Box Score
PORTLAND, Ore. --- Natalie Day poured in 25 points, Nakeisha Brown scored 22 and ReZina TecleMariam registered her first career double-double as the Pilots rolled to a 91-80 win over the Washington State Cougars in a non-conference women’s basketball game on Thursday night at the Chiles Center. The Pilots win their third straight game to open the season at 3-0 for the first time since 2001-02.
Washington State drops to 0-3.
Brown shot eight of nine from the floor and hit all four of her three-point attempts on the night to help the Pilots match a single-game program record with 12 three-pointers. Day was 3-for-6 from behind the arc, TecleMariam was 3-for-4 and senior Jessica Clemens was a perfect 2-for-2.
TecleMariam finished with 16 points and set a career high with 10 assists. The junior guard’s 10 dimes were just three shy of matching the program record of 13, which was set by Kathy Adelman in1990.
It was Clemens and Day who paced the Pilots early in the first half. After the Cougars had scored the game’s first field game, Clemens rattled off seven straight points to give UP a lead they would never relinquish.
Day, a junior wing, then entered the game and promptly dropped 14 points in just nine minutes as the UP lead grew to 47-22 with 2:30 left in the first half. Clemens finished the first 20 minutes with 10 points, while the hot-shooting Brown chipped in 12 as the Pilots entered the locker room with a 52-30 lead.
Day and Brown picked up right where they left off after the half as the Pilots led by double digits for most of the rest of the way. Wazzu did climb back within six points with 1:21 left to play, but the Pilots hit enough free throws down the stretch to put the win on ice.
The 22 points are easily a career high for Brown, a junior guard who has battled leg injuries for most of her two years on The Bluff. Day, a junior wing, connected on 10 of 17 attempts from the field, while TecleMariam hit five of eight overall.
Rosetta Adzasu scored 20 points to lead four Cougars in double figures.
The Pilots, who were above 60 percent shooting for most of the game, cooled off late in the second half to finish with an overall field goal percentage of 48.5 (32-for-66). UP’s 12 three’s came on 25 attempts, while the Pilots hit 15 of 20 from the foul line. WSU shot 44.1 percent (30-for-68) on the night, went 3-for-16 on three-pointers and was 17-for-21 at the charity stripe.
The Cougars did win the battle of the boards 44-33. The Pilots, who had 17 turnovers, turned 23 Wazzu miscues into 27 points, while UP’s bench outscored WSU’s second unit 36-14.
The Pilots next play the second game of their three-game homestand on Saturday against the Air Force Falcons. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. at the Chiles Center.
