MISSOULA, Mont. (November 14, 2023) – Senior center Bella Murekatete matched a career-high with 22 points and recorded a double-double with 11 rebounds to lead No. 24 Washington State in a 61-49 victory at Montana Tuesday.
 
The Cougars improved to 4-0 for the third time under sixth-year Head Coach Kamie Ethridge after another impressive defensive performance, blocking nine shots, recording 10 steals, forcing 19 turnovers and held the Lady Grizzlies to 33 percent shooting.
 
Senior guard Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 19 points, recorded four steals and blocked two shots while freshman guard Eleonora Villa added 10 points and graduate transfer forward Beyonce Bea grabbed eight rebounds. Missoula native and freshman center Alex Covill blocked five shots, tying the WSU freshman single-game record for blocks (Bianca Blanaru, 11/16/14).
 
"We played a really good 40 minutes tonight, I'm really proud of our performance tonight, we executed the game plan, had great bench energy and handled a tough rough trip very well. Good team win tonight," Ethridge said. "Bella was the difference maker tonight, we were able to throw to her down low and was able to get good looks all game. We aren't where we want to be offensively but our defensive effort was amazing. Bella was a post presence, she rebounded and attacked offensively.
 
We had a great game plan, made some nice adjustments and I thought Alex (Covill) had a great game, really helped us, got some rebounds, blocked five shots. We asked our bigs to do a lot tonight and it shows our versatility on defense."
 
WSU turned a 30-25 halftime advantage into a double-digit lead with a 21-10 third quarter before holding Montana to 33 percent shooting in the fourth to notch its first win in Missoula since 1979, snapping a 13-game road skid in the series.  
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Charlisse Leger-Walker

• Scored 19 points to push her career point total to 1,522, four away from Jenni Ruff for fifth in WSU career scoring
• Made one 3-pointer to push her career total to 180, second-most in WSU history (227, Alexys Swedlund)

 
Bella Murekatete

• Matched a career-high with 22 points (San Jose State, 11/9/21)
• 58^th career double-digit scoring game, seventh career 20-point effort
• 14^th career double, first this season, 18^th career game with double-digit rebounds
• Matched career-high with 3 assists
• Made career start No. 113, 4^th-most in WSU history
• Blocked one shot to push career total to 154, third-most in WSU history and four away from Carly Noyes' school record of 158

 
Beyonce Bea

• Scored four points and grabbed eight rebounds
• Pushed career point total to 1,967 and career rebounds to 919, appeared in her 120^th career game

 
Eleonora Villa

• Scored 10 points, third double-digit scoring effort in first four career games

 
UP NEXT
WSU begins a four-game road trip with a Sunday afternoon contest at Prairie View A&M with tipoff set for 6 p.m. (PT) on ESPN+. Following the game, the Cougars will head to Mexico for the Cancun Challenge over the Thanksgiving Holiday.