The WSU women’s basketball team earned their fifth conference win of the season against the Washington Huskies, 57-43 on Sunday afternoon. 

The Cougs traveled across the state to take on the Huskies for the second time in two days. Friday’s game was a 60-56 overtime victory for the Cougars in Pullman.

This is the Cougs 13th win of the season, surpassing their win total of last season when they finished with a record of 12-12. 

The Cougs were led by Charlisse Leger-Walker, who scored 19 points on 9-21 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. Friday against the Huskies, Charlisse scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Charlisse scored often in the early parts of Sunday’s game resulting in a WSU lead after the first quarter.

“I have so much confidence in Charlisse, her competitiveness, her wanting to win, her wanting to do everything to win,” head coach Kamie Ethridge said.

Johanna Teder also caught fire from deep, going 4-6 from three and 6-9 overall for 16 points. 

“It was a team win, everybody played great,” Teder said postgame.

The Huskies started the game off shooting well, but had slumps throughout the first half. If not for a major run in the second quarter, the game could have gotten out of hand early.

Haley Van Dyke was the only Husky with double-digit scoring, putting up 17 points on 7-13 shooting. Nancy Mulkey continued her defensive dominance, grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking four shots in the game. 

Tara Wallack came off the bench ready for the Cougs, grabbing six rebounds to help WSU control the glass.

Krystal Leger-Walker had another all-around game, going 3-10 including two three-point shots for eight points. Krystal also grabbed two rebounds and had two assists.

In total, the Cougs went 6-16 from the field in the first quarter, including a half court heave from Teder as the quarter ended to give WSU a 15-10 lead. Charlisse led the Cougs during the first 15 minutes, scoring eight points and WSU’s first six points of the game. The Huskies went 4-13 in the quarter and made two free throws. 

The Cougs struggled late in the second quarter and had a four-minute scoring drought which let the Huskies crawl back from a 12-point deficit. Going into halftime, WSU was up 24-21.

The third quarter was when the Cougs took charge offensively, outscoring the Huskies 17-14 to lead by six heading into the fourth quarter. Charlisse had five points in the quarter, and Bella Murekatete added four points of her own to jumpstart her offensive day. The Cougs went 7-16 in the quarter and made three shots from deep.

The Huskies made two threes and shot 6-12 from the field. Washington made four of their first six baskets, but had a three-minute scoring drought of their own to end the third quarter. During the Husky drought, WSU scored seven straight points and took a 41-35 lead heading into the fourth quarter. 

The Cougs exploded in the fourth quarter, scoring 16 points on 7-14 shooting to propel the Cougs to victory. Teder had both three-point shots and had eight points in the last 15 minutes of play. The Huskies went 4-10 in the quarter and had some help from a 2:51 minute WSU scoring drought. Strong defensive work and rebounding helped WSU close out the game on a 9-4 scoring run, resulting in the Cougar victory, 57-43. 

WSU finished the game shooting 24-62 and went 7-19 from three for 36.8%. The Cougs only shot five free throws in the game. WSU took care of the ball on offense, resulting in just seven turnovers in comparison to the Huskies’ 18 turnovers. 

The Cougs are now 5-3 in the Pac-12 and sit in sole possession of fifth place. 

With the Apple Cup sweep complete, WSU now turns their attention to Colorado. The Cougs are set to travel to Boulder for a Friday matchup against the Buffaloes.