PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State women's basketball defeated Idaho 76-53 Monday afternoon leading wire-to-wire in the team’s home opener at Beasley Coliseum.
The Cougars (1-2, 0-0 Pac-12) forced 18 turnovers on Idaho, turning those chances into a 31-6 advantage on the scoreboard. WSU also totaled 21 assists to Idaho’s eight on 29 made field goals.
Wazzu paired two 13-0 runs with stretches of eight- and 11-straight scoreless Idaho possessions, and finished with advantages in paint points, fast-break points and bench scoring.
Kenzie Chatfield scored 18 points, made three 3-pointers and added three steals.
Alex Covill finished with 17 points on 8-for-12 shooting and recorded two blocks.
Eleonora Villa added 16 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals.
Tanja Valancic posted 10 rebounds, seven assists and five steals.
Covill scored inside to start WSU’s scoring, and Chatfield supplied the next eight Cougar points before Idaho evened things 7-7 at 8:01. Chatfield’s 3-pointer at 7:31 began a 13-0 WSU run with baskets by Villa, Elizaveta Filchagina and Aicha Bah, and Idaho went scoreless until a 3-pointer at 3:14. Malia Ruud and Bah added late 3-pointers, including Bah’s fast-break bucket at :49, and the Cougs finished the first quarter ahead 26-10.
After Idaho made it 26-12 with a layup at 8:48, WSU answered with a 13-0 run that started with Ruud’s 3-pointer off Valancic’s assist at 7:19. The Cougars held Idaho scoreless through 11 straight possessions during the stretch, with Ruud, Valancic and Covill recording blocks as WSU pushed the score to 39-12 on a Covill layup. Idaho ended the drought with a 3-pointer at 1:25, but Covill scored again at 1:03 and Chatfield added a 3-pointer with six seconds left for a 44-15 halftime lead.
Idaho opened the third-quarter scoring with a jumper before Covill answered inside off Charlotte Abraham’s assist to put WSU ahead 46-17. The visitors followed with two 3-pointers and a fast-break layup to make it 46-25, while Abraham added a transition layup for the Cougars during that stretch. After Idaho got as close as 48-29 at 3:32, WSU scored the next six on Ruud’s two free throws and layups from Covill and Villa. Villa later added a free throw and a jumper around an Idaho basket for a 58-31 lead.
Malvina Haziri hit a fast-break 3-pointer off Valancic’s assist to continue the scoring attack into the fourth, and Villa turned a steal into a layup to put WSU up 63-33. Idaho answered with seven straight points to get to 63-40, but the Cougars came back with a Chatfield free throw and a Filchagina layup. Chatfield scored inside off another Valancic assist, Villa answered an Idaho 3-pointer with one of her own and later made a layup for a 73-46 lead at 3:11. Idaho added a late layup, 3-pointer and two free throws, but Bah and Chatfield free throws would close WSU’s 76-53 win.
Notes
- WSU has recorded at 5+ blocks in two consecutive games.
- Alex Covill scored a season-high 17 points.
- Kenzie Chatfield tallied a season-high 18 points and three 3-pointers, both most in single game wearing a Cougar uniform.
- Valancic recorded a career-high five steals, and seven assists.
- Eleonora Villa has 146 career made threes, four from 150.
- Villa has 96 career steals, four from 100.
- Villa has 98 career starts, two from 100.
- Alex Covill has 286 career rebounds, 14 from 300.
- Covill sits at 1,387 career minutes, 113 from 1,500.
- Kenzie Chatfield has 373 career points, 127 from 500.
- Malvina Haziri has 74 career points, 26 from 100.
- Malia Ruud has 317 career points, 183 from 500.
- Villa has 1,545 career points, moving up to sixth all-time in program history, seven from moving up to fifth (1,552).
- Villa’s 146 career made threes ranks seventh all-time at WSU, eight away from sixth (154).
- Villa has also made 608 career field goals, fifth all-time at WSU and 13 away from fourth (621).
- At 3,608 career minutes played, Villa is sixth all-time at WSU, and 35 from fifth (3,643).
- Alex Covill has 159 career blocks, third all-time in program history and eight blocks shy of third (167).
- Covill has a .528 field goal percentage, second-best in program history.
Up next, WSU hosts Southern Utah Friday, Nov. 13, at 6 p.m. in Pullman, Wash.