The WSU women’s basketball team recently advanced to the round-of-16 in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) after picking up its first two postseason wins in school history.

The WSU Cougars began the tournament with a comeback win at Brigham Young University (72-64) and continued that momentum into their second-round game at Wyoming, winning a nail-bitter 68-67 in overtime.

Trailing by as much as 14 points, the Cougars clawed back to hand BYU its third home loss of the year.

“You don’t win here in Provo very often,” WSU Head Coach June Daugherty said via WSU Athletics. “Survive and advance, from 64 [teams] now down to 32, let’s keep going.”

WSU trailed 22-11 after one quarter when BYU hit its first eight shots to start the game, which gave them momentum to head into the second quarter.

The Cougars defense kept them in the game, forcing nine turnovers in the second quarter. However, BYU would continue knocking down shots to maintain a double-digit lead going into halftime.

WSU scored 12 of the first 15 points to start the second-half, sparked by junior guard Caila Hailey, and sophomore guard Alexys Swedlund, who scored 10 of the 12 points in that stretch. BYU responded with a run of its own, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to get the lead back to double-digits. WSU closed the third quarter on a 12-2 run to cut the BYU lead to one-point going into the final quarter.

WSU finally took the lead when senior forward Ivana Kmetovska hit a mid-range jumper with 5:37 to play. This play was part of an 8-0 run that stretched the WSU lead to six, while holding BYU scoreless for nearly five minutes.

“It’s big time for us,” Swedlund said, referring to their first postseason win in program history. “We’re here to make a statement.”

WSU finished the game shooting just over 42 percent from the field, while BYU finished the game shooting at an efficient 55.6 percent, the best shooting performance against WSU this year.

WSU also forced 29 BYU turnovers and added 20 steals. Four WSU players scored in double-figures with Swedlund leading the way with 19 points. Hailey scored 17, junior guard Pinelopi Pavlopoulou added 11 and Kmetovska extended her collegiate playing career, scoring 12 points. WCC Player of the Year senior guard Makenzi Pulsipher led BYU with 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field.

After defeating BYU, WSU would go on to beat Wyoming 68-67 in overtime on the road just two days later in the second round to move onto the Sweet 16.

The Cowgirls had a three-point lead at the end of the first quarter, as the teams went back-and-forth through the first 16 minutes, trading leads eight times. The Cougars ended the half on a 11-5 scoring run, seven coming from Pavlopoulou, to give WSU a 37-33 halftime lead.

The Cowgirls fought back in the third quarter, hitting 8-of-10 free throws in the period, giving Wyoming a three-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. The back-and-forth narrative continued in the fourth quarter, highlighted by Pavlopoulou hitting a mid-range jumper that tied the game with 25 seconds remaining. The Cougars played tenacious defense on the final possession to force the game into overtime.

In overtime, WSU clamped down on the Cowgirls’ final possession of the game, forcing an off-balanced shot from the corner that came up short to claim a round-of-16 slot in the WNIT. The Cougars allowed just three Cowgirl points in the overtime period, which can be attributed to the Cougs’ lockdown defense. The Cowgirls scored a combined 11 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

“I know our kids have really bought into the defensive schemes that he [Rod Jensen, asst. coach] has brought to the program,” Daugherty said. “They take great pride in their defense, they know their defense has to work for us to turn people over to get more offense.”

Pavlopoulou led the Cougars in scoring, dropping a career-high 20 points. Hailey continued her consistent play-of-late, adding 12 points and six assists, while being a catalyst defensively. Kmetovska and Swedlund each added 10 points to give WSU four double-digit scorers.

Junior forward Natalie Baker was the lone Cowgirl in double-figures, scoring 18 points and adding six rebounds and four steals.

“Making it to the Sweet 16 is definitely (historic), it’s never happened at WSU before, so I’m proud to do it with this team,” Kmetovska said. “I definitely want to keep representing WSU and make all the fans proud.”

WSU will host UC Davis at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Beasley Coliseum. If the Cougars win, the team will face either Colorado for the fourth time this season or Iowa in the Elite 8.