Just like men, WSU women make quick exit from Pac-10 tourney

LOS ANGELES — A deep 3-point attempt from sophomore guard April Cook just missed and Washington State fell 62-60 to Arizona in the opening round of the Pacific-10 women’s basketball tournament Thursday at Galen Center.

With 57 seconds left, sophomore forward Rosie Tarnowski hit a 3-pointer, trimming a 14-point Arizona (14-16) advantage to two. WSU prevented the Wildcats from getting a shot off on the ensuing possession, and the Cougars got the ball back with 27 seconds left.

Freshman guard KiKi Moore’s attempt with nine seconds left went in and out, but WSU got one more chance. Arizona’s Ashley Frazier missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Moore grabbed the rebound and called timeout. The Cougars had to go the length of the floor in 3.5 seconds, and Cook’s heave from just inside midcourt was narrowly off the mark, catching both the left side of the backboard and the rim.

“This was an extremely hard-fought game,” WSU coach June Daugherty said. “We had a chance to win it there at the end, but it wasn’t meant to be tonight. I’m very excited about where this program is headed, and April will definitely make a few of those shots before her career at WSU is over.”

Cook scored 18 points for the Cougars (8-22). The sophomore from Carson, Calif., scored 419 points in 2009-10, the 13th-most in a single season in school history. She also cracked WSU’s career (89) and single-season (46) 3-point field goal lists, ranking 10th on each, and moved into 20th on the Cougars’ career scoring list (824).

Danielle LeNoir had four assists, and Carly Noyes and Jazmine Perkins had seven rebounds each.