With six teams ranked in thetop-25 and two others receiving votes in the latest Associated Press poll, the Pac-12 conference is a juggernaut for women’s basketball.

The WSU women’s basketball team experienced its effects to start conference play, falling 94-63 at No. 9 Washington and 80-58 three days later at No. 22 Oregon State.

Riding a six-game losing streak and sitting at 5-8 overall, things looked dire for the Cougars.

Nine days later, the team sports a 3-2 conference record after hammering Oregon 75-59 in Eugene on New Year’s Day. Following the victory, WSU scored a monumental upset against No. 9 UCLA on Friday 82-73 and pummeled USC 75-57 Sunday for a sweep of the southern California schools.

Freshman guard Chanelle Molina poured in a career-high 33 points to go with seven assists to fuel a second half rally and ice the Cougars’ win with two three point baskets late in the fourth quarter.

“She (Molina) has come into this program as our first five-star recruit and she has felt an enormous amount of pressure, and I felt tonight she just (said), ‘You know, tonight, I’m going to just play basketball, do my best,’ ” WSU coach June Daugherty said. “It’s joyful to watch kids light up like that.”

The Cougars trailed by four at halftime but came alive in the third quarter. WSU used a 10-0 run behind a pair of three pointers from Molina to go up for good at 61-53 with 7:38 remaining in the frame.

Molina’s 33 points are tied for the most points scored in a single game in program history. Guard Lia Galdeira scored 33 points in a game at Minnesota in 2012. Molina finished the night shooting 13-20 from the field.

“My first 30-point (game) in my career, against a really good team,” Molina said. “It’s a really (big) confidence boost for me.”

Two days later, the Cougars handed the Trojans their third-straight defeat in similar fashion.

Trailing by one point at the intermission, WSU opened the third quarter with a blitzing 17-2 run to turn the deficit into a 14-point lead that it never relinquished.

Back-to-back layups to open the quarter from sophomore guard Alexys Swedlund, who tallied a career-best 22 points, ignited a stretch of 13 unaswered points scored by the Cougars.

USC cut the Cougars’ lead in half heading into the fourth quarter, but WSU opened the final frame with an 8-3 run to up its lead back to 13. The Cougars’ defense held the Trojans to just 36.2 percent (21-of-58) shooting for the game.

Senior forward Ivana Kmetovska added a career-high 16 points to pace the Cougars’ offensive attack.

WSU takes on No. 19 Arizona State at 10 a.m. on Friday in Tempe.