The Cougars, hoping to end a five-game losing streak, fell to the Utah Runnin’ Utes on Thursday night by a score of 74-57.

WSU shot 27 percent from the floor, in a season where offensive struggle has been an ongoing issue.

“That’s the million-dollar question right now,” WSU Head Coach June Daugherty said. “Where’s our offense?”

The Utes had three scorers reach double digits. Redshirt junior forward Malia Nawahine scored 15 points, redshirt junior forward Emily Potter added 11 points and 12 rebounds, and senior forward Paige Crozon put up 19 points.

In the last meeting between these two teams in Salt Lake City, Crozon scored 25 points. Utah also outrebounded the Cougars 52-36.

With Crozon and Potter getting into foul trouble in the first half, the Cougars felt they had to capitalize on their absences.

“I thought when she (Crozon) sat in the second quarter, that was our time to make a push,” Daugherty said.

WSU fell behind early after Utah started the game on a 9-0 run. The Utes controlled the game from the start, with solid shooting from Crozon and Nawahine. The early lead ended up being too much for the Cougs, as they never held the lead in the game.

WSU trailed 17-10 at the end of the first quarter, with only sophomore guard Alexys Swedlund and senior forward Ivana Kmetovska scoring in the period.

The Cougars were down 12 points at the half, and began the second half similarly to how they started the game. The Utes, on the other hand, began on a 5-0 run, resulting in a quick timeout by Daugherty before two minutes had elapsed in the quarter.

WSU showed some fight down the stretch, cutting the lead to eight points with 4:51 to play in the final quarter. However, the deficit was too much to overcome for the struggling offensive of the Cougar squad.

Swedlund led the Cougars with 19 points, and Kmetovska added 11 playing in her second-to-last game in Beasley Coliseum.

The Cougars look to snap a five-game losing streak Saturday against Colorado. The team lost in Boulder earlier this season by a score of 70-58. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. and the game can be watched on the WSU Live Stream.