For the second time in as many weeks a game featuring Arizona and Washington went into overtime at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman.

Sunday it was the women's turn as the seventh-ranked Wildcats let a 16-point second-half lead slip away in the fourth quarter leading to an overtime matchup against the home team. Unlike the UA men, who pulled off a a four-point victory last Saturday, the women's team would not be able to close out the Cougars as foul trouble and a stagnant offense led to a 71-69 loss for Adia Barnes and her team.

The Wildcats jumped out to an early double-digit lead in the first quarter thanks to a hot start from forward Cate Reese leading to UA having control for most of regulation. Arizona led for the first 37 minutes of the game, but eventually a rough fourth quarter on the offensive end led to Washington State making a comeback.

Cherilyn Molina connected for the Cougars to tie the game with 2:45 left to play, but UA guard Bendu Yeaney scored the Wildcats' lone field goal of the fourth quarter to help put her team back on top. However, WSU freshman Charlisse Leger-Walker would make a layup to send the game into overtime.

It would not be the last time the Wildcats would allow Leger-Walker to get to the basket as she connected on a shot as time expired in overtime to secure the win for the Cougars.

There were many layers to UA's loss Sunday but it started with the team's inability to make shots in fourth quarter and overtime as well as keep the Washington State freshman from getting to the basket.

"She was kind of the difference-maker," Barnes said of the WSU freshman who has won the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award in three of the first six weeks of the season already. "She made the basket going into overtime then she made the game winner. Tough break, but it has to be a learning lesson for our team because we have to be able to maintain leads.

"... I thought we made some big shots down the stretch but not enough. I thought it was very physical. I thought there was a lot of missed calls going to the basket, but it was just the nature of a physical game on the road."

Outside of Arizona not being able to make shots down the stretch the Wildcats also lost one of their top defenders, Sam Thomas, before the final possession of regulation allowing the Cougars to be more aggressive and have an easier time getting to the basket in the final minutes.

Thomas, who poked away a pass on the defensive end just a few possessions earlier, fouled out with seven seconds to play putting UA at a disadvantage on the possession that eventually pushed the game into overtime.

A lot of fouls," Barnes said of how the game played out with Thomas' eventual absence on the last possession of the fourth quarter and in overtime. "I thought two very, very tough calls on Sam. Sam's a great defender. She's very disciplined, so I need to look at film to see where that is at but it doesn't come down to those two things. But, it affected us. Sam rarely fouls out of games and I felt like she was straight up on a lot of stuff, but that's how it goes on the road.

"... Without Sam in the game it hurts us."

Barnes went on to reiterate that her team wouldn't have been in the position to be playing in a one-possession game late if it had done a better job of holding onto its lead earlier in the game.

UA star guard Aari McDonald did what she could to help keep the Wildcats close as the senior finished with a game-high 23 points to go with 11 rebounds and seven assists, but even she struggled to get the ball in the basket in the fourth quarter as the entire team had a difficult time making shots down the stretch.

"I'll give credit to Washington State, they made some defensive adjustments in the second half," McDonald said. "We couldn't read it, we couldn't score and also shots wasn't falling."

UA will now prepare for another test as it heads back home to Tucson to face No. 11 Oregon on Thursday night at McKale Center.

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