AUBURN, Ala. (December 20, 2023) – Washington State women's basketball dropped its final non-conference game of the season Wednesday afternoon, falling to Auburn 69-62.

The Cougars (11-3, 0-1 Pac-12) shot an excellent 59.1 percent from the field in the first half as they led 32-26 at halftime. But the offense would go cold in the third quarter, and although WSU picked up offensively in the fourth by going 4-of-7 from deep, they eventually ran out of time.

Charlisse Leger-Walker finished a rebound shy of her second consecutive triple-double, with 12 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds to go along with three steals.

Astera Tuhina scored a team-high 15, going 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. She also tallied two rebounds, a steal and an assist.

Eleonora Villa was also in double-digit scoring with a 12-point, 3-rebound performance.

Jenna Villa went 2-of-3 on threes, finishing with eight points, three rebounds and a steal.

Bella Murekatete totaled six rebounds and two steals to go along with four points.

Alex Covill had three blocks, four points and two boards.

After E. Villa opened the scoring with a trey, teams traded blows to open the game. WSU led 10-9 midway through the first before a 7-2 spurt down the stretch helped put Cougars up 20-13 at the end of the first.

Auburn would tie things up at 26-26 in the second, but a Tuhina triple kept WSU in front, 29-26, with two minutes to play in the first half to lead to six unanswered and send the Cougars into halftime leading 32-26.

Out of the locker room, Auburn would storm back and move in front. With WSU down 40-36 midway through the third, five straight points from Leger-Walker put the Cougs back up 41-40 with 3:12 to go in third. Auburn wouldn't let up, though, going into the fourth with a 46-41 lead.

In the fourth, AU held onto a steady lead, but the Cougars kept themselves within striking distance. A Kyra Gardner three brought WSU back to within five, 50-45, midway through the fourth. Later, a Tuhina three and back-to-back buckets from J. Villa and Tuhina made it 60-54 with under three to play.

Tuhina connected for her third 3-pointer of the game with 1:07 remaining to pull WSU back to within five once again, 64-59, but the Cougars ran out of time as AU went on to win, 69-62.


INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Charlisse Leger-Walker

• Scored 12 points to push her career point total to 1,645, fourth all-time in WSU career scoring
• Four made field goals pushed her career total to 572, seventh-most in WSU history
• Played 40 minutes to push her career total to 3,563, fourth-most in WSU history, 398 minutes from breaking the school record

Bella Murekatete

• Grabbed six rebounds to push career rebound total to 843, fourth-most in WSU history and 57 away from breaking the school record
• Made career start number 123, second-most in WSU history and two starts from breaking the school record
• Was also game number 131, second-most in WSU history and five games away from breaking the school record

UP NEXT
The Cougars will return after the holiday break and settle into Pac-12 play with a trip to Stanford and California on Friday, Jan. 5 and Sunday, Jan. 7. Tipoff at Stanford is set for 7 p.m., before a 12 p.m. start at Cal.

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