breathing room with a 31-25 lead midway through the second.
As time ticked down in the second, the Cougs inched their lead out further. An Abraham jumper put the lead to nine, and later a Covill block led to a layup from her on the other end to put the lead at 12, 37-25 before taking a 39-30 lead into the locker room.
Out of the half, Portland quickly evened things back up and then moved out in front. The Pilots tallied a 22-2 run to extend to a 52-41 lead before Wallack ended a WSU scoring drought with a layup and an
Eleonora Villa three at the third quarter buzzer made it a 10-point game, 56-46.
Makes from
Eleonora Villa and Mendes kept pace with Portland in the final frame, facing a 61-53 deficit with under six to play. UP pulled away from there, though, and the Cougars would run out of time, falling 70-57.
RECORD BOOK CLIMBERS AND MILESTONE CHASERS
- Tara Wallack's 11 points puts her at 1,278 for her career, 14th in program history.
- Wallack recorded one block, and now has 160 career blocks, second all-time at WSU.
- Wallack had five rebounds, putting her at 663 career boards, ninth all time at WSU.
- With 35 minutes today, Wallack has played 3,942 career minutes, second all-time at WSU.
- Wallack is also 18 minutes away from matching the most in program history.
- With two blocks, Alex Covill has 109 career blocks, tied for seventh all-time in program history.
- Head Coach Kamie Ethridge has 198 career wins as a head coach, two from 200.
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