Women’s basketball falls in regular season finale

Cougars suffer 15-point loss despite holding halftime lead

Then-freshman+center+Bella+Murekatete+attempts+to+beat+USC+defense+on+Feb.+23%2C+2020+at+Beasley+Coliseum.

OLIVER MCKENNA | DAILY EVERGREEN FILE

Then-freshman center Bella Murekatete attempts to beat USC defense on Feb. 23, 2020 at Beasley Coliseum.

CARSON BROWN, Evergreen Reporter

The WSU women’s basketball lost to No. 17 Oregon State University Beavers 73-58 Sunday afternoon in Corvallis, Oregon.

The Cougars (11-19, 4-14) have lost seven straight games and move to 0-14 against teams ranked in the top 25.

Senior guard Mikayla Pivec led the way for the Beavers (22-8, 10-8). She finished with 19 points and seven rebounds and shot 7-11 from the field.

Redshirt junior Destiny Slocum added 17 points on 5-13 shooting for the Beavers. She had a well-rounded performance totaling five rebounds and five assists too.

For the Cougars, redshirt senior forward Borislava Hristova scored 12 points and shot 6-16 from the field. Junior forward Jovana Subasic contributed 12 points and six rebounds as well.

At the break WSU had three players in double-figures and led Oregon State 36-35.

Sophomore forward Ula Motuga had 11 points in the first half and her presence was felt on the defensive end as she had two blocks.

Junior guard Aleah Goodman had the hot hand in the opening half for the Beavers. She had 13 points at the break and was 3-4 from beyond the arc.

The Cougars shot 64 percent from the field while the Beavers shot 40 percent, but the discrepancy from the free throw line kept Oregon State in the game.

The Beavers attempted 11 free throws by halftime while the Cougars had attempted two.

Oregon State began to break the game open in the third quarter. The Cougars lost that quarter 21-8. Pivec and Slocum combined for 15 of the Beavers 21 points in the third quarter.

The shooting percentages started to balance out as the second half went on. The advantage the Cougars held in the first half vanished. WSU finished the game shooting 45.1 percent from the field and OSU shot 43.3 percent from the field.

Neither team excelled from beyond the arc but they both benefited from the free-throw line. WSU shot 9-10 from the free throw line and OSU shot 15-19.

WSU has one loss left to spare as its regular season conference play has wrapped up and the Pac-12 tournament starts on Thursday in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Cougars are projected to play Oregon State University at 8:30 p.m., and the game can be viewed on the Pac-12 Networks.