Feb. 13—PULLMAN — The Washington State women’s basketball team used a strong defensive performance to down Loyola Marymount 63-51 on Thursday in a West Coast Conference game at Beasley Coliseum.
The Cougars (16-11, 11-5 WCC) were tied after the first quarter and trailed 24-20 with less than three minutes to play in the second before closing on a 7-0 run to take a 27-24 lead into halftime. WSU dominated the third quarter, holding the Lions (10-13, 4-11) without a field goal for the final seven-plus minutes to take a 48-35 lead into the fourth quarter.
WSU had a balanced effort on offense, led by Astera Tuhina’s 15 points. Dayana Mendes (14 points, 11 rebounds), Eleonora Villa (14 points) and Tara Wallack (12 points) joined in double figures.
The Cougars have won four of their past five games and hit the road to play Portland (23-3, 12-3) on Saturday.
The Pilots remained in second place after beating Saint Mary’s 71-69 on Thursday. The Cougars sit in third place in the conference.
