CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Washington State women's basketball opens a two-game weekend trip through the Beaver State this Friday, Jan. 13, as the Cougars make their first stop in Corvallis to take on Oregon State. Tip-off against OSU is set for 7 p.m. PT and will air live on the Pac-12 Network Washington.
WASHINGTON STATE (11-4, 1-3 Pac-12) at Oregon State (10-6, 2-3 Pac-12) | Friday, Jan. 13, 2023 | 7:00 p.m. PT | Gill Coliseum
Live Stats | Click Here
Watch | Pac-12 Network Washington (Ben Creighton and Jennifer Mountain)
Listen | Click Here (Steve Grubbs)
Game Notes | Click Here
Starting Five
>> Washington State heads to Corvallis with an 11-4 overall record and a 1-3 mark in Pac-12 Conference play. The Cougars are coming off a 66-52 win over Washington this past Sunday, Jan. 8, at Beasley Coliseum. The Cougars had two players put up a 20-point performance in the victory over the Huskies, as junior Charlisse Leger-Walker led all scorers with 26 points, while senior Bella Murekatete recorded 20 points.
>> WSU comes into Friday's matchup against Oregon State looking for its fourth-straight win over the Beavers. The last time WSU won four-straight games over OSU came between the 1975-1978 seasons. The Cougars are 3-4 against OSU under Head Coach Kamie Ethridge.
>> Friday's matchup will be the 93rd meeting between Washington State and Oregon State. It is the second-longest-running annual series for the Cougars against one team, as the first game was played back on Feb. 7, 1975. The Beavers hold the all-time series lead at 59-33, though Washington State has each of the last three games. The last time the two met in Corvallis, the Cougs walked out of Gill Coliseum with a 77-75 double-overtime victory.
>> Junior Charlisse Leger-Walker enters the weekend as the Pac-12's leading scorer at 21.5 points per game. The guard from Waikato, New Zealand has been even more impressive in Conference play, as Leger-Walker is averaging a league-best 33.0 points per contest in Pac-12 games this season.
>> The Cougars have proven to be battle-tested on the road this season, as Washington State is 4-1 in true road contests. WSU will be seeking its third-straight road win this Friday at Oregon State after picking up victories at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and at Houston prior to the holiday break.
Game Coverage
Fans can watch Friday's game on the Pac-12 Network Washington with Jennifer Mountain and Ben Creighton on the call. Fans can listen to Steve Grubbs call all the action locally on 1150 AM or on WSUCougars.com.
Another 20-Point Performance
Junior Charlisse Leger-Walker's 26-point effort against Washington marked her 31st game with 20 or more points during her collegiate career. Since the start of the 2020-21 season, no Pac-12 player has had more 20-point games than Leger-Walker.
Logging the Minutes
Fifth-year senior Ula Motuga recently entered the program's top-10 list for minutes played. Motuga has logged 3,268 minutes through her 116 games played at WSU, which is the seventh-most minutes played in program history.
She's Not Only a Scorer
Charlisse Leger-Walker's scoring totals usually get the headlines, but the guard is also second in the Pac-12 in assists per game at 4.5 helpers per game. Leger-Walker is only one of two Power 5 players to rank inside the top two of their conference in both scoring and assists per game (Caitlin Clark; Iowa).
NET Ranking
Washington State heads into this weekend's slate of Pac-12 games with a NET ranking of 46. The NET is an evaluation tool used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to help determine at-large bids and seeding.
This Girl Is On Fire
Junior Charlisse Leger-Walker has shot 50 percent or better from the floor in six of her last seven games. The guard is shooting a blistering 52.3 percent from the floor during the stretch. Leger-Walker's 49.2 shooting percentage on the year ranks 85th in NCAA Division I.
Ethridge is Collecting the Wins
Washington State Women's Basketball Head Coach Kamie Ethridge recently passed Sue Durrant for the most wins by a WSU women's basketball head coach through their first five years at the helm, as Ethridge has won 62 games. Ethridge's .477 winning percentage is the second-best in WSU women's basketball history, only trailing Durrant's .575 winning percentage set from 1972-82.
Scouting the Beavers
Oregon State comes into the weekend sporting a 10-6 overall record and is 2-3 in Pac-12 play. The Beavers are coming off a 69-59 win at Arizona State this past Sunday. OSU enters the weekend with a NET ranking of 55.
Sophomore Talia von Oelhoffen leads the Beavers in scoring at 15.9 points per game. Freshman Raegan Beers, who is the reigning two-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, follows von Oelhoffen at 15.5 points per game. The 6-4 freshman also leads Oregon State in rebounds at 8.9 rebounds per game.
As a team, Oregon State is averaging 72.2 points per game, while shooting 42.8 percent from the floor. The Beavers have hit just 29 percent of their shots from behind the arc. OSU is allowing 64.0 points per game to the opposition. Teams are shooting 36.2 percent from the floor and 31.6 percent on 3-point attempts.
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