Chanelle Molina took the court against No. 18 Arizona State on Friday looking to lead her Washington State team to another upset win over a ranked opponent. However, the Cougars’ hopes faded midway through fourth quarter when the Konawaena grad fell to the floor in obvious pain after a drive to the basket.
Washington State struggled to find a rhythm in the game, especially after another freshman from Hawaii, Cameron Fernandez, of Lahainaluna, suffered an injury in the opening quarter. That injury caused a 30 minute delay in the game and ruined any momentum the Cougars had built up.
However, Washington State was still in the game at half time, trailing by only one point. At the end of the third quarter, the Cougars were down 49-42
In the fourth, Molina tried to will her team to victory but was fouled on a play in the paint, causing the her to land awkwardly. News of the severity of the injury was unknown at press time. The only information provided was that it was a left knee injury.
Washington State went on to lose the game, 68-49, breaking a three-game winning streak.
The two injuries add to the already injury-cursed season for Washington State. The team’s top two threats, Borislava Hristova and Louise Brown were injured earlier in the year.
Prior to the fourth quarter play that injured Molina, she had scored 13 points to record her 12th straight double-digit performance.
From the first time she stepped on the floor as a college player, Molina let it be known to her competition that she had earned her five star recruiting status.
The three-time BIIF Player of the Year made an impact early and earned a starting role on the team despite her freshman status.
Her coach and teammates at Washington State, where Molina became the program’s first five-star recruit, didn’t have to wait long to find out what the Big Island athlete could do against elite competition. Molina dropped 33 points on a then No. 7 ranked UCLA squad in a Washington State 82-73 victory on Jan. 6.
The victory was the biggest upset win in Cougar women’s basketball history and the 33 points tied Molina with another Konawaena grad, Lia Galdeira, for the most points by a freshman in school history.
Molina used a game against Oregon the following week as a warm-up for the Bruins, scoring 20 points in a dominating 75-59 victory to help snap the team’s six game losing streak.
In the follow up game two days after Washington State’s victory over UCLA, Molina netted 14 second half points in a win over Southern California.
The win over USC gave the Cougars their first sweep of the LA based schools since the 1994-95 season. Molina made 70.4 percent of her shots over the two games, with a 10-4 assists/turnover ratio.
Her performance against USC and UCLA netted her the school’s first U.S. Basketball Writers Association Women’s Freshman of the Week honor.
The USBWA began selecting freshman of the week three years ago, and the win came shortly after Molina received her second consecutive Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honor.
For the season, Molina has started all 17 games, averaging 12.8 points and 25.3 minutes per game, while making 52 percent of her shots from the floor and 43 percent from 3-point range.
