PULLMAN, Wash. (December 15, 2024) – Washington State women's basketball had a lot to celebrate on Sunday afternoon as the team rolled past Saint Martin's, 76-48.
The win for the Cougars (5-6, 0-0 WCC) was the 100th for Head Coach
Kamie Ethridge in her time with WSU, while senior
Tara Wallack recorded her 1,000th career point.
As a team, the offense shot at a 53.6 percent clip from the field and 31.8 percent from deep. Nine different Cougars scored in the game, as the team saw 33 points scored off the bench.
Eleonora Villa matched a career-high mark with 20 points to go with three assists, four rebounds and a steal.
Candace Kpetikou recorded her first career double-double with a career-high 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Jenna Villa also scored in double-figures with 10 points to go with a rebound.
Tara Wallack finished with eight points, seven rebounds, three steals and a block, while
Kyra Gardner also added eight points to go with a block, a steal and an assist.
Marta Alsina recorded career-bests with seven points and three steals.
Eleonora Villa opened the scoring with a floater before a 9-0 scoring run, capped by a
Jenna Villa three, put the Cougars ahead 14-5. Five quick points from
Eleonora Villa put the lead at 19-10 before a trey from Abraham ended the first quarter with the Cougs leading 23-14.
WSU took advantage of some SMU mistakes in the first few minutes of the second quarter with six points off turnovers to stretch the lead to 29-16. Another triple from
Jenna Villa and a second-chance bucket by Gardner down the stretch put the Cougs in front 41-26 at halftime.
Eleonora Villa continued her hot shooting out of the break, and seven points from her early in the third helped extend the lead to 48-30. A pair of Kpetikou buckets and a three-point play from Abraham put the score at 57-38 with two minutes to play in the third, and then one more Kpetikou make sent the game into its final quarter with WSU up 59-41.
The Cougs played add-on in the fourth as seven points from Alsina put the Cougar lead at 25, 68-43, with 6:30 remaining. As time ticked down, a Gardner three-point play, a
Jenna Villa trey and a
Jean Chiu layup sealed the 76-48 victory.
RECORD BOOK CLIMBERS AND MILESTONE CHASERS
•
Tara Wallack's eight points put her at 1,006 for her career, ranking 22nd in program history.
• Wallack's one block puts her at 125 for her career, sixth all-time at WSU.
• With 27 minutes today, she has played 3,205 career minutes, 60 from entering the WSU all-time top-10 list.
• Wallack is also 755 minutes away from matching the most in program history.
•
Alex Covill's one block gives her 80 career blocks, 13 away from entering the WSU all-time top-10 list.
NOTES
•
Tara Wallack is the 23rd player in program history to score 1,000+ points.
•
Kamie Ethridge is the fourth head coach in program history to reach 100+ wins.
• Wallack is now 13 assists away from 1,000+ points, 500+ rebounds and 200+ steals in her career.
UP NEXT
The Cougars will open conference play in the West Coast Conference (WCC), traveling to San Diego to face the Toreros on Thursday, Dec. 19 at 6 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
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