SAN JUAN, P.R. (November 28, 2024) – Washington State women's basketball won their opening game at the Discover Puerto Rico Shootout, 68-60 over Norfolk State Thursday night.

The Cougars (3-3, 0-0 WCC) shot 46.2 percent from the field and had three score in double-figures.

Tara Wallack had a career game with a game-high 22 points and a career-high seven blocks to go with eight rebounds, four assists and a steal.

Dayana Mendes recorded her first-career double-double with 16 points and a team-best 10 rebounds.

Eleonora Villa finished with 12 points, three assists, three boards and a block, while Astera Tuhina had seven points, five rebounds and three assists.

Charlotte Abraham chipped in with six points, and a steal, and Jenna Villa dished out five assists to go with three rebounds, three points and a steal.

A trio of threes from Abraham, Tuhina and Jenna Villa kept things tied 9-9 with NSU in the early goings of a close first quarter, before layups from Mendes and Wallack had WSU trailing by just one, 16-15, going into the second.

Wallack nailed a three early in the second to put the Cougs ahead 18-17 before another pair of layups from Mendes and Wallack extended the WSU lead to 24-19. That turned into what would be a 10-0 Cougar run with eight points from Mendes to give Wazzu a 28-19 lead with 3:28 to play in the first half. NSU worked back to within a possession, but the Cougs still held a 29-28 lead at halftime.

Teams continued to trade blows out of the locker room as a Wallack layup and a trey from Eleonora Villa made it a 37-35 Cougar lead midway through the third. Then layups from Mendes and Villa put the lead at 47-44 before an NSU three tied the score at 47-47 as the game entered it's final period.

Big threes from Eleonora Villa and Wallack to start the fourth quarter extended Washington State's lead to 55-49 with six minutes to play. As time ticked down, a pair of buckets from Kpetikou and Villa further stretched the lead to 59-51. NSU would get back to within four, but the Cougs outscored them 9-5 the rest of the way behind makes from Tuhina, Abraham, Wallack and Eleonora Villa to seal the 68-60 victory.

RECORD BOOK CLIMBERS AND MILESTONE CHASERS
•    Tara Wallack's 22 points puts her at 933 for her career, 67 points away from 1,000.
•    Wallack's eight rebounds gives her 475 for her career, 25 away from 500.
•    Wallack's seven blocks gives her 118 career blocks, sixth all-time at WSU.
•    Wallack's 34 minutes played puts her over 3,000 for her career, now sitting at 3,031 minutes played.
•    Astera Tuhina's three assists put her at 194 for her career, six assists away from 200.
•    With the win, Head Coach Kamie Ethridge has 98 wins at WSU, two away from 100.
•    Coach Ethridge now also has 181 career wins as a head coach, 19 from 200.

NOTES
•    Tara Wallack's seven blocks is the most by a Cougar since Nike McClure against Arizona on Feb. 17, 2017.
•    Dayana Mendes records her first career double-double in her fourth career game.

UP NEXT
WSU continues at the 2024 Discover Puerto Rico Shootout to play Virginia on Friday, Nov. 29 at 1 p.m. PT and Drake on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 12 p.m. noon PT. Both games will be broadcast live on FloCollege.com/events.

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