OSU women fall to Washington State

Associated Press

PULLMAN, Wash.

Lia Galdeira scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half to help Washington State upset No. 20 Ohio State 62-55 on Saturday.

Washington State’s defense forced 21 Ohio State turnovers — leading to 16 Cougars points — and held the Buckeyes to 1 for 17 from 3-point range.

“Exciting day for Washington State, after a tough road trip and back-to-back losses, the girls responded and came out and played physical, and aggressive,” Cougars coach June Daugherty said. “Tonight we had some hustle plays that really mattered I give all the credit to our defense.”

Washington State (3-5) led 28-23 at halftime. Ohio State came back to lead 36-32, but the Cougars’ defense forced three straight turnovers. Taylor Edmondson’s 3-pointer put the Cougars ahead to stay at 40-37.

The Cougars never led by more than five points after that, but maintained the lead with strong defensive play in posting their first win over a ranked team since 2001. It was also the most points scored against the Buckeyes all season.

“We gave this team a lot of different looks on defense which created turnovers and they were just not comfortable with it,” Daugherty said.