The Washington State women’s basketball team returned to the hardwood Sunday to start its 2016-17 season with an exhibition game versus the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) Seawolves.

Despite playing a lower-level team, the Cougars had their work cut out for them against one of the most successful programs in Division II women’s basketball and pulled away from the Seawolves’ late to win 81-73. UAA went 38-3 last season and played in the Division II women’s basketball national championship game against Lubbock Christian, a 78-73 loss.

“I am really happy that we had the opportunity to play them this preseason,” WSU Head Coach June Daugherty said in a postgame news conference. “They are a great program.”

The Seawolves gave WSU all it could handle early on by jumping out to a double-digit lead in the first quarter behind a hot start from the three-point line, a stat that cooled off in the second half. Despite a size disadvantage, the Seawolves out-rebounded the Cougars 46-43 in the game.

“They shot a lot of threes and we were giving up long offensive rebounds to the shooter,” Daugherty said. “We need to be willing to go all the way to the three-point line to box out the shooter.”

UAA turned the ball over 26 times in the game, however, and allowed WSU a window of opportunity to steal the win.

The Cougars got their defense going in the second quarter when redshirt sophomore forward Nike McClure ferociously blocked a shot attempt from a UAA player to spell a momentum shift. McClure finished the game with seven blocked shots.

WSU found two offensive sparks off the bench in junior guard Pinelopi Pavlopoulou and sophomore guard Alexys Swedlund, who combined for 27 points. Pavlopoulou shot a perfect 3-3 from downtown as well.

“We don’t care who starts, we just go out there and play as hard as we can,” Daugherty said of the second unit’s performance.

The Cougars proved to be a defensive juggernaut in the second half after trimming UAA’s lead to 44-40 at the break. WSU ended the game with 10 blocked shots compared to none from UAA and added 11 steals. The Cougars held the Seawolves to 33.3 (21-63) percent shooting from the field.

The Seawolves made a push toward the end of the game, cutting WSU’s lead down to five late in the fourth quarter. Sophomore guard Tara Thompson, who ended the game with 26 points and 8-12 shooting from deep, sank back-to-back three pointers to swing the offensive momentum back to UAA, but Swedlund sank a two-point jumper on the ensuing possession to put the game away for good.

WSU opens its regular season at home against Loyola Marymount University at 7 p.m. on Friday at Beasley Coliseum. Live updates of the game will be posted on wsucougars.com.