The WSU women fell into a deep hole last night in Los Angeles and couldn’t find a big enough shovel to rescue themselves. After trailing 43-25 at halftime, WSU clawed back but the USC lead was too much, as the Cougs fell 70-62 to fall to 3-4 in Pac-12 play.
If there’s one stat from the box score that tells the story, it’s the rebounds. The Trojans grabbed 43 boards to WSU 28, and out-rebounded WSU on the offensive side 16-2. Ouch.
Tara Wallack led the way for WSU with 21 points. Eleonora Villa added 12. Charlisse Ledger-Walker had a rough outing, scoring just six points in 38 minutes of play. She was just 2 of 11 from the field.
The Cougs will remain in L.A. for a Sunday matchup with no. 2 UCLA.
Meanwhile, back home, the WSU men tip of today at 2 p.m. against Colorado. You can watch the game on the Pac-12 Network. WSU is coming off a big resume builder win over Utah on Thursday and will look to keep padding that resume with a win over the Buffs.
Colorado nabbed a 74-67 win over WSU in Boulder back on New Year’s Eve and sit second in the Pac-12 standings with a 6-3 record. WSU is just one game behind the Buffs.
Speaking of resumes, here’s WSU’s. The Cougs are currently no. 45 in the NET rankings and 2-3 in Quad 1 games and 3-1 in Quad 2 games. A win today would give WSU another Quad 1 win with two more opportunities down the road: Feb. 10 at Oregon and Feb. 22 at Arizona.
Bart Torvik’s T-Ranketology has WSU as the second team out of the NCAA Tournament. Remember: this is a prediction of where the season will end, not where it’s at right now. It’s a fun tool to keep track of and changes daily.
So, your 14-6 Cougs are still in sniffing distance of the NCAA Tournament and can get closer with a big win today. Go Cougs.