Maisie Burnham’s career game lifts Portland over Washington State 84-79

PORTLAND – A furious finish by the Washington State women’s basketball team wasn’t enough to knock off Portland on Saturday during a 84-79 loss in West Coast Conference play at the Chiles Center.

Liberty (Spangle) High grad Maisie Burnham scored 12 of her career-high 31 points in the fourth quarter and hit Portland’s last three field goals amid a streak of seven straight WSU made shots to help the Pilots (24-3, 13-3 WCC) hold off the Cougars (16-12, 11-6) in a meeting of the conference’s second- and third-place teams.

Burnham, the WCC’s third-leading scorer at 16.4 points a game, made 13 of 20 attempts from the field.

WSU is all but out of contention for second place and an extra bye in the WCC Tournament with three regular-season games to play.

The Cougars had five scorers in double figures. Eleonora Villa led with 16 points, followed by Tara Wallack (15), Astera Tuhina (11), Dayana Mendes (11) and Jenna Villa (10).

WSU turns to home games against San Francisco and Saint Mary’s on Thursday and Saturday, respectfully.