Cougars fall to Stanford
Stanford ranked No. 1 in Pac-12; Cougs lose 82-44
WSU guard Charlisse Leger-Walker (5, right) shoots a three-pointer during a college basketball game against the University of San Francisco in Beasley Coliseum, Dec. 3, 2021.
January 5, 2022
The WSU women’s basketball team came up short against the No. 2 ranked Stanford Cardinal on Sunday.
This was the third ranked opponent for the Cougars this season. WSU previously lost to No. 18 BYU (71-53) on Dec. 18 in Utah.
Sunday’s loss was costly for the Cougars as this was the first Pac-12 Conference loss of the 2021-22 season. The Cougars fell to 9-4 overall in the season and 1-1 in Pac-12 play with a previous win over Cal.
The seven-game winning streak at home comes to an end as well. It was the longest winning streak inside Beasley Coliseum in program history.
The Cougars provided a fight against the national champions, only down by two at the end of the first quarter.
However, Stanford went on a roll in the second quarter, scoring the first ten points of the second quarter to take a 27-15 lead and continued the fast-paced action on the Cougars. The Cardinal then went on an 11-2 run to end the first half.
There was a lack of offense for the Cougars in Sunday’s game. The Cougs shot 31.1 percent from the field, while Stanford shot 45.6 percent from the floor.
The Cardinal outrebounded the Cougars 48-34 and outscored WSU 44-24 in the paint.
“Stanford is really good, and we put up a disappointing effort and that’s too bad,” WSU head coach Kamie Ethridge said.
In the fourth quarter specifically, the Cougars struggled to get rolling on offense, scoring four the whole quarter.
“We need to work on offense,” she said. “We’re not getting consistency in the post and it’s putting us behind the eight ball.”
Charlisse Leger-Walker led the way for the Cougars, scoring 15 points. Her double-digit outing extends her scoring streak to eight games.
Krystal Leger-Walker had an impressive scoring outing as well, with 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists. The redshirt fifth year from New Zealand extends her assists streak to 72 games.
Freshman Tara Wallack tied Leger-Walker with eight rebounds. This was Wallack’s first outing of her career leading the team in rebounds.
The Cougars are on the road to Tucson for a matchup against the No. 4 Arizona Wildcats at 5 p.m. Friday in McKale Center to continue Pac-12 play.
