Washington State University women’s basketball battled it out until the very end. But came up 6 points short to their region rival, Gonzaga University Saturday night at Beasley Coliseum. 

Starting off the first quarter the Cougs loset the tip off to the Zags. Tanja Valancic started the Cougs off strong with a swished 3-pointer and followed with Mackenzie Chatfield taking to the rim to bring heat on both defense and offense. Valancic had a total of six rebounds, five assists and 6 points and Chatfield had a total of three rebounds, six assists and three rebounds.

Setting the tone for the rest of the match the Cougs applied pressure on defense and with rebounding. The same was true for the offense with strong ball handling and communication on the court. The Cougs closed the gap with the Zags ending the first quarter only short by two points at 19-17.

“We fought, we fought our butts off and to stay like that with a top team is just incredible,” Chatfield said, “and I couldn’t be prouder of the people that I play with and the people that I’m next to. 

Going immediately into the second quarter the Cougs continued to bring the energy and heat both on offense and defense. The Cougs had multiple rebounds on both sides of the ball. Malvina Haziri had back-to-back 3-pointers for the Cougars and a total of 6 points and one rebound. Eleonora Villa, was not afraid of driving to the hoop and looking for who’s open playing strong on offense and defense. Villa ended the game with a total of 22 points, three rebounds and three assists. 

“I’m so happy about how we approached this game and our attitude and our response to the past couple of games,” Villa said.  

Coming straight out of halftime the Cougs continued their fight on offense and defense against the Zags. Charlotte Abraham shot two at the line earning the Cougs’ first points in the second half with a total of 16 points, four rebounds and two assists.

The Zags applied a full court press against the Cougs. However, the Cougs didn’t dwindle and were not afraid to take to the paint. Valancic had a phenomenal pass to Malia Ruud taking to the paint, gaining the Cougs some points. Ruud had a total of five assists, four rebounds and 8 points. WSU ended the third quarter short by 2 points 54-52. 

Heading into the fourth the Cougs continued to battle it out until the very end of the game. The Zags expanded the point gap between free-throws and 3-pointers. The Cougs continued to put up shots and earned points on the board but ultimately came up short by 6 points ending the game 81-75. 

In a post game press conference, head coach Kamie Ethridge said that she thought they had a really good plan to try and take some of Gonzaga’s strengths away and that they are one of the most disciplined coaches and teams.

“I loved the effort from my team. I loved how locked in they were to try to guard and try to be better,” Ethridge said. 

The Cougs will return on the road for their next two games. First stop in San Diego against University of San Diego, then heading over to take on Pepperdine University. Before returning back home to take on the University of Portland Feb. 12th at 6 p.m.