SEATTLE (AP) - Alexys Swedlund had a career-best 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including four 3-pointers, Caila Hailey scored seven of her career-high 17 points in the fourth quarter and Washington State rallied from a 14-point deficit to beat Colorado 79-78 in the Pac-12 Tournament on Thursday night.
Kayla Washington tied her career-best with 12 points, on 6-of-8 shooting, and grabbed nine rebounds and Pinelope Pavlopoulou scored 10 for seventh-seeded Washington State (12-18). The Cougars will face No. 2 seed, and 10th-ranked, Stanford in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Hailey hit two free throws to give Washington State a 76-68 lead with 2:18 to play, but Alexis Robinson and Haley Smith sandwiched 3-pointers around a Pavlopoulou foul shot before Kennedy Leonard hit two free throws to pull Colorado (15-15) within one with 19 seconds left. After Hailey made a pair from the line, Leonard was fouled - and injured - as she made a layup with 12 seconds remaining. She was replaced by Monica Burich, a 79 percent free throw shooter this season, who missed the ensuing foul shot and WSU held on.
UN😱 REAL😱@WSUWomensHoops digs deep for a MONSTER stop to seal the W for the @OpusBank #12Best Moment! https://t.co/LXk6Aqec36
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) March 3, 2017
Smith scored 21, Alexis Robinson added 17 points and Ariana Freeman had 16 for Colorado. Smith and Robinson combined to make 9 of 10 from 3-point range.
The Buffaloes made 10 of their first 13 shots and led 23-9 with three minutes left in the first quarter, but went without a made field goal for the next 8:41 as Washington State used an 18-0 run to take a five-point lead with 3:48 to go in the half.