SEATTLE – There last one was not discernibly different from the majority of the Washington State women’s basketball team’s defining losses this season, it’s just the one that will linger longest.
The ninth-seeded Cougars (14-16) fell to No. 8 seed USC 77-73, thus putting the Trojans (19-12) in a group of teams including Oklahoma State, Saint Mary’s, Utah, UCLA, Washington, California, USC, and, once again, Utah that defeated the Cougars in the final seconds of close games.
By and large, those games were lost thanks to factors largely in WSU’s control. On Thursday, the Cougars missed 6 of 11 second-half free throws, including one by Borislava Hristova that would have tied the game with 14 seconds left.