Area women’s basketball: USC hands Washington State third straight loss

Alissa Pili tallied 23 points and 13 rebounds, fellow freshman Endryia Rogers scored 21, and USC defeated Washington State 74-63 Friday at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.

Aliyah Jeune added 12 points for the Trojans (10-8, 2-5 Pac-12), who used a 12-0 fourth-quarter run to turn a three-point game into a comfortable win. USC has won back-to-back games after opening conference play with five straight losses.

Jovana Subasic led the Cougars (9-10, 2-5) with 13 points. Chanelle Molina added 11 points, eight assists and five rebounds for WSU, which suffered its third straight defeat.

Molina made a pair of 3-pointers to give her 160 in her career, moving her into a tie for third with Lisa Galdeira on the school’s all-time list.

WSU’s Borislava Hristova scored 10 points to extend her double-digit points streak to 13 games.

Washington State visits UCLA on Sunday to conclude its Southern California trip.

Whitworth 75, Linfield 72: Talia Brandner totaled 17 points, six rebounds and six assists, and the Pirates (10-7, 3-5 Northwest Conference) held off the Wildcats (10-6, 4-3) at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

Sydney Abbott added 16 points, and Courtney Gray notched 15 points and nine boards for Whitworth, which snapped a three-game losing streak.

The Pirates led by as many as 15 in the first half, but Linfield used a 10-0 third-quarter run to tie the game. The teams exchanged the lead before Gray’s 3-pointer with 6 minutes left put Whitworth in front for good. Gray helped secure the win with four free throws in the final 30 seconds, and Delaney Ragan missed a potential tying 3 in the final seconds.

Korey Oleson had 29 points and 10 rebounds for Linfield.

Whitworth travels to Puget Sound on Jan. 31.