CANCUN, MEXICO (November 24, 2023) – No. 23 Washington State women's basketball moved past UMass 90-48 Friday morning in another big win.

The Cougars spread the offense around with nine different scorers and five in double-figures as the team improved to 7-0, continuing their best start since the 1978-79 season when the team opened the year 10-0.

Senior Center Bella Murekatete tallied 13 points, going 5-of-6 from the field to go along with four rebounds and an assist.

Senior guard Charlisse Leger-Walker came a rebound shy of another double-double, finishing with 11 points, nine rebounds and two assists.

Eleonora Villa led the team in scoring with 15 points, making 6-of-8 shots from the floor, and added five assists.

Beyonce Bea reached the 2,000-point total for her career, using nine first-half points to finish with 11 on the day while grabbing four boards.

Alex Covill was also in double-digit scoring with 12 points to go along with five rebounds and two assists.

Astera Tuhina dished out a career-high 10 assists and Cia Eklöf recorded her first collegiate points as she finished with eight.

The Cougs shot over 60 percent in the first and fourth quarters to put them at 54 percent from the field as a team. They went 39 percent from deep and 85 percent from the charity stripe. They out-rebounded UMass 42 to 28 totaled a season-high 27 assists.

After going back-and-forth to open the first quarter, the Cougars rattled off 18 scoreless to hold a 24-11 lead at the end of one quarter. WSU continued to separate in the second before holding a 48-24 lead at halftime. The Cougs outscored the Minutewomen 14-6 in the third and 28-18 in the fourth to secure the 90-48 win.


INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Charlisse Leger-Walker

• Scored 11 points to push her career point total to 1,561, fourth all-time in WSU career scoring
• Made one 3-pointer to push her career total to 184, second-most in WSU history (227, Alexys Swedlund)
• Four made field goals push her career total to 540, eighth-most in WSU history
• Played 21 minutes to push her career total to 3,320, seventh-most in WSU history

Bella Murekatete

• Grabbed four rebounds to push career rebound total to 779, fourth-most in WSU history
• Made career start No. 116, third-most in WSU history
• Blocked one shot to push career total to 160, extending her program lead in career blocks

Beyonce Bea

• Scored 11 points to push her career point total to 2,000, becoming one of nine active scorers in Division I to have 2,000+ points
• Grabbed four rebounds to extend her career rebound total to 938
• Appeared in her 123rd career game

UP NEXT
WSU will play Green Bay in their Cancun Challenge finale on Saturday morning, tipping off at 10:30 a.m. PT from the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya.