Road warriors; WSU sweeps weekend trip

WSU+guard+Lia+Galdeira+shoots+the+ball+during+a+road+game+against+Utah%2C+Friday%2C+Feb.+14

WSU guard Lia Galdeira shoots the ball during a road game against Utah, Friday, Feb. 14

After a week at home, WSU looked rejuvenated on the road in wins against Utah and Colorado in the first road sweep of the season for the Cougar women’s basketball team.

Washington State (14-12, 8-6) returns to Pullman with two big wins over the Colorado Buffalos (14-11, 4-10) and the Utah Utes (10-14, 3-10).

Against Utah on Friday, Washington State was able to even up the season series with a dominating performance by junior guard Tia Presley. Presley finished with 32 points, shot 50 percent from the field (8-for-16) and scored 16 of her points from the free throw line. The final score was 83-73.

“Tia did a great job keeping her composure and coming up big for us tonight,” Head Coach June Daugherty said after the win. “She got hit hard all night but she shook it off and kept coming back.”

Adding to the production was guard Lia Galdeira with 18 points and four steals. Forward Sage Romberg led the squad with 10 rebounds and recorded seven points.

Washington State’s stout defense forced 15 turnovers and scored 22 points off of them. The Cougars gave away the ball only five times.

The Cougars continued their winning ways on Sunday, defeating Colorado 80-77. Again leading the way was Presley with another 32 point performance.

Romberg filled the stat sheet with a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. The Cougars had not out-rebounded a team since they last played Colorado, and just like last time they won the rebounding category 43-40.

“The key was rebounding. We challenged them at halftime to work hard on the offensive boards and we responded,” Daugherty said. “Our kids rallied together and came back in the final minute to come away with a road sweep.”

With less than 40 seconds left the Cougars missed two free throws but regained possession when Colorado hit the ball out of bounds. Galdeira then hit two free throws with 12 seconds left to play to give WSU the four-point lead, and the Cougars later sealed the deal with a free throw by Shalie Dheensaw.

Washington State hopes to continue its winning streak Friday against Oregon State.