PULLMAN — Emily Bessoir scored 13 points and the No. 9 UCLA women’s basketball team beat Washington State 73-66 on Sunday.
A three-pointer by Bessoir with 8:21 remaining in the game gave UCLA an 11-point lead – its largest of the contest. Bessoir hit three of the Bruins’ nine three-pointers.
Consecutive three-pointers by Ula Motuga and Grace Sarver cut the lead three with 2:51 to go, but the Cougars couldn’t get any closer as three turnovers and no field goals in the final two minutes prevented the Washington State upset.
“That was a really good team we just played. They are finding ways to win,” WSU coach Kamie Ethridge said. “They are gritty and tough and can really change the game with how they guard. They picked up the pressure on us in the second half and I think that affected us. … They put people in spots that they are not used to guarding and I think that was the different in the game today. They made us guard their bigs from the three-point line, which I think is something that really hurt us.”
Five Bruins scored in double figures, including 13 points from Gabriela Jaquez.
The Bruins (17-3, 6-2 Pac-12) forced five Cougar turnovers and held Washington State scoreless from the field over the last four minutes of the first quarter to open up an eight-point lead.
Jessica Clarke and Astera Tuhina helped reel in the Bruins in the second quarter, combining for 10 points to spark a 9-0 run as WSU took first lead of the game.
Tuhina finished with 15 points and was one of five players in double figures for Washington State (13-6, 3-5). Clarke, Bella Murekatete and Tara Wallack each registered 11 points, while Johanna Teder chipped in 10 points.
Consecutive threes from Tuhina in the middle of the third quarter gave Washington State its third lead of the game, but Charisma Osborne countered with two three-pointers of her own to extend the lead back to seven for UCLA. Four Bruins scored five or more points in the third quarter and the two teams combined for eight three-pointers in the highest-scoring quarter of the game.
Tuhina left the game after a collision near the Washington State bench, but returned with 3:22 remaining.
The Cougars again played without star guard Charlisse Leger-Walker, who averages 20.7 points and also leads the team in assists. WSU is in danger of not making the NCAA tournament after back-to-back trips in 2021 and 2022.
“I’m not afraid of where we are,” Ethridge said. “We are eight games into (Pac-12) play and I think we’re better than we’ve ever been as a team, and as a program, and I look forward to seeing what we can do on the road next week and for the rest of the season.”
The Bruins are one of six ranked teams in the Pac-12 and can take over second place with a win over Colorado next Friday. UCLA’s 6-2 start in conference play is the second-best start under coach Cori Close.