GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico — Former Konawaena star Lia Galdeira scored 33 points to match her career high and help Washington State upset No. 10 Maryland 70-64 on Saturday at the San Juan Shootout. The Cougars had lost to Michigan in the opener of the tournament.
“It was a great team win over a really good team,” the junior guard from Waimea said. “We had great ball movement. Our defense effort was probably the best we’ve played since I’ve been here and that was huge for us.”
Galdeira went 12 for 21 from the floor, including three 3-pointers, and was 6 of 10 at the free-throw line. She grabbed five rebounds.
Fellow Wildcats graduate, junior guard Dawnyelle Awa, dished out a game-high six assists and contributed seven points.
Washington State coach June Daugherty was thrilled how her team bounced back from a tough loss by beating a top 10 team.
“Really proud of our team today,” Daugherty said. “We didn’t play our best basketball against Michigan … but we really showed some toughness and how talented our team is with how well we played defensively against one of the best team in the country.”
Leading 33-31 early in the second half, the Cougars (5-2) went on a 10-2 run to take command. Galdeira had six points during the burst that made it 43-33 with 14:52 left.
Lauren Mincy’s layup with 2:27 left brought the Terrapins (6-1) to 59-55, but the Cougars hit seven of their next eight free throws to seal the win.
“They played a near perfect game,” said Brionna Jones, who led Maryland with a career-high 23 points. “They came out ready to play and they had an answer for everything we threw at them and they wanted it a little bit more than we did.”
The Terrapins jumped out to a 14-6 lead before the Cougars got going and led 31-27 at the half.
“I thought Washington State played a flawless game and they competed hard for 40 minutes,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. “They had an answer for everything we threw at them and they wanted it a little bit more than we did.”