LAS VEGAS – The Washington State women's basketball team scored the biggest win in program history, as the Cougars knocked off No. 3/4-ranked Utah, 66-58, in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Pac-12 Women's Basketball Tournament to advance to Pac-12 Semifinals for the third time in program history.
WSU held an 11-point lead at 60-49 with 3:42 left in the fourth quarter after a layup from senior Bella Murekatete. Utah, who is the No. 2 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament, pulled to within three points of the Cougs at 61-58 with 39 seconds left in the game. That set the stage for junior Charlisse Leger-Walker to hit one of the biggest shots in program history, as she sank a contested 3-pointer from nearly 27 feet out with the shot clock expiring to give the Cougars a 64-58 lead with eight seconds remaining. The Coug defense held strong on Utah's final possession and then added a pair of free throws to collect an eight-point win over the co-regular season Pac-12 Conference Champions.
With the victory, Washington State improved to 21-10 on the year. The 21 wins match the 1978-79 team for the school record for most wins in a season. The 21 wins also set a program record for most wins in a single season in the NCAA era (post-1982).
Washington State had a trio of players score double digits against the Utes in the quarterfinal win. Murekatete paced the Cougars with a 19-point performance, while Leger-Walker added 15 points, as she hit a game-high four 3-point field goals. Fifth-year senior Ula Motuga rose to the occasion in the Pac-12 Quarterfinals, as the Logan, Australia native registered 13 points while hitting three 3-pointers of her own.
WSU sank eight shots from behind the arc against the Utes, while the Cougars held the conference's top 3-point shooting team to just five 3-point field goals. Wazzu shot 45.1 percent against the Utes and held the highest-scoring team in the Pac-12 to a season-low 58 points.
The Cougars advance to the Final Four of the Pac-12 Tournament for the third time in program history, where they will take on No. 3-seed Colorado. WSU previously played in the Pac-12 Tournament Semifinals in 2012 and 2014. The Cougars also collected their seventh win at the Pac-12 Tournament as a No. 7 seed, as WSU is now 7-4 all-time from that spot at the Pac-12 Women's Basketball Tournament.
Head Coach Kamie Ethridge on the Win
"Well, I just want to say congrats to Lynne and her staff and her team. I think they are so well deserved for Coach of the Year in our league and clearly maybe even National Coach of the Year. They have just done a phenomenal job. Lynne came and saw me again after the game and just really gracious of her and complimentary of our team. So it just speaks a lot about her and the kind of program she runs. So really just want to -- I think we played a perfect defensive game against a great team and maybe it takes three times to really nail it down. But we guarded them, we gave ourselves a chance to win, and then we just had some really special players step up and give us a cushion with some big, big big-time 3-point shots. So really a phenomenal night for our program and really proud of these two and everyone involved in our program."
