LOS ANGELES — The USC women's basketball team visited Washington State to see an early lead, snatched away by the Cougars, who snatched their first lead of the game late in the third quarter and topped the Trojans 71-63 at the Gallen Center tonight. But reached. , The loss puts USC at 8-5 on aggregate with 1–2 points in Pac-12 play. WSU goes 10-5, 2-2.

A combined 12 three fell in the first part of the action, with the Trojans buried seven. USC made it 12-0 before WSU got its scoring touch and closed the gap to five points in the second quarter. But USC retaliated to take a 37-30 lead at halftime. USC was shooting 42.4 percent from the floor and 50 percent from 3-point range, while WSU shot 34.6 percent overall and 31.3 percent from beyond the arc during those first 20 minutes. USC was up 22-13 in that first half, with all eight Trojans who came on the court in the scoring column from the break. WSU will step up its efforts on the boards and on the shooting front, finishing on top in rebounding 35-34 and wrapping up with nine threes at 38.3 percent off the floor. USC finished shooting 40.4 percent, hitting a season-high 11 threes, but was plagued by second-chance opportunities by the Cougars, who scored 17 points in the second.

USC was led by Jordan Jenkins with 20 points and Bella Perkins' career-high 15 points. Four players from WSU were in double digits, meanwhile, with 20 from Johanna Tedder, 14 from Ukla Motuga, 13 from Charlize Lager-Walker and 10 from Bella Murekte.

USC took a 12-0 lead, highlighting three from Bella Perkins and Alison Miura and a few buckets from Reya Marshall. WSU was 0-for-11 off the floor, until a 3-pointer fell to the Cougar so they could snap their scoreless run and make it 12-3 with 2:00 left in the first frame . Jordan Jenkins followed that with a short strike, and then Perkins came off with another long strike, and USC was up 17-3 at the first close. WSU found its scoring touch in the next leg, going 9–0 with two-thirds of those put in that run to make it 25–17. It was later an actual three-point parade. Alyssa Pili, Desiree Caldwell and Miura all redeemed all three for a Trojan cause in the space of a minute, while WSU added their own in that stretch, as the score rose to a 35-24 Trojan with 1:55 in the first half. The Cougars got another three before the end of the half, and it was 37–30 with USC at the break.

The Cougars carved out USC's advantage in the middle of the third with a 3-pointer in the middle of the two following a Raih Marshall Bucket, which made it 47–45 USC with 4:40 on the clock. The Cougars would go ahead and take their first lead later. In the frame, Jenkins Basket broke the race and 52-50 WSU entered fourth before going up 52–48 to take a 7–0 lead in the final minute. Perkins' fifth straight 3-pointer pulled the Trojans ahead 53-52 in the first 30 seconds of the fourth, but WSU responded with an 8-0 rally that kept the Cougar in the driver's seat.


Notable:

- With five made 3-pointers, FR Bella Perkins sets a new career high.

Perkins' 15 points also set a new career height.

-- With his first two 3-pointers tonight, JR Alison Miura improved from 3-point range to 6-for-6, which extended to last week's win over No. 4 Arizona, where he was 4-for- 4 was. fourth quarter.

- With another three blocks tonight, FR Reya Marshall extended his game's run to eight straight with at least one block.

- GS Tera Reid had a career-high nine assistants.

- USC's 11 threes scored was the highest level of the season and was tied as the third-most in a single game in the program's history.