Arizona women hold off Washington State, 62-60

Eighth-seeded Arizona held off a late charge from ninth-seeded Washington to win, 62-60, Thursday night at the Galen Center, advancing to today’s quarterfinal round against top-seeded Stanford.

The Wildcats (14-16) had a comfortable lead for most of the game, but the Cougars (8-22) charged back late, and it wasn’t until WSU’s April Cook’s near half-court try bounced off the backboard that it was over.

Cook led WSU with 18 points on six-of-16 shooting from the floor. Arizona forward Soana Lucet led the Wildcats with 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting. The key was points in the paint: Arizona held an advantage there, 38 to 22.

Arizona lost both regular-season games to the Cardinal by an average of 24 points. Stanford was 28-1 in the regular season and 18-0 in the Pacific 10 Conference (their only loss came to top-ranked Connecticut). Tipoff is at 1:15 p.m.

After trailing by as much 18 in the first half, the 10th-seeded Oregon State Beavers climbed back in the second and upset the seventh-seeded Washington Huskies, 52-42, to advance to today’s quarterfinal round against UCLA.

The Huskies (12-17) got off to a 22-4 start, but OSU (11-19) steadily trimmed that deficit to 24-22 at halftime. In the second half, Beavers took the lead, and didn’t give it back.

Guard Julie Futch led OSU with 17 points on five-of-11 shooting from the floor. Forward Sami Whitcomb led UW with 18 points on seven-of-14 shooting. From the free-throw line Oregon State went 13-of-22 while Washington shot two-of-five.

The Beavers lost both games against the Bruins in the regular season by a combined 47 points. UCLA finished the year with a 22-7 overall record, including a 15-3 mark in league play. Tipoff is at 7:15 p.m.

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