PULLMAN, Wash. (January 21, 2024) – Washington State women's basketball used a big second half to beat Arizona, 78-57, Sunday afternoon.

The Cougars (14-5, 3-3 Pac-12) outscored Arizona in every quarter, including a 44-26 advantage in the second half, to earn their third-straight win.

As a team, WSU shot 43.1 percent from the field and 25 percent from beyond the arc, while combining for 19 assists compared to just six turnovers.

The team had five different players score in double-figures for the sixth time this season. Tara Wallack led the way with 20 points, while Bella Murekatete and Charlisse Leger-Walker each finished with double-doubles.

Wallack's 20 points was one shy of matching a career-high, and she also had four rebounds and a block.

Murekatete totaled 16 points, 11 rebounds and three steals, and Leger-Walker ended with 10 points, 11 assists, four boards and a steal.

Eleonora Villa and Jenna Villa each finished with 11 points. E. Villa also had four assists, and J. Villa added three rebounds and a block.

Beyonce Bea tallied six points and five boards, two assist and a steal.

A three from Wallack locked the game at 5-all early on, before Arizona pulled away to a 14-5 lead midway through the first.

The Cougars put up nine unanswered using a deep three from J. Villa, a mid-range shot from Murekatete and another Wallack trey to even the score at 14-14 with under two minutes left in the first quarter.

A layup from Leger-Walker and a pull-up jumper from E. Villa in the final seconds of the first quarter made it a 13-3 Cougar run, and sent them into the second with an 18-17 lead.

WSU extended their lead to 25-19 early in the second quarter on a fast break layup from Bea. Arizona battled back from there, though, taking a 28-27 lead with 4:30 to go in the first half. However, four Murekatete points and a Wallack layup in the final minutes helped the Cougars to 34-31 lead at halftime.

Out of the break, WSU quickly went back up by six with a 3-point play from Leger-Walker to make it 37-31. But the Wildcats kept the game tight, making it a one-point game again, 41-40, midway through the third.

After a Covill layup, a Murekatete 3-point play kick-started what would be an 11-2 spurt, giving the Cougars their first 10-point lead, 52-42, with 2:06 to go in third.

The offense kept its foot on the gas, and a J. Villa triple in final minute of the third sent WSU into the fourth, up 55-46.

Layups from Gardner and Leger-Walker kept the lead in double-digits, 59-48, before back-to-back 3-point plays from J. Villa and Wallack extended the lead to 65-48.

WSU played add-on from there, as five straight from Wallack stretched the lead to 20 points, 70-50. Down the stretch, an E. Villa layup and four points from Bea helped WSU coast to the 78-57 victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Charlisse Leger-Walker

• Scored 10 points to push her career point total to 1,720, third all-time in WSU career scoring
• Four made field goals pushed her career total to 598, fifth-most in WSU history
• One made three pushed her career total to 197, second-most in WSU history, 31 from breaking the school record
• 11 assists put her career total at 380, sixth-most in WSU history
• Played 36 minutes to push her career total to 3,736, third-most in WSU history, 225 minutes from breaking the school record

Bella Murekatete

• Played in game number 136, making her the all-time program leader in career games played
• Grabbed 11 rebounds to push career rebound total to 875, third-most in WSU history and 25 away from breaking the school record

Beyonce Bea

• Scored six points to push career point total to 2,044
• Grabbed five rebounds to extend career rebounds total to 977
• Appeared in her 130th career game

UP NEXT
The Cougars are back on the road again next weekend as the team heads South to take on USC on Friday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. before heading to UCLA for a matchup on Sunday, Jan. 28 at 1 p.m.

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