Washington State women’s basketball lost to the Portland Pilots in the third round of the West Coast Conference tournament 72-62 in Las Vegas Saturday March 7 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
Alex Covill won the tipoff immediately, getting the ball to Tanja Valancic and straight to Eleonora Villa. The Cougs immediately picked up pace on offense and defense scoring the first couple of points before going back and forth with the Pilots.
Villa led the Cougs with a total of 16 points and four assists. According to the WSU athletics these 16 points put Villa at No. 9 in program history for total career points and only has her 13 points away from No. 8.
“After two games, three games in a row you feel the fatigue but I think that Portland does a good job in pressing and being aggressive,” Villa said. “I think that at some point we should have taken care of the ball better and we didn’t.”
In the second quarter the Cougs start out a little slow but start picking up the pace and catch up with the Pilots. Great ball movement on offense helped get the ball to Malia Ruud who was not scared to drive straight to the hoop. Charlotte Abraham similarly was a lethal threat for the Cougs.
“ I think my confidence comes from practice and knowing that I can make shots and even if I miss one shot,” Abraham said. “I will keep shooting because that’s what I’m doing. That’s what I’m practicing for everyday.”
Ruud ended the game with a total of three rebounds and 6 points. Koorits had a total of one assist, four rebounds and 5 points. Abraham posted the second most points of the night with a total of 15 points, seven rebounds and two assists.
Coming out of the third quarter the Cougs tried to pick up and apply pressure on the Pilots. Abraham found Covill a number of times for some offensive pushes. On defense, Covill also shined with a block. The Pilots increased intensity on defense, which forced multiple turnovers back to back against the Cougs.
Going into the fourth the Cougs continued to fight on both offense and defense trying to close the scoring gap. Ruud with an offensive rebound and immediately took to the hoop, scoring for the Cougs. Marta Alsina was able to drain a jumper for the Cougs and had a total of 4 points, three rebounds and five assists. The Cougs continued to fight to close the gap but ultimately fell short 72-62.
“It has been amazing, this group has played hard, this group has bought in. I think we have a group that really a lot of players can get a lot better,” head coach Kamie Ethridge said.
