UK women improve to 4-0 after tough win at Washington State

Maci Morris scored a season-high 20 points, Makenzie Cann had a double-double and No. 25 Kentucky scored the last seven points of the game to defeat Washington State 73-68 on Sunday.

Morris had 17 points in the second half, including the clinching free throws with seven seconds left.

Cann had 15 points, including two free throws with 54 seconds left, and 10 rebounds for her first double-double. Taylor Murray had 13 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and four steals for the Wildcats (4-0).

After Chanelle Molina made a layup with 2:27 to play to put the Cougars up 68-66 they had a shot blocked, two turnovers and missed a potential tying three-pointer.

Borislava Hristova had a season-high 25 points for the Cougars (1-3) and Molina scored 13.

Kentucky was down 11 with 3:26 to play in the second quarter but closed with a 7-0 run to trail 35-34 at the half. The Cats led by eight entering the fourth quarter, but Nike McClure had seven points in a 10-0 run that put Washington State up 62-60 midway through the quarter.

Kentucky dominated the boards 48-32. The Cats also had a big advantage in fast-break points, outscoring the Cougars 14-4 in that category.

Junior college transfer Amanda Paschal added eight points, three rebounds and three assists in 15 minutes off the bench.

“I was talking to (assistant) coach (Niya) Butts at halftime about who could potentially give us a lift in the second half and we thought Amanda Paschal would, and she did,” UK Coach Matthew Mitchell said. “She was great and it was definitely her best game as a Wildcat.”

Alyssa Rice added nine points and eight rebounds.

Last year Kentucky won its matchup against Washington State 69-67 in Memorial Coliseum.

Click here to view the Kentucky-Washington State box score.

This story was originally published November 19, 2017 at 6:11 PM with the headline "UK women improve to 4-0 after tough win at Washington State."