Stanford recovers from slow start to beat Washington State women 73-58

From staff reports

PULLMAN – The downward spiral continued for the Washington State women’s basketball team Sunday.

The Cougars put themselves into position to do something it had never done against sixth-ranked Stanford, but seven points in the fourth quarter didn’t get it done.

The Cardinal pulled away to a 73-58 win in a Pac-12 game at Beasley Colesium.

Washington State trailed 53-51 going into the fourth quarter. But the Cougars suffered their fourth straight defeat in their fourth straight game without senior standout Charlisse Leger-Walker.

WSU is now 0-74 against Stanford all-time.

The Cougars slipped to 15-10 overall and 4-8 in the Pac-12. Stanford improved to 22-3 and 11-2, good for first in the conference.

Eleonora Villa led the Cougars with 16 points and Astera Tuhina had 13. Beyonce Bea eclipsed 1,000 career rebounds, finishing with a team-high seven.

The taller Cardinal kept WSU’s inside game in check, limiting Bella Murekatete to five points before she fouled out.

Cameron Brink led Stanford with a double-double, scoring 21 points with 11 rebounds and five assists. Hannah Jump added 20 points and four assists and Kik Iriafen had a double-double with 17 points and 14 points along with five assists.

WSU has watched its chance of earning an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament diminish significantly since its 85-82 upset of then No. 2 UCLA - the same game the Cougs lost Leger-Walker for the rest of the season with an ACL injury.

The Cougs will try to snap out of their slump when they visit Arizona on Friday.