Washington State (10-14, 6-7) women’s basketball continues to improve as marked by another Pac-12 victory on the road over Oregon State (9-16, 3-10).
The closely contested game came down to the final possession with the scoreboard reading 49-49. Outstanding Freshman guard Lia Galdeira cooly brought the ball into the front court, dribbled time off the clock and nailed a fall away jumper to earn a Cougar victory 51-49.
No question the Cougs rebounded nicely from a loss at home to UCLA last weekend. They came out with tough defense to claim a 29-16 lead at halftime, forcing the Beavers to convert a miniscule 20% of their shot attempts from the field.
"“Defense, defense, defense what an amazing job by our defense tonight, especially on the last two possessions,” Coach June Daugherty said after the game. “We relied on our defense tonight and we were able to pull out a big win over a tough team on the road.”"
The heroics of Galdeira raise obvious comparisons to another Coug from Hawaii, Derrick Low who played from 2005-08 and holds the career mark for minutes played in a crimson and gray uniform. Once again she led WSU in scoring with 17 points and filling up the stat sheet with 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.
"“Lia is tough, tough exciting player who wanted the ball in her hands for that last shot and came up with a big time shot tonight,” Daugherty added."
Junior Sage Romberg turned in a solid performance with 6 of 8 shooting for 13 points and grabbed 6 boards.
"“Sage was in a great rhythm tonight. We had to keep on the floor and we ran some sets for her as she knocked down some big time shots while being matched up against some of their tougher defenders.”"
It cannot be overstated how tough it is to win on the road in the Pac-12. Friday night in Corvallis was no exception. After leading by 13 at intermission, OSU scratched and fought their way almost all the way back in the final 20-minutes of basketball.
"“We knew it was a going to be a battle tonight and it was great to come out of here with a win. We continue to see what this team, and these freshmen, can do in pressure situations and they played pretty well today,” Daugherty added. “Sunday is going to be a test to guard their (Oregon’s) up-tempo offense. We are going to have to play solid transition defense.”"
Here’s a video of Galdeira scoring the winning bucket:
Washington State will look to even their conference record Sunday evening at 4pm when they visit Oregon in Eugene.
GO COUGS!!!