Colorado Defense Does In Cougars

As tough as it is to win road games in the Pac-12, add an addition level of challenge when your opponent is ranked No. 20 in the nation and nearly invincible on their court.

Washington State (10-16, 6-9) fell to Colorado (21-5, 10-5) by a final of 59-45. The score would suggest the Cougars were dominated, but that would be a false assumption.

After falling behind by 7 at the half, 26-19, WSU closed the gap to 48-42 with 5:31 left in the contest. The Cougs turned the ball over on their next two possessions allowing the Buffs to pull ahead 53-42 snuffing out the possibility of a late charge by Washington State.

"“Colorado has been doing this to teams all year and again they played well on defense and tough inside tonight,” WSU Coach June Daugherty said. “We played tough defense of our own, keeping it a six-point game down the stretch. We just had too many turnovers and struggled inside against their big front line.”"

Freshman Lia Galdeira led the Cougs in scoring with 12 while filling out the stat sheet with 7 boards and 4 steals. Galdeira struggled mightily from the field though converting just 2 of 13 shots. The Colorado defense completely shut down Washington State’s offense holding them to shooting a miserable 19.8% from the floor in the game.

Another solid effort was turned in by freshman Mariah Cooks who added 10 points and 5 rebounds.

"“I thought Mariah came up big again for us for the second straight game. She really worked hard underneath, played with aggressiveness and gave us a spark off the bench,” Coach Daugherty added."

The Cougars travel to Utah Sunday for their final regular season road game scheduled to tip off at 2pm.

GO COUGS!!!

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Washington State Notes
– Lia Galdeira scored in double figures for the 24th time this season, tying Jazmine Perkins (2008-09) for the most by Cougars freshman in a season
– WSU made a season-high 21 free throws Friday night in Boulder