Cougs still dancing

Because neither player is very familiar with the age-old children’s story of Cinderella, Pinelopi Pavlopoulou and Alexys Swedlundsatquietly during their postgame media session as the fairy tale — often used metaphorically to describe underdogs — was explained to them by a reporter.

Once she reached an understanding, Swedlund smiled and nodded her head in agreement.

“I like that. You could say it like that,” the Washington State guard said. “As you can see, we’re making history game by game. Started from the bottom, now we’re here.”

And where are they, exactly? In the quarterfinals of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, a spot they cemented with a 71-62 victoryThursdaynight over UC Davis in the Round of 16, the third postseason triumph in school history — all of those coming during this unprecedented run in March.

“We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs this year, but we keep coming back,” said Swedlund, who scored 13 of her team-high 20 points in the first half. “I think that says a lot about the character on this team.”

Pavlopoulou scored nine of her 13 points in the fourth quarter, helping hold off the visitors from the Big West Conference, who cut WSU’s double-digit halftime lead to four points in the final period. The Cougars (15-19) advance to face Iowa at noonSundayin Iowa City.

“Getting this program to the Elite Eight just speaks volumes about these kids and what kind of champions they really are,” WSU coach June Daugherty said.

Swedlund, who averages 11.1 points per contest, matched that in the first quarter, thanks to a trio of triples that just oozed with confidence, seeing as they were either contested or not particularly close to the 3-point line.

Once the sophomore guard lifted WSU to a 25-17 lead after one, she and the Cougars cooled down offensively, though they managed to extend their advantage by halftime, 39-26, by cooling down the Aggies even more.

UC Davis (25-8) had more turnovers (11) than field goals (10) in the first half, while shooting 32 percent from the field (they shot 22-of-62 for the game, with 19 turnovers).

In the first half, UC Davis had as many 3’s as Swedlund, then started 4-for-4 in the third quarter alone. Rachel Nagel sank one to make it a 12-point game. Pele Gianotti hit another to make it nine. Dani Nafekh drilled another to make it six — and one more to slice the lead to 45-42 with 4:41 left in the period.

“They’re a really good shooting team, that’s part of the reason they came back,” Swedlund said. “We struggled getting a hand up because they’re deep shooters. That was a probably a detriment to us. The heart we showed to come back and gain that lead again was huge for this team.”

WSU had all of six points in the final six minutes of the third, all of which were scored by Ivana Kmetovska, who helped her team to a 49-44 lead entering the fourth.

Because Nagel, a 37-percent 3-point shooter, shared Swedlund’s affinity for deep treys, the Aggies had life midway through the final frame, after the junior guard mixed a long ball between a pair of layins, trimming the deficit to 59-54 with 4:25 remaining.

“It was Steph Curry out there. Klay Thompson,” Daugherty said of Nagel, who finished with 20 points on 4-of-7 shooting from deep. “Jeez louise, she’s a heck of a shooter.”

But Pavlopoulou and Swedlund would go on to either score or assist on WSU’s final 12 points — while holding UC Davis to just two field goals the rest way — to keep this Cinderella at the ball for at least one more dance.

UC DAVIS (25-8)

Ko. Eaton 3-8 0-0 6, Nagel 7-14 2-3 20, Bessolo 1-3 0-0 3, Bertsch 2-11 2-2 6, Anderson 1-4 2-2 4, Ka. Eaton 1-1 1-1 3, Song 0-3 0-2 0, Gianotti 4-6 0-0 11, Beyer 0-0 0-0 0, Nafekh 3-10 0-0 9. Totals22-62 7-10 62.

WASHINGTON ST. (15-19)

Kmetovska 2-8 3-7 7, Kostourkova 0-5 2-2 2, Hailey 6-14 0-1 13, Pavlopoulou 5-15 4-6 16, Swedlund 6-16 4-4 20, McKenzie 1-1 0-0 3, Washington 3-5 0-0 6, Muzet 1-5 0-0 2, McClure 1-2 0-0 2. Totals25-71 13-20 71.

UC Davis                17      9   18   18—62

Washington State                25    14   10   22—71

Halftime — Washington St. 39-26. 3-point goals — Washington St. 8-26 (Hailey 1-4, Pavlopoulou  2-7, Swedlund 4-10, McKenzie 1-1, Muzet 0-4), UC Davis 11-29 (Gianotti 3-4, Eaton 0-5), Nagel 4-7, Nafekh 3-7, Bessolo 1-4, Song 0-2). Fouled out — none. Rebounds — Washington St. 49 (Swedlund 9), UC Davis 40 (Gianotti, Eaton 8). Assists — Washington St. 13 (Pavlopoulou 3), UC Davis 13 (Eaton 7). Total fouls - Washington St. 12, UC Davis 17. A - 1456.

Michael-Shawn Dugar can be reached at(208) 883-4627, by email tomdugar@dnews.comor on Twitter to @MikeDugar.