9-SEED WASHINGTON STATE (18-13) vs. 8-SEED CALIFORNIA (17-13)
Wednesday, Mar. 6 at 2:30 p.m. PT
Las Vegas, Nev.
MGM Grand Garden Center

Watch | Pac-12 Network
Live Stats | https://statb.us/v/wast/500134

COUGS SET FOR 2024 WBB PAC-12 TOURNAMENT
Washington State women's basketball is all set for the 2024 Women's Basketball Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas, Nev. WSU enters as a No. 9 seed, and will open against No. 8 seeded California on Wednesday, March 6 at 2:30 p.m.

NEXT UP
With a win, the Cougars would advance in the tournament to face No. 1 seeded Stanford on Thursday, March 7 at 2:30 p.m. With a loss, the team would be eliminated from the conference tournament, and wait for Selection Sunday on March 17 at 5 p.m. PT.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
WSU Women's Basketball finished the regular season 18-13 overall and 7-11 in Pac-12 play this season. The team enters the Pac-12 Tournament coming off a big 72-63 win on the road over No. 13/15 Colorado on Saturday. Since the team lost Charlisse Leger-Walker to a season-ending injury on Jan. 28, Eleonora Villa and Tara Wallack have stepped up, averaging 15.4 and 11.7 points per game, respectively, over the 10 games since. Astera Tuhina has also been a boost to the team, returning to the court on Feb. 2 after missing seven games with a foot injury.

SERIES HISTORY
In 79 meetings all-time between these two programs, California leads the series 50-29, and is also 3-2 in neutral site games.

MUREKATETE CLIMBING THE RECORD BOOK, BEA CHASING MILESTONES
Bella Murekatete continues to move up the Cougar record book while Beyonce Bea passes milestones
>> Murekatete is the all-time leader in rebounds (952), blocks (184), starts (140) and games played (148) at WSU, and ranks third in career field goals made (623), seventh in career points (1,515), and seventh in career minutes (3,336).
>> Graduate transfer Beyonce Bea (Idaho) enters the game with 2,105 career points and 1,050 career rebounds

FANTASTIC FRESHMAN SEASON FOR ELE VILLA
Eleonora Villa has had an incredible start to her collegiate career as she is putting together one of the best freshman seasons in WSU history. Among all-time freshman seasons at WSU E. Villa currently ranks seventh in total points (398), eighth in FG% (.433), eighth in 3PT% (.338), second in consecutive double-digit scoring games (13), third in total double-digit scoring games (25), eighth in points per game (12.8), fourth in made field goals (154), seventh in made threes (46), and first in minutes played (1,016).

JENNA VILLA EARNS WEEKLY ACCOLADE
Jenna Villa was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week on Dec. 18 following a 95-48 victory over Houston in the team's lone game of the week. The honor is Villa's first career Conference recognition, and the first Freshman of the Week nod for the Cougars since the 2020-21 season when Charlisse Leger-Walker won it seven times. Villa scored a career-high 18 points on an efficient night where she went 4-of-5 from the arc, and 6-of-8 from the field in Sunday's big 95-48 win over Houston. She also grabbed four boards and dished out an assist. Her week six honor displaced USC freshman JuJu Watkins, who had earned the award in each of the first five weeks of the season.

COUGS IN THE RANKINGS
The Cougs look to climb back into the rankings after having been ranked as high as number 21 this season. Washington State was voted to the Preseason Associated Press Top-25 Poll for the first time in program history, appearing at No. 24 in the preseason poll. WSU was picked to finish fifth by the Pac-12 Conference coaches and media, matching the best preseason pick in program history after also being picked fifth ahead of the 1991-92 season.

CHARLISSE LEGER-WALKER TO MISS REMAINDER OF 2023-24 SEASON
Washington State Women's Basketball guard Charlisse Leger Walker will miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season due to reconstructive surgery to her right ACL. "I am saddened to confirm the knee injury to Charlisse Leger Walker is season ending," said Head Coach Kamie Ethridge. "Charlisse has given her heart and soul to Washington State and this program. We are heartbroken she will not finish her career at WSU on the court. However, Charlisse will continue to impact our program to the best of her ability. There is zero doubt that Charlisse will come back better than ever. Charlisse will forever be remembered and honored as the greatest and winningest impact player in WSU women's basketball history!" Through 21 games this season, she totaled 278 points, 137 rebounds, 107 assists and 36 steals, and recorded a pair of triple-doubles. This season, Leger-Walker moved up to third on the all-time scoring list at WSU with 1,743 career point, and also ranks second all-time at WSU in made threes (199), third in career minutes played (3,794), fourth in career scoring average (16.6), fourth in field goals made (607), fourth in assists (389), fifth in made free throws (330), and ninth in career starts (105). She is a three-time All-American and earned Preseason All-Pac-12 honors for the third-straight season in October. She has also three times been named to the Ann Meyers-Drysdale Watch List, Ann Meyers-Drysdale Top-10, Wooden Award Watch List, and Naismith Trophy Watch List.

MUREKATETE NAMED TO LISA LESLIE AWARD WATCH LIST
Center Bella Murekatete was named one of 20 candidates for the 2024 Lisa Leslie Award. Named after the three-time All-American,1994 National Player of the Year and Class of 2015 Hall of Famer, the annual award, in its seventh year, recognizes the top centers in women's NCAA Division I college basketball. Murekatete was named to the watch list for the third straight season and is one of six Pac-12 Conference centers recognized. She was also named to the 2023-24 Preseason All-Pac-12 Conference team.

JOHANNA TEDER TO MISS 2023-24 SEASON
Senior guard Johanna Teder will miss the 2023-24 season recovering from injuries. "We are saddened to announce that Johanna will miss her final season with us. Yo (Johanna) has been dealing with a prolonged acute and chronic injury for the past two years, and after pursuing every option to alleviate and manage her pain, she has come to the conclusion the best option to eliminate all pounding and loading activities for an extended period of time," Kamie Ethridge said. Teder started all 34 games last season, averaged 7.9 ppg, scored in double figures 15 times and shot 34.4 percent from behind the arc, eighth in the Pac-12 with 59 made three-pointers. The fifth-year senior from Tartu, Estonia is a two-time Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll selection and was named to the CSC Academic All-District Team (Digital Technology & Culture).

BEYONCE BEA TRANSFERS TO WSU
Idaho graduate transfer Beyonce Bea arrived on campus in May after an illustrious career at nearby Idaho. Bea, pronounced Be-Ontz Bee, is from Washougal, Wash., finished her Idaho career third all-time in scoring with 1,938 points and was the second-leading scorer in the transfer portal after she led the Big Sky in scoring last season at 22.8 points per game, the sixth-best scoring average nationally while shooting 49.1 percent from the floor along the way.

COUGS TOURED EUROPE LAST SUMMER
The Washington State women's basketball team spent two weeks abroad for a European tour this past summer, traveling through Croatia and Greece.

ETHRIDGE INKS EXTENSION
WSU Director of Athletics Pat Chun announced this past May that Ethridge has signed a one-year contract extension keeping her in Pullman through the 2028-29 season. "Coach Ethridge is the best women's basketball head coach in the country and we are excited to have her lead our program for many years to come," said Chun. "To watch her and her staff pour their hearts into our student-athletes and transform our program these past five years has been amazing. Our program now lives at the highest levels of college basketball and we are appreciative of her commitment to WSU." Ethridge guided Washington State to its first Pac-12 title in any female team sport by winning the 2023 Pac-12 Women's Basketball Championship in Las Vegas. Washington State has seen its win total increase each season under Ethridge. Since coming to Pullman, Ethridge has led the Cougs to the 2023 Pac-12 Championship, made three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances (2021, 2022, 2023), and set program records for most wins in a regular season with 23 victories in 2022-23. The 2020-21 team set the program record for the highest regular season finish in the Pac-12, ending the season tied for second place with Oregon. The Cougars also won a school-record 11 Pac-12 games in 2020-21 en route to the program's second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance.