Cougs open Discover Puerto Rico Shootout with big win

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Holiday hoops tournament season started well for the Washington State women’s basketball team, which toppled Norfolk State 68-60 on Thursday to open the Discover Puerto Rico Shootout.

The Cougars (3-3) shot 46.2 percent from the field and had three players score in double-figures.

Senior guard Tara Wallack had a career day with a game-high 22 points and a career-high seven blocks to go with eight rebounds, four assists and a steal.

Freshman forward Dayana Mendes recorded her first-career double-double with 16 points and a team-best 10 rebounds.

Sophomore guard Eleonora Villa finished with 12 points, three assists, three boards and a block, while junior guard Astera Tuhina added seven points, five rebounds and three assists.

A trio of 3s from freshman guard Charlotte Abraham, Tuhina and sophomore guard Jenna Villa kept things tied 9-9 with NSU (6-2) in the early goings of a close first quarter, before layups from Mendes and Wallack had WSU trailing by just one, 16-15, going into the second.

Wallack nailed a 3 early in the second quarter to put the Cougs ahead 18-17 before another pair of layups from Mendes and Wallack extended the WSU lead to 24-19. That turned into what would be a 10-0 Cougar run, with eight points from Mendes, to give Wazzu a 28-19 lead with 3:28 to play in the first half.

NSU worked back to within a possession, but the Cougs still held a 29-28 lead at halftime.

Teams continued to trade blows out of the locker room and the game was tied at 47-47 entering the fourth quarter.

Big 3s from Eleonora Villa and Wallack to start the fourth quarter extended Washington State’s lead to 55-49 with six minutes to play.

NSU, which was led by Diamond Johnson with 15 points and Da’Brya Clark with 14, couldn’t get back in contention in the waning minutes.

With the win, WSU coach Kamie Ethridge has 98 wins at WSU, two away from 100.

Next up, the Cougs will play Virginia at 1 p.m. Pacific today.

WASHINGTON ST. (3-3)

Covill 0-1 0-0 0, Tuhina 3-5 0-0 7, Eleonora Villa 5-10 0-0 12, Jenna Villa 1-6 0-0 3, Wallack 7-11 6-7 22, Mendes 5-10 6-8 16, Kpetikou 1-2 0-0 2, Abraham 2-5 1-4 6, Alsina 0-1 0-0 0, Dart 0-0 0-0 0, Gardner 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 24-52 13-19 68

NORFOLK ST. (6-2)

Diawara 1-7 3-8 5, Wheeler 5-14 1-2 11, Clark 4-8 5-6 14, Fields 1-5 0-0 2, Johnson 6-21 0-0 15, Bailey 0-1 0-0 0, Robinson 0-3 0-0 0, Richardson 4-11 5-5 13, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 21-70 14-21 60

3-Point Goals — Washington St. 7-25 (Tuhina 1-2, E.Villa 2-7, J.Villa 1-6, Wallack 2-4, Mendes 0-1, Abraham 1-3, Alsina 0-1, Gardner 0-1), Norfolk St. 4-17 (Diawara 0-1, Clark 1-2, Fields 0-1, Johnson 3-11, Richardson 0-2). Assists — Washington St. 17 (J.Villa 5), Norfolk St. 8 (Fields 2, Johnson 2, Wheeler 2). Fouled Out — None. Rebounds — Washington St. 43 (Mendes 10), Norfolk St. 39 (Wheeler 10). Total Fouls — Washington St. 17, Norfolk St. 16. Technical Fouls — Norfolk St. Diawara 1. A — 250.