EUGENE, Ore. — Washington State women's basketball lost to (RV) Oregon 64-57 Friday night at Matthew Knight Arena.
The Cougars (0-2, 0-0 Pac-12) scored 28 points in the second quarter, doing its work in the paint and at the foul line, while Oregon countered from the perimeter and on the glass.
Eleonora Villa scored 22 points, went 9-for-9 at the free-throw line and added three assists.
Alex Covill finished with eight points and recorded four blocks.
Tanja Valancic posted seven points, four assists, four rebounds and three steals.
Malia Ruud collected a team-high seven rebounds and added seven points.
Oregon scored the first nine points of the game, leading 9-0 at 6:25. WSU held Oregon scoreless for more than five minutes, and Valancic scored twice before Aicha Bah's steal led to a fastbreak layup off a Villa assist to cut it to 9-6 at 1:46. Oregon ended its drought with a 3-pointer at 0:59, Villa made two free throws at 0:20, and Oregon added a late free throw to lead 13-8.
Villa's 3-pointer at 7:46 cut Oregon's lead to 13-11, and after Oregon moved ahead 17-13, two Villa free throws and a Covill layup off a Mackenzie Chatfield assist tied it at 17. Villa put Wazzu in front with a jumper and a free throw at 5:25, and WSU used an eight-point stretch to take a 28-19 lead. After an Oregon 3-pointer at 2:16, Ruud answered with a three, Charlotte Abraham added another three, and Villa scored in the final second as WSU closed with a 36-22 lead.
Valancic answered Oregon's early 3-pointer with one of her own, and Covill added two baskets as WSU moved ahead 43-28 at 7:59. Oregon worked back with three baskets and two 3-pointers while Wazzu's only points in the stretch came on two Villa free throws. Abraham followed her own miss for a layup at 0:23, and Oregon scored at the horn but missed the free throw as WSU carried a 47-46 lead into the fourth.
Abraham's layup off an Aicha Bah assist put WSU ahead 49-48 at 9:09, but Oregon answered with a jumper and layup before Chatfield brought the Cougars within 52-51. Villa's layup off a Valancic assist gave Wazzu a 53-52 lead at 5:38, but Oregon answered with a 3-pointer, two free throws and a jumper to move ahead 59-53. After Covill scored inside, Oregon hit a 3-pointer for a 62-55 lead. Ruud scored off an Abraham assist with nine seconds left, but Oregon made two free throws at 0:05 to close out the win.
NOTES
- Eleonora Villa has 145 career made threes, five from 150.
- Villa has 93 career steals, seven from 100.
- Villa has 97 career starts, three from 100.
- Alex Covill has 284 career rebounds, 16 from 300.
- Covill sits at 1,368 career minutes, 132 from 1,500.
- Mackenzie Chatfield recorded her 200th career assist.
- Chatfield has 355 career points, 145 from 500.
- Malia Ruud has 309 career points, 191 from 500.
- Villa has 1,529 career points, moving up to seventh all-time in program history, 12 from moving up to sixth (1,541).
- Villa’s 145 career made threes moves her to seventh all-time at WSU, nine away from sixth (154).
- Villa has also made 601 career field goals, seventh all-time at WSU and five away from sixth (606).
- At 3,572 career minutes played, Villa is sixth all-time at WSU, and 71 from fifth (3,643).
- Alex Covill has 157 career blocks, moving her up to fourth all-time in program history and one block shy of third (158).
- Covill has a .524 field goal percentage, fourth-best in program history.
WSU hosts Idaho Monday, Nov. 9, at 11 a.m. in Pullman, Wash.