PULLMAN, Wash. – Sophomore Bella Murekatete scored a career-high 17 points against No. 6-ranked Stanford on Friday, Jan. 29, but it wasn t enough to lift the Washington State women s basketball team past the Cardinal, as the Cougars were handed a 77-49 defeat at Beasley Coliseum.
Murekatete was one of the few offensive bright spots against Stanford on Friday, as the Butare Huye, Rwanda native shot a blistering 72.3% from the field. The 17-point performance establishes a new career-high in points for Murekatete, passing her previous-high of 16 points scored at Utah back on Jan. 1, 2021. The center also pulled down a team-best seven rebounds in 24 minutes of action against the Cardinal.
LOS ANGELES – The No. 25-ranked Washington State women s team forced overtime for the third-consecutive game, but came up short at No. 8/8 UCLA on Sunday, Jan. 17, as the Cougars fell to the Bruins in overtime, 68-66, at Pauley Pavilion.
The Cougs trailed by 13 points heading into the fourth quarter of Sunday s contest. WSU opened the final frame of regulation by scoring 13-consecutive points to pull even with UCLA at 48-all. Redshirt senior Krystal Leger-Walker made the game-tying basket with 2:00 remaining, while her sister freshman Charlisse Leger-Walker gave the Cougars their first lead of the game at 50-49 lead with 1:21 on the clock. UCLA responded with four-straight points to take a 53-50 lead with two seconds remaining on the clock in regulation.