Washington State (5-10, 1-3) played USC (7-8, 4-0) to a draw for the first 39 minutes and 59 seconds of their Pac-12 contest at Galen Center in Los Angeles.
Trojan sophomore Ariya Cook calmly sank two free throws to keep USC undefeated in conference after being fouled with just :01 left in regulation play. The final score: USC 61 – WSU 59
This was a hard fought game with the lead going back and forth from beginning to end. WSU held a 32-28 advantage at halftime and maintained that 4-point margin midway through the second half.
With the score knotted at 49-49 at the 5:56 mark the Trojans pulled out to a 6-point lead over the span of the next couple of minutes.
The Cougs shut down USC while staging a final run of their own. When WSU sophomore Tia Presley banked in a layup with less than a minute to play the Cougs scratched their way back to lead 56-55.
Coming down the stretch, freshman Lia Galdeira spotted up and drained a 3-point jumper to even the score at 59-59 and a mere :04 seconds left setting the stage for Cook’s winning free throws.
Presley turned in another outstanding performance scoring 25 on 10-19 shooting. Galderia was the only other WSU player to reach double-digits adding 14 points.
Washington State defense forced the Trojans into 23 turnovers, 14 of which were steals.
The long standing adage referring to how tough it is to win road games in the Pac-12 rang true once again. Tougher yet is watching a well played game be decided at the free throw line with a lone tick left on the game clock.
Next week Washington State will play rival Washington twice. The first game will be in Seattle on Tuesday at 6pm and will be telecast on the Pac-12 Network. Next Sunday the Cougs will host the Huskies at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman at 2pm and streamed on the Pac-12 Network.