BERKELEY, Calif. — Washington State women's basketball fell to California 80-58 in Haas Pavilion Monday night.
The Cougars (0-1, 0-0 Pac-12) had 18 assists and shot 24 of 68 from the field while California made 27 of 65.
Eleonora Villa scored 20 points and added seven assists and a career-high two blocks.
Malia Ruud finished with 13 points and collected seven rebounds, including two offensive boards.
Elizaveta Filchagina added seven points, four assists and two 3-pointers.
Villa scored inside off Mackenzie Chatfield’s assist and later hit a 3-pointer as WSU built a 7-4 lead early in the first quarter. California tied it with a 3-pointer at 5:54, moved ahead 10-7 with another 3-pointer and added a jumper to make it 12-7. Villa answered with a jumper, but California pushed the lead to 16-9 before Ruud scored off Villa’s assist at 1:32, leaving Wazzu down 16-11 after the quarter.
Malvina Haziri answered an early California jumper with a 3-pointer off a Chatfield assist at 9:27, cutting the lead to 18-14. California followed with two baskets to move ahead 24-15 before Villa scored twice for the Cougars, including a fastbreak layup off a Chatfield assist. A California 3-pointer made it 30-19 at 3:43, and after Tanja Valancic and Ruud helped WSU get within 30-24, California closed the half with two jumpers and a 3-pointer with two seconds left for a 37-24 lead.
After Villa’s opening layup, California answered with a free throw, a second-chance layup and two free throws to make it 42-26. Wazzu came back with an 8-0 run, with Villa scoring inside, assisting on a Filchagina 3-pointer and hitting a 3-pointer to cut it to 42-34 at 5:59. California stopped the run with a jumper and added four free throws around WSU turnovers to push the score to 48-34, and after Ruud dunked off a Villa assist, California hit 3-pointers on consecutive scores and ended the quarter ahead 60-45.
Ruud scored off a Filchagina assist at 9:18, and WSU later got baskets from Aicha Bah and Haziri to make it 64-52 at 7:05. California answered with a 3-pointer and a layup before Bah and Alex Covill scored inside for the Cougs, with Covill’s layup making it 71-56 at 5:15. Wazzu went without another point until the final minute as California built the margin to 80-56 on inside baskets and free throws, then Tahara Magassa finished a fastbreak layup off a Haziri assist with 30 seconds left to close the scoring.
Notes
- With 20 points tonight, Eleonora Villa recorded her 20th career 20+ point game.
- Villa has 1,507 career points, moving up to eighth all-time in program history, 19 from moving up to seventh (1,526).
- Villa has 144 career made threes, moving into a tie for seventh all-time at WSU, 10 away from sixth (154).
- Villa has also made 595 career field goals, seventh all-time at WSU and 11 away from sixth (606).
- At 3,535 career minutes played, Villa is tied for sixth all-time at WSU, and 108 from fifth (3,643).
- Villa has 252 career rebounds, surpassing the 250 rebound mark tonight.
- Villa has 144 made threes, six from 150.
- Villa has 92 career steals, eight from 100.
- Alex Covill has 153 career blocks, fifth all-time in program history and three blocks shy of fourth (156).
- Covill finished the game with a career .524 field goal percentage, fourth-best in program history.
- Covill has 281 career rebounds, 19 from 300.
- Charlotte Abraham has 303 career rebounds, surpassing the 300 rebound mark tonight.
- Mackenzie Chatfield has 198 career assists, two from 200.
- Malia Ruud has 302 career points, surpassing the 300 point mark tonight.
Up next, WSU travels to Eugene, Oregon, to face Oregon Friday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m.