Late game heroics send WSU to second round of WNIT, beating UVU 57-54

Survive and advance.

The Washington State Cougars kept their season alive thanks to some last-minute magic on both ends of the court to defeat the Utah Valley Wolverines 57-54 in the first round of the WNIT.

With the Cougars down two points with a minute to go, the Wolverines looked to have made the stop they needed to nearly ice this game away when they poked the ball away from Dayana Mendes late in the shot clock. The ball bounced over to Astera Tuhina with just two seconds on the shot clock. Tuhina escaped a closing defender and hoisted up a deep three as the shot clock sounded and buried it.

Tuhina later said she didn’t even realize there was only a few seconds remaining on the shot clock when she passed the ball down to Mendes.

“Just credit to her. I think there’s been times this year when she’s probably looked at me and thought, ‘why aren’t you giving me the ball in these moments?’ I remember Colorado specifically too; that just comes to mind, and that it’s a body blow to the other team. And again, she can find some room, and she’s got the mindset, and she wants to keep playing, and I don’t know that she wants to keep practicing, but I know she wants to keep playing. And she does that. She’s just a good leader, a good, tough competitor, and you want the ball in her hands in those moments.” Kamie Ethridge said.

On the other end, WSU got more heroics from their senior Tara Wallack, who swatted away a driving layup attempt. After keeping possession, the Wolverines tried to fire a pass inside, but Tuhina’s active hands helped knock the ball away and off a Wolverine to give WSU the ball with 12 seconds remaining.

A timeout set WSU up with the ball at midcourt, and a beautifully drawn inbounds play sprung Ele Villa wide open for an easy layup to push WSU’s lead out to three. While it only took two seconds off the clock, it prevented the Wolverines from taking the lead on the next possession outside of WSU fouling on a made three.

One last time on the Beasley floor, WSU’s defense got it done. Alex Covill swatted away Ally Criddle’s three-point attempt and Danja Stafford’s desperation rebound, and three from the corner had no chance.

WSU definitely looked a little rusty in the early parts of the game, going 8/30 from the field and 2/13 from distance in the first half. The Cougars never led by more than five points in the game and didn’t have a lead at all in the second period. But yet again, this team was still able to overcome a slow start and play its best basketball when it mattered most.

The win sends WSU to the “Super 16” of the WNIT tournament and a date with the North Dakota State Bison on Thursday night in Fargo, North Dakota, at 5pm PST.