Motivated by how far they went in the Pac-12 Tournament, the WSU women’s basketball team is already setting goals for next season.
The Cougars made it to the semifinal round in Los Angeles and faced off against seed two, the University of California Golden Bears. WSU lost to Cal, and at the end of the game the scoreboard showed 64-49.
During the course of the game, the Cougars forced the Golden Bears into 25 turnovers, but Cal was able to hold WSU to a low 27 percent shooting while they shot more than 48 percent.
In addition to their advantage in shooting percentage, Cal was able to grab 59 rebounds, while WSU only grabbed 25.
“Just really proud of our program,” Head Coach June Daugherty said, “we took enormous steps. We’ve arrived as a program in women’s basketball again at Washington State. I couldn’t be more proud of my seniors and obviously my underclassmen.”
Starting the game, Cal struck first in the beginning minute with a jumper that sparked an 8-0 run for the Golden Bears. The run was ended after five minutes when Cal fouled and sent WSU junior center Carly Noyes to the free-throw line to score two.
The Cougars cut the Golden Bear lead again at 13:26 with a jumper made by senior guard April Cook. Cal countered with a layup and WSU responded moments later with another jumper made by Cook.
The two teams then switched up their strategies and began shooting from behind the arc. This tactic proved fruitful for WSU as they made two successful three pointers shot by sophomore guard and forward Sage Romberg, while Cal only made one.
With a jumper made at 9:49, Cal built up a 7-1 run against WSU bringing the score to 22-13 Cal. The Cougars responded to this run with a layup made by sophomore guard and forward Brandi Thomas, igniting a 7-0 run against the Golden Bears.
At 3:24 remaining in the fist half, Cal made back-to-back layups that brought the score to 26-20 Cal. However, the Cougars were not going to allow the Golden Bears to finish the fist half in the lead. At 1:09 WSU senior guard and forward Rosie Tarnowski scored a three point shot that spurred a 6-0 run against Cal.
When both teams entered the locker room the scoreboard showed 26-26, a tied ball game.
Romberg began the second half with a jumper to give WSU their first lead of the game. Senior guard Jazmine Perkins followed three minutes later with a three point shot to widen the point gap to five.
The two teams began to battle on the court superiority with jumpers scored by both sides. At 13:17, Cal had cut the WSU lead to one but a layup made by Cook widened it to three. The Golden Bears responded with a 6-0 run to take back the lead.
The Cougars were not deterred and with two successful free throws and a layup made by senior guard Rosetta Adzasu along with two free throws made by Thomas, WSU tied the game. At 7:43 remaining in the first half the scoreboard read 42-42.
Cal came back and created a 14-4 run that built them a double-digit advantage to put the game out of the reach of the WSU women.
“The Cougs are here, we’re back in women’s basketball,” Daugherty said. “It’s going to help us obviously with the super motivation, the confidence for the returners. We have six very, very good signies coming into the program. … They want to take it to the next step, they want to be in that final game.”
