Cougar women get Apple Cup revenge, sweep Washington

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WSU guard Lia Galdeira scored 14 points in the win over UW.

Robin Dich Evergreen Women's Basketball reporter

When it comes to the basketball edition of the Apple Cup rivalry, two wins are better than one.

For the second time in five days, the Washington State women’s basketball team defeated the Washington Huskies 85-76 to secure the season sweep, this time on Saturday at Alaska Airlines Arena.

Junior guard Tia Presley led the Cougars (10-6, 4-0) with 29 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field and three in a team effort. Four players scored in double digits against the Huskies (8-7, 1-3).

WSU forward Shalie Dheensaw recorded her second straight double-double with 20 points (8-13 FG) and 13 rebounds. The 20 points for Dheensaw marked a career-high. Cougar forward Mariah Cooks and guard Lia Galdeira finished the night with 11 and 14 points, respectively.

The final score served as one of the larger leads of the night for WSU. It was a tightly contested bout for a majority of the night with each team matching big play for big play. The Cougars were able to get the last run of the game. The took a 67-65 lead with 6:31 after a 9-2 run and a 12-3 run in the last 2:15 after the game had been tied.

The guard play of Kelsey Plum and Jazmine Davis for Washington gave the Cougars trouble all night. Davis made her presence felt in the paint scoring 22 points (8-15 FG), while Plum made a splash from long range knocking down four 3-pointers on her way to a career-high 30 points in the loss. Plum was the only bright spot for the Huskies as far as the 3-ball was concerned; as a team, they shot 6-of-25 from beyond the arc.

The Cougars’ keys to the offensive game involved only turning the ball over seven times, a season low, and a shooting percentage around 47 percent.

With the win over University of Washington, WSU earned its tenth victory of the year and remains undefeated in conference play. Their record marks the first time being 4-0 since the 1977-78 season, and the win against UW is the first in Seattle since 1993 and the first regular-season sweep against the Huskies since 1975, according WSU Athletics.

Washington State hosts the University of Colorado at 7 p.m. Friday and the University of Utah at 12 p.m. Sunday.