PULLMAN, Wash. (December 10, 2023) – Washington State women's basketball had a big second half, outscoring Washington 38-23 to draw back to within a possession in the final minutes, but fell 60-55 Sunday afternoon.

The Cougars (10-2, 0-1 Pac-12) shot 50 percent from the field in the final three quarters after a difficult first, and forced 14 turnovers on the Huskies that turned into 16 points on the floor.

Bella Murekatete led the offense with 19 points, going 8-of-16 from the field while adding six rebounds and three steals.

Charlisse Leger-Walker pitched in 11 points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Eleonora Villa also hit double-digits in the scoring column with 10 points.

In her season debut, Jessica Clarke finished with seven points and two rebounds, and Beyonce Bea and Tara Wallack each recorded five rebounds.

Both teams showed tight defense to start, as the game was locked at 2-2 five minutes into the game.

UW would extend out to a lead from there before a Clarke 3-point play and a jumper from E. Villa made it 15-9 with 6:23 to go in the second quarter.

Buckets from E. Villa and Murekatete in the final minutes of the first half sent the game into halftime with WSU trailing 37-17.

Out of the locker room, the Cougars rattled off a 6-0 spurt on a 3-point play from Murekatete and a trey by E. Villa to draw the game to 37-23 with 7:08 left in the third.

Minutes later, a Wallack layup and four free throws from Leger-Walker made it 41-29 before another E. Villa three made it a 10-point game, 42-32 with 1:19 left in the third.

The Cougs continued to claw back as the game entered its final quarter and a Wallack layup drew WSU back to within single digits, 46-37.

As time ticked down, Tuhina connected on a pullup jumper, and then another 3-point play from Murekatete put the score at 57-53 with 1:20 remaining.

Leger-Walker followed that up with a layup to make it a one-possession game with 34 seconds to play, 57-55, but WSU would run out of time as UW made their free throws to seal the game at 60-55.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Charlisse Leger-Walker

• Scored 11 points to push her career point total to 1,618, fourth all-time in WSU career scoring
• Three made field goals pushed her career total to 561, seventh-most in WSU history
• Played 37 minutes to push her career total to 3,489, fourth-most in WSU history, 472 minutes from breaking the school record

Bella Murekatete

• Grabbed six rebounds to push career rebound total to 823, fourth-most in WSU history and 77 away from breaking the school record
• Made career start number 121, second-most in WSU history and four starts from breaking the school record
• Was also game number 129, tied for second-most in WSU history and seven games away from breaking the school record

Beyonce Bea

• Grabbed five rebounds to extend her career rebound total to 949.
• Appeared in her 125th game.

UP NEXT
The Cougars have a bit of a break before returning to the court on Sunday, Dec. 17 when they host Houston at 2 p.m. in Beasley Coliseum.

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For more information on the Washington State women's basketball team, follow @WSUCougarWBB on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.