The Washington State Cougars kicked off Pac-12 rivalry week(end) with a 78-75 home victory over the Washington Huskies Wednesday night. The Huskies (6-12, 0-7) took the Cougars (2-5, 9-10) down to the final possession. With a chance to tie it, Amber Melgoza (22 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals) failed to get a shot up from the right wing as time expired.
Ahead of the Pac-12 games set to tip this weekend, including Washington’s chance for revenge on their home floor against the Cougars, we’re here to take a look back at the final 10 minutes of Wednesday’s overtime thriller:
1. Nike McClure was fantastic for the Cougars. She logged 40+ minutes for Washington State and made big contributions on both ends of the floor. She hit a clutch face up jumper off the glass late in the fourth quarter:
McClure shot 8-for-10 from the field, finishing with 16 points. She also dished out three assists. Eight of her 16 rebounds came on the offensive end. Defensively, she finished with two steals and six blocked shots, none bigger than this one:
Credit to Malgoza, though, who went right back at McClure the next time down to score inside.
2. Washington’s drive and kick offense got them some really good looks. This corner three was set up by a great hesitation dribble by true freshman Kierra Collier:
That’s also a nice job by Mackenzie Wieburg to slide down to the corner as Collier started her drive. Hristova, Wieburg’s initial defender, sagged down to clog up the lane, figuring Wieburg was going to stay close by at the wing.
It was evident even late in the overtime period that this Washington group has good spacing and awareness of the reads they need to make when attacking the basket. Here’s how three of their OT possessions ended:
You’d love to have that turnover back, but the ball was moving and multiple Huskies were looking to attack creases in the defense throughout the game.
3. Fans tuning in for this one live probably anticipated a Hristova takeover. Sure enough, it was time for Bobi to get some buckets in those final five minutes. Pull up jumpers like this one are so tough to take away completely:
It’s unclear whether this pass was intended for Hristova or for Kayla Washington under the basket:
Either way, the Cougars got just what they wanted on that trip to add to their lead.
4. The Pac-12 Network broadcast teams were quick to realize that Chanelle Molina added a new dynamic to Washington State’s offense even before she was inserted into the starting lineup. There’s a lot of Pac-12 basketball yet to be played, but Molina’s shot near the end of regulation will probably go down as one of the biggest plays of the weekend.
With 20 seconds to play trailing by one, McClure pulled down one of her eight offensive boards after Hristova missed a jumper from the left side and threw it right to Molina near the top of the key:
This week’s ’12 things’ Pac-12 column highlighted the strong play of both Molina and Hristova.
12 Pac-12 things: 6-0 Oregon, crafty bigs, bad charges
12 notes and observations from around the Pac-12 Conference, including: Oregon's 6-0 start in conference play, crafty bigs and bad charge calls.
5. If you didn’t catch Wednesday night’s game, you might be asking: So, how close did Washington get to securing its first Pac-12 win of the season?
This close:
That’s a bad pass by Hristova. She and the Cougars were fortunate to have come up with it. A pass thrown that high in the air is begging to be taken the other way for an easy two, which would have tied the game.
Once again, here’s a look at this weekend’s Pac-12 slate:
Which game are you most looking forward to this weekend?