South Dakota State women’s basketball (4-3) had not lost a home game in 13 months.
No. 21 WSU women’s basketball (10-1) put an end to the Jackrabbits’ 16-game win streak with a 69-64 win. Cougar women’s hoops are 10-1 for the fourth time in program history and the first time since 1978–79.
Sophomore Astera Tuhina continues to impress. She stepped up to lead WSU with 18 points, one away from her career-high which she set in the Cougars’ Friday win over UC Davis.
With the calendar now reading December, the Cougs wasted little time decorating the scoreboard. Freshman Eleonora Villa sank a 3-pointer from the top of the key after Bella Murekatete set the screen, clearing the passing lane for Charlisse Leger-Walker to connect with Villa.
Two minutes later, Tara Wallack drove to the paint and pitched the ball to Villa beyond the arc who immediately found Leger-Walker. Leger-Walker’s 3-point attempt rimmed out but Murekatete leaped to secure the board and provided the basket the Cougs needed to lead 5-0.
Murekatete scored 15 points and added seven rebounds, three steals and a block. Her lone assist was a beauty and part of a play that displayed the athleticism and skill of the Cougars’ three All-Conference players.
Tuhina, cornered by an SDSU screen, chucked the ball over the head of the defender to the 6-foot-3 Murekatete who dribbled once and flung the ball over the heads of three Jackrabbits into the waiting hands of Charlisse Leger-Walker. Off the glass, In the basket. Cougars on top.
WSU led 7-2 after that magnificent play and after 10 minutes, led 17-9 as Murekatete scored 6 and was 3-for-3 from the floor.
The Cougs shot 53% in the first quarter but posted identical 5-for-12 clips in the second, third and fourth quarters.
The Jackrabbits clearly demonstrated how much they did not want to lose their 16-game home win streak. SDSU made just two of its nine first-quarter shots before shooting in the 40% range the rest of the game, out-scoring the Cougs in the second (15-13) and fourth quarters (24-21) while scoring two less than WSU in the third (16-18).
Kyra Gardner and AT provided nearly half of the WSU’s second-quarter offense with a pair of 3-point shots. After battling injury in the off season, Gardner has made steady progress, playing at least 11 minutes in each of the last three games.
Despite their shooting woes, the Cougs led by 10, 48-38 with 38 seconds left in the third quarter. But, the Jackrabbits held them scoreless from the floor until the 4:44 mark of the fourth quarter going on a 13-4 run to come within one point of the Cougar lead.
AT and Wallack scored on consecutive possessions to push WSU’s lead to five.
SDSU’s Page Meyer drew a foul and made both of her free throws to make it a one-score game.
Meyer was trouble for WSU all night. The junior guard from Albany, Minnesota scored 23 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter at a 7-for-15 clip and made all nine of her free throws.
Following Meyer’s free throws, AT missed a three, but Wallack drew a foul off of Meyer on the next possession.
Wallack missed the first free throw, but made the second to create a two-score lead.
Up by four, but wanting more, AT bounded into the paint while Villa waited patiently in the left wing. As the Jackrabbits moved in to prevent AT from scoring, she dumped the ball off to wide-open Villa who drained the three to put the Cougs up by seven with 2:42 to play.
Meyer made it her request to preserve the Jackrabbits’ 16-game home winning streak, scoring 10 points in the two-and-a-half minutes.
However, Wazzu shut down practically every other part of SDSU’s offense and outplayed the Jackrabbit defense by drawing fouls and not missing their shots.
Wazzu shot 5-for-12 in the fourth quarter, but five Cougs made a combined seven appearances at the charity stripe in the season of giving.
WSU never trailed but SDSU surged late to make it a close game, 69-64 final.
On a night in which Leger-Walker scored just 4 points and shot 1-for-7 from the floor, Wallack, AT and Villa combined for 42 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter to clinch the Cougars’ 10th win of the season.
Graduate transfer Beyonce Bea continues to be unavailable because of injury, but head coach Kamie Ethridge said she expects Bea to return soon.
“A little tweak and one that we can manage,” Ethridge said. “We’re trying to manage it sooner than later. So expect her back really soon. But we just got to live without her for a little bit.”
Leger-Walker said she appreciates her teammates’ ability to score and knows that this team, more so than in previous years, is built to create a diverse offense.
“So just being able to score in different ways. And having people make an impact in different ways is a really good thing to have and that’s why you know, it seems a bit deeper than the past,” Leger-Walker said.
WSU played down to the Big West’s now 3-5 UC Davis, allowing the Aggies to storm within 5 points of the Cougs late in the third quarter before WSU pulled away in the fourth to win 77-52.
“We’re a work in progress and we’ve got to find ways to put people in good positions to get better shot quality,” head coach Kamie Ethridge said Dec. 1 after the Cougars’ win over UC Davis.
Following a tight road win over SDSU, the Cougs will test their progress in their first Pac-12 Conference game of the year at 1 p.m. Sunday versus the Washington Huskies at Beasley Coliseum. Cougs who cannot be in Beasley can watch the last Pac-12 women’s basketball Apple Cup in Pullman on Pac-12 Washington.
