PHILADELPHIA – Washington State's historic 2022-23 season came to an end in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, as the No. 5-seeded Cougars fell to No., 12-seeded Florida Gulf Coast, 74-63, at Finneran Pavilion on the campus of Villanova.
The Cougars, who are ranked No. 23 in the Associated Press Poll, ran into a hot-shooting Florida Gulf Coast squad that is currently ranked No. 22 in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll. The Eagles shot 55.6 percent from the floor against Washington State. The Cougs had trouble keeping a smaller FGCU squad from penetrating toward the hoop, as Florida Gulf Coast outscored WSU 50-26 in points in the paint.
Washington State ends its third-straight season in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Despite the loss, the Cougs still have a lot to celebrate this season. This season's WSU women's basketball squad became the first female sports team in school history to win a Pac-12 Conference title. Washington State was a No. 7 seed at the 2023 Pac-12 Tournament two weeks ago in Las Vegas and won four games in five days to become the lowest-seeded team ever to win the Pac-12 Tournament.
The Cougars conclude the 2022-23 season with a 23-11 overall record. The 23 wins for WSU this season set the school record for most wins in a season. It is just the second time in program history that Washington State has won 20 or more games in a season.
Sophomore Tara Wallack became the second Cougar in program history to collect a double-double in an NCAA Tournament game, as the South Surrey, Canada native scored a team-high 16 points and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds. Wallack was one of three WSU players to score double-digit points against Florida Gulf Coast, as she was joined by senior Johanna Teder, who chipped in 11 points, and senior Bella Murekatete tallied 10 points. The Cougar shot 38.9 percent from the field against FGCU and made more 3-point shots than the NCAA's top 3-point shooting team, as WSU hit seven 3-pointers and held the Eagles to five 3-point makes which matches a season-low performance from behind the arc for Florida Gulf Coast.
Washington State got off to a hot start, as the Cougs jumped out to a 9-2 advantage less than three minutes into the game. Florida Gulf Coast responded with a 13-0 run to take a six-point lead at 15-9 with 3:20 left to play in the opening quarter. WSU opened the second quarter trailing FGCU, 17-13, but went on a 10-4 run to start the stanza to reclaim a 23-21 advantage after a 3-pointer from freshman Astera Tuhina with 7:06 left in the second. Washington State's lead would grow to five points at 28-23 after senior Grace Sarver made a layup right before the media break. After the two teams traded blows, the Eagles closed out the second by scoring four-straight points to cut Washington State's lead to 32-21 at the break.
Florida Gulf Coast opened the floodgates in the third quarter, as the Eagles outscored the Cougars 30-16 in the frame to take a 13-point lead at 61-48. FGCU took a game-high 16-point lead early in the fourth quarter and maintained a double-digit advantage for the remainder of the game, as Florida Gulf Coast advances to the second round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament with a 74-63 win over WSU.
For more information on the Washington State women's basketball team, follow @WSUCougarWBB on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.
WSU Women's Basketball Head Coach Kamie Ethridge on the Result
"I want to congratulate Florida Gulf Coast and its staff. It is just an amazing program, this isn't a one-off, this is what they do every year. They win 30 games a season and comes into the NCAA Tournament under-seeded and ready to go. For the game, I felt like we didn't quite get a handle on how to guard them. I felt like we made enough mistakes in the first half and I really thought we would clean it up at the half, then that third quarter just really put us under a little bit. It's a credit to them and their style of play and toughness. We just couldn't quite match them. We didn't guard them well enough to give ourselves a chance to win today."
Cougs Notes
- Washington State ends the 2022-23 season with a school record of 23 wins. It broke a 44-year-long program record of 21 wins set by the 1978-79 team.
- The Cougs move to 0-4 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
- Washington State has gone to the NCAA Tournament in three-straight seasons after going 30 seasons between its first and second March Madness appearance.
- Sophomore Tara Wallack collects her third career double-double with a 16-point, 12-rebound performance.
- Wallack joins Darci Wellsandt (1991) as the only Cougs to collect a double-double in an NCAA Tournament game. Wellsandt scored 17 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in the 1991 NCAA Tournament game against Northwestern.
- Wallack's 12-rebound performance set a program record for most rebounds collected by a Coug in an NCAA Tournament game. While her 16 points against FGCU ties Wallack with Johanna Teder for the fourth-most points scored in an NCAA Tournament contest.
- Wallack also becomes the third Coug to pull down double-digit rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game, she joins Wellsandt and Ula Motuga, who grabbed 11 rebounds against Kansas State.
