In one of the biggest weeks of the year for both teams, the Cougars were swept on Thursday and Saturday.
Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams for Washington State entered week 12 of the college basketball season with high hopes of improving their standing in the WCC. However, both ended the weekend with back-to-back losses.
On Saturday, the women’s team was upset by the Loyola Marymount Lions, who currently sit in 10th in the WCC at 2-8 in conference, by a score of 79-76. Later that night in Pullman, the men led the Saint Mary’s Gaels by as much as 10 in the second half but were outscored 41-26 over the final 15:02 of game time for a heartbreaking 80-75 loss.
The losses drop the women to 7-4 in conference, tied for fourth in the standings, and the men to 5-4, good for sixth.
Naudia Evans led the charge for the upset-hungry Lions with a career-high 37 points on 12/27 shooting and 11/14 from the free throw line. As a team, the Lions shot 27 free throws in the game, making 22 of them. WSU didn’t help themselves with 19 turnovers, 13 of them in the second half, eight in the fourth quarter.
The Lions opened the game by hitting nearly every shot they threw up. LMU hit nine of their first 14 shots to race out to a 10-point first quarter lead. WSU fought back in the second quarter as the Lions red-hot shooting cooled. Alex Covill filled the second frame stat sheet with four points, four rebounds, and three assists, contributing to 10 of WSU’s 19 second quarter points. Covill’s efforts helped WSU flip the lead into WSU’s favor heading into the halftime break.
The game’s second half quickly turned into a free throw competition. In just the second half alone, there were 28 personal fouls called and 38 free throws shot. 25 of those free throws being awarded to LMU. The Lions hit 21 of their 25 charity stripe shots, which resulted in 46.7% of their second half points being scored from 15 feet out. Though WSU shot a perfect 13/13 from the line and LMU didn’t hit a single three in the second half, the turnovers and fouls plagued WSU down the stretch. Tara Wallack and Astera Tuhina tried to heroically bring WSU back into the game late with a pair of deep threes each to keep WSU within a possession, but the Lions had an answer at the other end to keep WSU from taking the late lead.
Up in Pullman, the men’s team looked to pull an upset of their own against the Saint Mary’s Gaels. David Riley’s squad opened up with a 12-3 lead on a perfect 5/5 shooting from the field to start the game. The Cougar offense continued to excel early, scoring 34 points in the first 16 minutes on an incredible 15/22 shooting with just four turnovers. Nate Calmese and LeJuan Watts led the early charge with 10 points each in the first half. The Gaels wouldn’t let WSU get away so easily. Saint Mary’s had the firepower to keep up with WSU’s hot shooting start, hitting nine of their last 16 first-half shots to stay within three headed into halftime.
Ethan Price got the second half started with an early trey before passing the torch to Dane Erikstrup for a two-point jumper, and Watts closed the early run with a pair of free throws to put WSU up 10. Watts later kept the lead at 10 with a poster dunk to get the crowd of 4,240 on their feet.
LeJuan Watts with the poster! Don’t jump with the 559 kid.#GoCougs | CBSSN pic.twitter.com/aQnwqGN3Hu
— Washington State Men’s Basketball (@WSUCougarsMBB) January 26, 2025
This would be the last of the good times for WSU, however. The Gaels threw back-to-back haymakers with two separate 9-0 runs to flip WSU’s 10-point lead into an SMU five-point lead heading into the final eight minutes.
Just like how the second half started, Ethan Price’s sharpshooting helped keep WSU afloat. The 6’10 senior drilled a trio of threes down the stretch, including an incredibly clutch one with 1:18 to go to make it a one-point game. The Gaels extended the lead to three on the other end with 44 seconds remaining with a Mitchell Saxen layup, giving WSU one more shot to try and tie the game. WSU looked to the hot hand of Price, opening him up near the corner with a look to tie, but Saxen got off the screen just in time to get enough of a block on Price’s shot to force a miss. The Gaels sunk their free throws to ice away the game and escape Pullman with an 80-75 victory.
The women will look to rebound tonight as they head to Corvallis to square off with the Oregon State Beavers while the men prepare for a weekend road trip beginning on Thursday against the Pacific Tigers.