Money Molina comes through in clutch

Sometimes the best plays aren’t the ones drawn up on a whiteboard, but the moments when a busted scheme forces an athlete to step up and make a pivotal shot.

That’s exactly what happened Wednesday night when the Washington State women’s basketball team desperately needed a bucket in the waning seconds of a Pac-12 rivalry matchup with Washington at Beasley Coliseum.

With the Huskies holding a 67-65 advantage and less than 25 seconds on the game clock, Borislava Hristova drove the ball down the court and attempted a midrange jumper from the baseline. The sophomore’s shot deflected off the backboard, but it was scooped up by Nike McClure in the key as a trio of defenders converged on the junior. Instead of going up for a shot from the post, McClure pivoted around and surveyed the floor before firing the ball to Chanelle Molina at the top of the arc.

“There were a lot of bodies in the paint, there was no way (I could shoot),” McClure said. “I know I’m strong, but I’m not that strong. I can’t take on three girls. That’s when I looked out and Chanelle was in great position, thank God, so I just kicked it out to her.”

In that moment, the sophomore guard delivered perhaps her biggest basket of the year.

Molina’s 3-point attempt found the bottom of the net with 16 seconds left to play, giving Washington State a 68-67 lead and providing a burst of energy for the home crowd of 1,199 spectators.

“If you remember when she was a freshman before she got hurt, that was commonplace,” said associate head coach Mike Daugherty, who was filling in for his wife, head coach June Daugherty. The Cougars didn’t say why she missed Wednesday’s game.

“She just hit shots all the time,” Mike Daugherty added about Molina. “I think she’s just starting to feel it again and get back into it, and I think tonight will help her. Hitting the big 3 like that will just boost her confidence.”

Amber Melgoza sent to the game to overtime with a free throw in the final seconds of regulation, but the momentum from Molina’s shot carried over into the additional period, where the Cougars scored the first seven points en route to a 78-75 win.

“I think Bobi Hristova hit some clutch shots, that was the hot start,” Daugherty said. “They forced her baseline, she went baseline and hit jumpers on them.”

The thrilling result overshadowed an impressive performance from McClure, who recorded a career-high 16 points and 16 rebounds in a double-double performance. The junior forward was also a staunch defensive presence in the paint, tallying six blocks on the night.

“My teammates kept telling me on the bench, ‘Come on, two more points to get a double-double,’” McClure said. “I was like, ‘Dang, I didn’t realize I was doing all that.’ So much adrenaline, right?”

Hristova scored seven of her 25 points in overtime and finished the night with a 10-of-22 effort from the field, while Molina added another 13 points and four assists in the win.

“I feel like I didn’t really contribute a lot in the fourth quarter, which was important,” Hristova said. “Then it just happened that I scored on those (overtime) shots.”

Melgoza led the way for Washington with 22 points on 9-of-23 shooting, while teammate Hannah Johnson recorded her own double-double with 13 points and 16 boards.

The Huskies (6-12 overall, 0-7 Pac-12) will get another crack at in-state bragging rights when the Cougars (9-10, 2-5) travel to Seattle on Sunday for a 1 p.m. contest at Alaska Airlines Arena.

“That is a tough deal ... whoever lost this game would have the mental edge going into the next one,” Daugherty said. “They’re pissed, they think they should have won. We need to take that same edge when we go over there.”

FLU GAME — Louise Brown took the floor for seven minutes of action in the first half, but the junior forward was forced to leave the contest after suffering from flu-like symptoms. Maria Kostourkova took over Brown’s role and finished the night with six points, four rebounds and three blocks.

“With Lou out, we end up having to put her in with Nike at the same time and that worked out pretty well,” Daugherty said. “The problem against Washington was they have four small people out there, so when we went big with both of them it helped us on one side of it, but on the other side it made a little more difficult. ... Maria is long and does a nice job of helping, so that’s something we’re going to have to look at.”

HONORING HILINKSKI — Prior to tipoff, Washington State held a moment of silence for quarterback Tyler Hilinkski, who was found dead in his apartment Tuesday afternoon with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. During the tribute, members of the women’s basketball team raised their left hand in a No. 3 symbol — a reference to Hilinkski’s jersey number.

WASHINGTON (6-12)

Henson 2-9 0-0 5, Johnson 6-8 0-0 13, Semebene 0-2 2-2 2, Moser 3-13 3-4 11, Wieburg 2-3 0-0 6, Rooks 3-5 1-2 7, Collier 1-7 2-2 5, Griggsby 2-7 0-0 4, Melgoza 9-23 3-4 22, Peterson 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 28-78 11-14 75.

WASHINGTON ST. (9-10)

Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Hristova 10-22 1-4 25, McClure 8-10 0-2 16, Hailey 0-3 4-6 4, Molina 5-15 1-2 13, Subasic 0-0 0-0 0, Washington 4-6 1-3 9, Kostourkova 3-8 0-1 6, Muzet 0-5 0-0 0, Pavlopoulou 2-2 0-0 5, Totals 32-72 7-18 78.

Washington 17 19 13 19 7—75

Washington St. 17 19 17 15 10—78

3-Point Goals—Washington 8-33 (Henson 1-5, Johnson 1-3, Moser 2-10, Wieburg 2-3, Rooks 0-2, Collier 1-5, Griggsby 0-1, Melgoza 1-4), Washington St. 7-17 (Hristova 4-7, Molina 2-6, Washington 0-1, Muzet 0-2, Pavlopoulou 1-1). Assists—Washington 13 (Henson 3), Washington St. 20 (Molina 4). Fouled Out—Washington St. Hailey, Washington. Rebounds—Washington 50 (Johnson 16), Washington St. 48 (McClure 16). Total Fouls—Washington 15, Washington St. 18. A—1,199.

Joshua Grissom can be reached at jgrissom@dnews.com or on Twitter @JoshuaGNews.