The Oregon road trip turned out to be devastating for the Washington State women’s basketball team. The Cougars were outscored 154-123 in the two games combined en route to being by swept by Oregon and Oregon State.

In the Friday night showdown against Oregon (10-8, 1-6), the Cougars (11-9, 5-3) were unable to keep up with the Ducks’ high-powered offense and fell 82-66. WSU shot 21-of-71 from the field and was outrebounded 59-31 on the night. Oregon’s freshman guard Chrishae Rowe (24 points) and sophomore forward Jillian Alleyne (21 points, 19 rebounds) led the way for the Ducks.

WSU junior guard Tia Presley started the game off 0-of-10 from the field but was able to contribute through drawing fouls. Presley shot 10-of-12 from the charity stripe and finished the game with 14 points.

After sitting out against Utah, sophomore guard Lia Galdeira returned to the starting lineup and was a bit rusty herself. Galdeira was 2-of-8 from behind the arc and led the team with 16 points.

“You’re wide open a lot because of all the trapping, when there is two on the ball, someone is wide open,” WSU Head Coach June Daugherty said. “We have to take shots, knock them down, and that didn’t happen tonight.”

In the Sunday contest against the Beavers, the Cougars were unable to shake the funk and lost to Oregon State (12-8, 4-4) by a final score of 72-57. Presley, senior guard Sage Romberg, senior forward Hana Potter, and sophomore forward Mariah Cooks totaled four personal fouls, and junior forward Shalie Dheensaw fouled out of the game.

Four players in the Beaver’s starting lineup finished with double digits, and the fifth finished with nine. Leading the way for Oregon State was sophomore forward Deven Hunter, who scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Washington State struggled again from three-point land and hit 4-of-17 from behind the arc. Galdeira and Presley combined to shoot 11-of-30 from the field. Galdeira scored a game-high 21 points in the loss.

“First thing is you can’t allow your energy and your focus in a game be dictated because your shots aren’t falling, and I think we were victims of that,” Daugherty said.  

The Cougars were outrebounded again, but this time the margin was 46-31. Cooks led WSU with only four rebounds, and a couple ended with three rebounds.

The Washington State Cougars are on a three-game losing streak after 5-0 start in the conference.

WSU will continue its road trip with two more games against USC on Friday and UCLA on Sunday.