BERKELEY, Calif. (January 7, 2024) – Washington State women's basketball took Cal to overtime in a game that saw 12 lead changes and six ties, but fell 73-72 at Haas Pavilion Sunday afternoon.

The Cougars (11-5, 0-3 Pac-12) shot lights-out in the second and third quarters, combining for nearly 58 percent from the field over the two periods.

Charlisse Leger-Walker led the team with 20 points to go along with three rebounds, two assists and a block.

Bella Murekatete filled up the box score with 12 points, eight rebounds, two steals, a block and two assists.

Eleonora Villa finished with nine points, three assists, two rebounds and a steal.

Jessica Clarke recorded a career-high three blocks to go with four points and four boards.

Tara Wallack had seven rebounds, five assists, four points, two steals and a block.

Beyonce Bea tallied 11 points and Jenna Villa scored seven.

After teams traded buckets early in the first, the Cougar offense went cold for a stretch as they trailed 16-9 at the end of the quarter.

The offense dug in from there, though, as scores from Bea, Murekatete and E. Villa drew WSU to within five, 20-15. Teams started trading blows and a Covill hook and Gardner trey made it a one possession game midway through the second, 24-22.

Later down 31-22, a Bea layup and J. Villa three cut into the Cal lead before a 7-0 scoring run brought the Cougs to within one possession entering halftime, 35-32.

More back-and-forth play continued out of the break before layups from Leger-Walker and E. Villa gave WSU its first lead of the game, 41-40. That led to an 11-0 spurt after some free throws to put the Cougars ahead 46-40 as time ticked under four to play in the third.

As the third quarter came to an end, WSU held a 54-53 advantage with both teams heating up. Into the fourth, Bea and Murekatete put up shots, helping the Cougars stay ahead, 58-57, before Cal moved back on top 60-58 with 6:02 to go.

Teams began trading blows down the stretch, as back-to-back pull-up jumpers from Leger-Walker and J. Villa helped WSU re-take a lead, 62-60, with 3:47 remaining.

Tied 62-62 entering final minute of play, a Cal three put them ahead 65-62, but a deep triple from Leger-Walker evened the game up in the final seconds and sent everyone into overtime.

The back-and-forth affair continued into overtime, as the period saw eight lead changes with neither team leading by more than a point.

Leger-Walker and Clarke free throws kept WSU rolling until Cal moved back ahead 71-70 with 1:37 to play. Leger-Walker sank a jumper to make it 72-71 in favor of the Cougs, late. But in the closing seconds, a Cal second-chance layup gave them the edge, 73-72, which would hold as time expired.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Charlisse Leger-Walker

• Scored 20 points to push her career point total to 1,687, fourth all-time in WSU career scoring
• Six made field goals pushed her career total to 586, fifth-most in WSU history
• One made three pushed her career total to 194, second-most in WSU history, 34 from breaking the school record
• Played 30 minutes to push her career total to 3,629, fourth-most in WSU history, 332 minutes from breaking the school record
• Played and started in her 100th career collegiate game.

Bella Murekatete

• Grabbed eight rebounds to push career rebound total to 852, fourth-most in WSU history and 48 away from breaking the school record
• Broke the program record with career start number 125, surpassing Borislava Hristova who started 124 games from 2015-20.
• Was also game number 133, second-most in WSU history and three games away from breaking the school record

UP NEXT
The Cougars are back on the road again next weekend as the team heads to Seattle to play Washington on Sunday, Jan. 14. Tip-off in this Boeing Apple Cup matchup is set for 12 p.m. PT and will air live on the Pac-12 Network.

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