“Shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots Everybodyyyy!!!” the LMFAO/Lil Jon classic’s lyrics are an apt description of the Cougars, who took no shortage of shots in their 111-50 blowout of the Texas A&M Commerece Lions at Beasly Coliseum.
WSU women’s basketball’s 111 points was the third-best offensive performance in program history and the first time the team had topped 100 points since 2014. The program record of 118 was set in the 1978–79 season against Alaska-Anchorage.
On their way to 111 points, the Cougs posted a program-record 35 assists and 48 made-field goals.
Getting back to the cold of Pullman, after a week at the Cancun Challenge, the Cougs brought the heat of Mexico up north as they shot 56.5% from the floor with a total of 85 shots.
WSU’s 59-48 loss to Green Bay to end the Cancun Challenge was the elephant in the room entering the remainder of WSU’s non-conference schedule. Against a vastly mismatched TAMU Commerce squad, WSU got back in the win column
“[Tuesday] morning, that was the first time I was back at practice. And we dealt with Green Bay,” Ethridge said. “That was not going to go away without having spoken on that.”
Charlisse Leger-Walker, Bella Murekatete and Astera Tuhina each recorded a double-double marking the second time in program history that three players had a double-double in one game. Doreen Evans, Jade Hyett and Yvonne Kunze each sported double-doubles at Cal, Feb. 22, 1997.
Wazzu stuck to their script from the opening possession. Freshman Eleanora Villa found Murekatete in the paint to take a 2-0 lead. Both teams struggled to score over the next two minutes with Murekatete snagging a steal but Leger-Walker turning the ball over to the Lions’ Mia Deck who made a jumper to tie the game 2-2, two and a half minutes into the game. That was the closest the game would be as Wazzu pulled ahead with a 25-11 run the rest of the quarter.
Villa made her presence known. The freshman from Italy directed offensive traffic with ease and scored 9 points in the first 10 minutes of the game as part of her career-best 20-point game. Villa grabbed four rebounds and fed the offense with six assists.
The second quarter brought more of the same as TAMU Commerce could not run a successful play and Wazzu racked up six turnovers and only gave the ball away four times.
The Cougs shot a game-low 52% in the second quarter, after shooting 61% in the first.
Murekatete had her best statistical game of the season. The All-Pac-12 senior matched her career-high with 22 points and grabbed a career-best 18 rebounds. She even got in on the Cougars’ record-setting assist party with a season-high four assists.
Bella began the third quarter with a steal and despite passing the ball, got the basket at the other end of the possession. Murekatete sprinted down the court where AT found her right under the basket for the layup as the Lions seemed to give up on the play before it was over.
Leger-Walker once again set the standard for the Cougs. With three and a half minutes left in the second quarter, Leger-Walker split the Lions’ defense in a virtually uninterrupted stride to the basket for the reverse layup to extend the Cougar lead to 43-24.
Leger-Walker scored 15 points on a 7-for-11 clip that had Coug fans saying “Oh thank heaven.” The senior racked up 10 rebounds and six assists.
Tuhina continues to impress in her sophomore campaign. AT scored 10 points and passed the rock for points 13 times.
Tara Wallack nearly managed a double-double of her own with 15 points and seven rebounds.
Deck led TAMU Commerce with 17 points on a 5-for-22 clip from the floor and 6-for-8 from the free throw line.
The large lead allowed the Cougs to tap into their bench. Sophomore Krya Gardner made three 3-pointers on her way to a career-high 11 points and evened her career-best with four rebounds.
Since this record-setting night, the Cougs are 2-0 with wins over UC Davis in Pullman and South Dakota State in Brookings, South Dakota.
WSU hosts Washington at 1 p.m. Sunday at Beasley Coliseum.
