The Arizona women's basketball team used a dominant third quarter and a career night from sophomore Cate Reese to beat host Washington State 74-67 in Pullman on Friday.
The No. 21-ranked Wildcats (14-3, 3-3 Pac-12) had lost three in a row — all to top-10 teams — coming in, and led the Cougars just 35-32 at halftime. UA outscored Washington State (9-8, 2-3) 26-14 in the third to take a 61-46 lead heading into the fourth. Arizona had a 9-0 run to start the second half and added a 7-0 run later in the quarter.
Lucia Alonso's 3-pointer with 8:43 left in the game gave Arizona its largest lead at 64-46.
The Cougars chipped away late, using a 12-4 run to cut the lead to 70-65 with just 39 seconds left. Arizona sealed the win at the line, as Sam Thomas hit two to make it 72-65 and then Aari McDonald did likewise to extend the lead to 74-65.
Reese was 11 of 11 from the line and UA was 21 of 22 (95.5%) overall in the win. WSU was able to stay close by hitting 56% of its shots from the field, although the Cougars were just 4 of 9 from the line. Arizona shot 41.8% from the field.
Reese hit 7 of 16 shots from the field and had four assists and two rebounds. McDonald had 19 points and eight rebounds.
The Cougars (9-8, 2-3) shot 56% (28 of 50) from the field but were only 4 of 9 from the foul line. Chanelle Molina had 19 points, Borislava Hristova scored 14 and Ula Motuga added 10 for Washington State.
The Wildcats forced 22 turnovers, which led to 23 points.
UA visits Washington (10-6, 2-3) at 1 p.m. Sunday in a game that will air on Pac-12 Washington and 1400-AM. The Huskies lost to No. 18 Arizona State 67-50 on Friday in Seattle.
