Washington State women edge Wyoming in overtime
LARAMIE, Wyoming – The Washington State women’s basketball team had size on its side Saturday, and after 45 minutes of play, the Cougars were one point taller.
Washington State defeated Wyoming 68-67 in overtime in a second-round WNIT game at the Arena-Auditorium, advancing to a third-round meeting with either Colorado State or UC Davis.
The Cougars had 16 offensive rebounds, 15 of which came after halftime. Wyoming had four. Washington State (14-19) held a 50-34 rebounding advantage over Wyoming, which was without 6-foot-2 forward Bailee Cotton and her five fouls in overtime.
“I think everybody that has been following this year has seen that these kids play with a lot of heart,” Washington State coach June Daugherty said. “We’ve weathered so many storms with the injuries, but everybody has continued to come with a positive attitude in trying to get better, hungry to get better. And you can see it. You can see how much they’ve improved.”
With the game tied and 4 seconds left in regulation, Wyoming sophomore Marta Gomez was unable to get a 3-point attempt to fall. And with Wyoming down one point in overtime, Clara Tapia’s last-second runner fell short. The Cowgirls ended their season at 22-10.
“They take great pride in their defense,” Daugherty said of her team. “They know their defense has to work for us to turn people over to get more offense. Honestly, it’s not that pit in your stomach you’d think, just because I know we can get the stop.”
Neither team scored in the first 1:52 of overtime and Wyoming was held scoreless for the first 4 minutes, missing its first five shots. The Cougars edged ahead by four on a Pinelopi Pavlopoulou jumper and two Kayla Washington free throws. Cowgirls freshman Taylor Rusk’s 3-pointer with 53.8 seconds remaining gave Wyoming life, but those were the Cowgirls’ only overtime points.
Pavlopoulou led all players with 20 points on 9-of-17 shooting. Junior Natalie Baker had 18 points to pace Wyoming, along with a team-high six rebounds.
The Cougars grabbed a nine-point lead early in the third quarter with an 8-3 run out of halftime, but Wyoming closed the quarter on a 14-4 run to take a three-point lead into the fourth. The Cougars tied Wyoming three times in the fourth quarter but couldn’t push ahead.
“We know they have heart,” Daugherty said. “We know that. And we know they’re resilient. But they showed so much grit tonight. It’s great to be able to take a team to the Sweet 16. Couldn’t be prouder of this group.”
Caila Hailey (12 points), Alexus Swedlund (10 points) and Ivana Kmetovska (10 points) were also in double figures for the Cougars.