PULLMAN, Wash. (November 6, 2023) – No. 24 Washington State Women's Basketball had five players score in double figures in a season-opening 78-61 victory over Cal Poly at Beasley Coliseum Monday evening.
 
The Cougars, coming off their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance and first Pac-12 Conference Tournament Championship, used a 23-9 third quarter to erase a three-point halftime deficit. WSU shot over 60 percent from the floor in the second half as center Bella Murekatete scored 14 of her game-high 18 points in the final two quarters. Washington State combined for 10 blocks, tied for the fifth-most in WSU single-game history and most since blocking 11 shots against California in January of 2020.
 
Freshman guard Jenna Villa, the 2023 Washington State Player of the Year, hit four three-pointers in her collegiate debut, Idaho graduate transfer forward Beyonce Bea scored 11 points, grabbed nine rebounds and matched a career high with five blocks. Guards Tara Wallack and Astera Tuhina added 11 and 10 points, respectively, while All-American guard Charlisse Leger-Walker added nine assists, eight rebounds and three steals. Murekatete added seven rebounds, two blocks and was 7-of-10 from the field.
 
Cal Poly shot over 48 percent from the field including five 3-pointers in the first half to take a 34-31 lead but WSU shot over 56 percent highlighted by an 11-0 run in the 23-point third quarter to take a 54-43 lead. The Cougars closed out their fifth-straight season-opening victory with a 24-18 advantage in the fourth quarter led by Murekatete's 11 points and a WSU defense that held the Mustangs to 31 percent shooting in the final ten minutes.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Murekatete made her 110^th career start, breaking a tie with Dawnyelle Awa and matching Katie Appleton for the fourth-most starts in WSU history; her seven rebounds pushed her career total to 735, breaking a tie with Jazmine Perkins for fourth-most in WSU history and her two blocks pushed her career total to 151, third-most in WSU history
 
Bea matched a career-high with five blocks (Montana, 12/32/22), recorded her 98^th career double-digit scoring effort and pushed her career point total to 1,949
 
Tuhina made a career-high three 3-pointers, finished with 10 points and five rebounds
 
Leger-Walker's nine assists were one off a career-high (10, at Colorado, 1/3/21), her six points pushed her career point total to 1,471 points, ninth-most in WSU history, her one 3-pointer pushed her career total to 178, second-most in WSU history
 
UP NEXT
WSU continues its season-opening three-game homestand Thursday against Gonzaga at 7 p.m.
 

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