LOS ANGELES – The No. 25-ranked Washington State women's team forced overtime for the third-consecutive game, but came up short at No. 8/8 UCLA on Sunday, Jan. 17, as the Cougars fell to the Bruins in overtime, 68-66, at Pauley Pavilion.
The Cougs trailed by 13 points heading into the fourth quarter of Sunday's contest. WSU opened the final frame of regulation by scoring 13-consecutive points to pull even with UCLA at 48-all. Redshirt senior Krystal Leger-Walker made the game-tying basket with 2:00 remaining, while her sister freshman Charlisse Leger-Walker gave the Cougars their first lead of the game at 50-49 lead with 1:21 on the clock. UCLA responded with four-straight points to take a 53-50 lead with two seconds remaining on the clock in regulation.
UCLA elected to foul the younger Leger-Walker sister, preventing the Cougs from taking a game-tying shot. Charlisse made her first free throw to pull WSU within two points, but the strategic maneuver backfired for the Bruins, as she intentionally missed her second free throw attempt. Her older sister Krystal took the perfect angle to get in position to grab the rebound and tip the ball back into the basket right as time was expiring to force overtime for the third-straight game for WSU.
Both teams traded 3-point field goals to begin the extra stanza, before Washington State took a 60-58 lead after a Charlisse Leger-Walker jumper with 3:05 remaining in the game. UCLA would reclaim the lead at the 2:06 mark of overtime with a 3-point field goal from Charisma Osborne, but the resilient Cougs punched back with another jumper from the younger Leger-Walker to give WSU a 62-61 advantage with less than a minute remaining. The Bruins turned to Osborne again, and she converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play on the ensuing possession to give her team back a two-point lead with 0:45 remaining.
Washington State would go cold in the final minute of play, as they were unable to breakthrough with a game-tying bucket, as UCLA converted all four of their free throw attempts down the stretch to take a 68-63 lead. WSU would get a 3-point field goal from sophomore Johanna Teder, but there was not enough time left on the clock for the Cougars to earn another possession, as they fell by two points at Pauley Pavilion.
The loss drops the No. 25-ranked Cougars to 7-3 on the year and 5-3 in Pac-12 Conference play, as they end their weekend in Los Angeles with back-to-back overtime losses. Meanwhile, No. 8/8 UCLA improves to 8-2 on the year and to moves to 6-2 in league games, taking sole-possession of third place in the Pac-12 standings.
Charlisse Leger-Walker led the Cougars in scoring for the third-consecutive game with 18 points against the Bruins. Leger-Walker's 18-point performance extended her double-digit scoring streak to 10 games, which matches Borislava Hristova's freshman record of 10-straight games with 10-or-more points to begin her WSU career. Once again, the younger Leger-Walker sister was clutch down the stretch for Washington State, as she scored 10 of her team-high 18 points in the fourth quarter and overtime combined.
Sophomore Bella Murekatete provided a huge spark for WSU in the post, as she recorded her second career double-double with a 16-rebound, 14-point performance against UCLA. The Butare Huye, Rwanda native shot a blistering 60% (6-of-10) from the field and added a career-best five blocks in 30 minutes of action on Sunday. Murekatete's 16 rebounds is a new career-high for the center, while it is the most caroms a Cougar has pulled down this season. Murekatete's effort on the glass helped WSU post a 47-42 edge in rebounds over the Bruins, while the Cougars outscored UCLA in the paint, 34-22.
The elder Leger-Walker sister rounded out WSU's trio of double-digit scorers with 14 points. The guard also dished out a game-high four assists. As a team, Washington State hit 40.9% (27-66) from the field, while limiting UCLA to 31.4% (22-70) from the field. WSU was outscored at the free throw line, 18-6, as UCLA went a perfect 7-of-7 at the charity strip in overtime to hold on against the Cougs.
No. 25 Washington State continues its season-long four-game road trip next weekend, as the Cougars head to the Beaver State to take on Oregon next Friday, Jan. 22. Tip-off from Eugene is set for 5 p.m. PT and will air live on Pac-12 Washington.
COUG QUOTES
Coach Ethridge on Today's Result: "It's never that fun to come this close and lose. We've had a lot of these games where we dig ourselves into a hole. We don't quite believe yet that we're as good as (the teams) we're playing. I thought we gave them too much credit in the first half. We didn't handle their pressure well enough and didn't even try to run some of our stuff, and that's on me. I continued to be amazed at this team's resilience, fight and playmaking ability to keep the game close. They defend at such a high level; we're staying in games because we're guarding really well. This was an exciting basketball game and it was good to be a part of it."
COUG NOTES
- The Cougs forced overtime at Pauley Pavilion for the first time in program history on Sunday.
- With her 18-point performance, Charlisse Leger-Walker ties Borislava Hristova for longest double-digit scoring streak to begin a WSU career. Leger-Walker has now recorded 10-or-more points in 10-straight games.
- Sophomore Bella Murekatete's 16-boards against UCLA sets a new personal-best for the center. The 16 rebounds are the most pulled down by a Cougar this season.
- Murekatete's recorded her second career double-double with 16 rebounds and 14 points against UCLA. Her first career double-double came on Dec. 15, 2019 with a 15-point, 13-rebound effort against UC Irvine.
- The 16-rebounds performance against UCLA marks Bella Murekatete's third career game with double-digit caroms. Her last double-figure rebounding game also came against the Bruins, as she pulled down 10 boards against them on Feb. 21, 2020.
- Redshirt senior Krystal Leger-Walker extended her double-digit scoring streak to five games with her 14-point effort against the Bruins. It is also her sixth game this season with double-figure points, while it is her 29th career game with 10-or-more points.
- Krystal Leger-Walker hit a team-high three 3-point field goals on Sunday, she has now hit at least one 3-pointer in each of her last eight games.
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