A lack of consistent offense plagued the WSU women’s basketball team in losses to No. 23 Arizona State and Arizona on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

The Cougars (10-15, 5-9) squandered a nine-point first half lead against the Sun Devils in a 61-58 loss. The team suffered from 10 missed free throws two days later in their 70-62 defeat at the hands of the Wildcats.

Arizona State

Leading for almost three-fourths of the game, WSU’s upset bid of the 23rd-ranked Sun Devils fell short after two potential game-tying three point attempts did not fall in the fourth quarter.

The Cougars were the enforcers for much of the game, playing aggressive and physical defense and stretching their lead to nine points in the second quarter. However, the team’s pressing play resulted in 11 first-half fouls, and the Sun Devils chipped away at the lead from the charity stripe, trimming the Cougars’ lead to three at the half.

“We were in a lot of foul trouble, trying to rotate kids quite a bit,” WSU Head Coach June Daugherty said. “(The interior defense was) much better. We worked very diligently this week on our defense in the post.”

Redshirt sophomore forward Nike McClure played a versatile role in the paint, finishing with eight points, six rebounds, two steals and a block, but she played differently with four fouls.

“It’s hard to play with three or four fouls because you don’t want to play as aggressive as you usually do,” McClure said.

The ASU offensive charge continued in the second half, as the Cougars were on their heels defensively due to foul trouble. WSU had trouble containing 6-foot-4-inch ASU senior center Quinn Dornstauder and sophomore guard Sabrina Haines as the fouls mounted.

Haines scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half, including eight in the fourth quarter alone, while Dornstauder added 12 points and 11 rebounds to fuel the Sun Devils’ frontline. The teams’ battled back-and-forth late into the final quarter until ASU preseason All-American senior forward Sophie Brunner hit a runner with 2:05 left to give the Sun Devils the lead for good.

“They started to space a little better (in the second half) and that allowed the skip for easy three’s,” Daugherty said. “All of a sudden you got Haines and a couple other three-point shooters starting to feel it.”

Sophomore guard Alexys Swedlund led the Cougars with 14 points on 6-14 shooting but was ultimately disappointed with the team’s relinquishing of its first-half lead.

“It came down to a couple possessions that we needed, and we didn’t come up with them,” Swedlund said.

Junior guard Pinelopi Pavlopoulou added eight points and seven rebounds in a game-high 34 minutes for the Cougars, while freshman forward Kayla Washington scored nine points. Sticking to their defensive game plan, the Cougars limited Brunner to eight points and four rebounds.

The narrow defeat marked the sixth time this year the Cougars have lost by a single possession or in overtime. WSU finished the game with 23 fouls compared to 13 for ASU.

Arizona

After the Cougars’ upset bid of Arizona State fell short, WSU led by double-digits in the first half against the Wildcats but suffered a second-half meltdown at both ends of the floor.

“When you play hard, you can overcome a lot,” Daugherty said of her team’s effort.

Ignoring the loss of their three leading scorers, the Cougars came out with plenty of defensive focus and energy to start the game.

Arizona did not convert its first field goal attempt until more than five minutes of play had passed in the first quarter. The Cougars’ defense forced seven turnovers that led to 10 points in transition to punctuate a 12-1 run in the game’s first frame to lead 20-10 going into the second quarter.

Redshirt sophomore forward Nike McClure made three tone-setting blocks in the paint on smaller Arizona guards driving to the basket during this stretch to anchor the defense.

The Cougars shot over 61 percent in the first half, but Arizona continuously found a way to get to the line and trimmed WSU’s lead to 32-27 at the intermission.

However, the team was not able to hold the momentum in the second half, as its shots stopped falling and players were unable to convert on trips to the foul line.

With 3:32 remaining in the third quarter, Arizona took its first lead of the game off a pair of free throws from senior guard Malena Washington. The Cougars ended the third quarter converting just one of their final eight shots.

The Wildcats received the majority of their points from senior forward LaBrittney Jones, who controlled the paint all game and led all scorers with 22 points.

“The idea was to front her in the post, but I didn’t do that too well tonight,” McClure said.

Trailing 48-46 entering the fourth quarter, the Cougars’ offense slowed down as a result of an inability to get the ball inside and generate easy baskets. WSU also missed 10 free throws in the game to compound its offensive issues.

The Cougars shot just 60 percent (15-25) from the line compared to Arizona’s 18-21 (86 percent) clip.

WSU struggled to apply the same level of defensive pressure as it did in the first quarter, and the Wildcats gradually milked their lead away.

“We have got to play four quarters,” Daugherty said. “I don’t care how tired you think you are, there’s more in that engine than you think.”

The Cougars now head down to Los Angeles for a set of games with USC and No. 15 UCLA. WSU faces USC at 6 p.m. on Friday and heads to Pasadena for an 11 a.m. tip against the Bruins on Sunday.