PULLMAN, Wash. (March 24, 2024) – Washington State women's basketball finished strong with 30 points in the fourth quarter to down No. 4-seeded Santa Clara, 73-47 Sunday night.
The Cougars (20-14) reach the 20-win mark for the second straight season, and now reach a postseason quarterfinal game for just the second time in program history, last doing so in the 2017 WNIT when they advanced all the way to the semifinals.
All nine players scored for WSU in a game that saw 27 points off the bench, while the Cougs held the opposition to under 50 points for the second game in a row.
Astera Tuhina led the scoring attack with 14 points to go along with four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Kyra Gardner connected on a trio of threes to finish with 11 points, three boards, four assists and a block.
Beyonce Bea was excellent all night with a team-best 11 rebounds to go with eight points and a steal.
Jessica Clarke scored a season-high 10 points, and tallied three rebounds, a block and an assist.
Tara Wallack finished with nine points, six rebounds, two assists and a block, while
Bella Murekatete also filled up the box score with eight points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block.
Eleonora Villa totaled seven points, two rebounds and two assists.
Alex Covill hauled in five boards to go with four points, a block and an assist, while
Jenna Villa grabbed a steal, dished an assist and scored two points.
A Bea layup and Wallack trey opened a 9-2 start for the Cougs. Santa Clara drew themselves back with a pair of threes, and eventually took a 14-13 lead with 1:34 left in the first, but a Gardner three and a layup from Bea in the quarter's final seconds put the Cougs back up 18-14 going into the second quarter.
The Broncos continued to keep things close, tying things up at 22-all before a clean-up job from Covill and four points from Tuhina put the Cougs back on top, 28-22. In the final minute of the second quarter, buckets from Clarke and Bea sent WSU into the locker room with a 32-24 advantage.
Out of the break, the Cougars stretched their lead out to nine, 37-28, with a triple by E. Villa, and after things fell quiet for both teams down the stretch, layups from Wallack and Clarke sent the game into the fourth quarter with WSU leading 43-32.
The Cougs continued to add on to their lead to start the final frame with shots from Gardner and Clarke before a corner three from Tuhina put the lead at 50-37. A Murekatete layup and a trey from Gardner would make it 57-39, before more threes from Gardner and Tuhina, and buckets from E. Villa, Wallack and Clarke led to a 14-0 run for the Cougs, ultimately putting a bow on the 73-47 win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Bella Murekatete
- Grabbed seven rebounds to extend her program lead to 972 career rebounds
- Totaled one block to extend her program lead to 188 career blocked shots
- Eight points today puts her at 1,539 career points, sixth most in program history
- Played in game number 151, and started her 143rd game, extending her program lead in both categories
Beyonce Bea
- Grabbed 11 rebounds to extend career rebounds total to 1,080
- Scored eight points to extend her career points total to 2,116 points
- Appeared in her 144th career game
Eleonora Villa
- Seven points tonight extends her season total to 434, fourth-most ever by a WSU freshman
- Made one three-pointer to total 49 this season, tied for the fifth-most threes by a WSU freshman
- 34 minutes played puts her at 1,127 this season, most ever by a WSU freshman
UP NEXT
The Cougars advance to the WBIT quarterfinals to host No. 2-seeded Toledo on Thursday, March 28. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. and can be watched live on ESPN+.
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For more information on the Washington State women's basketball team, follow @WSUCougarWBB on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
