Charlisse Leger-Walker recorded her second triple-double of the season with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists as the WSU Cougars (11-2, 0-1 Pac-12) clawed the Houston Cougars (8-2) 95-48, Sunday at Beasley Coliseum.
In her fourth WSU season, the All-Pac-12 senior can rely on the Cougars’ deepest lineup of her WSU career to make their shots and defend the outside, allowing her assist and rebound stats to flourish.
“I can only get assists when people make shots. And I think today you know, the girls shot great from the 3-point line. People were getting out and running and I was able to find them, you know, in transition a lot,” Leger-Walker said.
Leger-Walker said she has focused on grabbing more rebounds, especially since the number of athletic guards on WSU’s roster allows her to play inside and help out in the post with confidence.
Leger-Walker missed both of her 3-point shots, but her teammates were a combined 9-for-17 (52%) from beyond the arc. She dished out opportunities to her teammates with ease and made 7-of-11 shots from inside the arc.
With the offense humming along to a 35-point lead after 30 minutes, Leger-Walker did not know she was approaching a triple-double.
“I didn’t actually know until AT told me that I needed two more rebounds,” Leger-Walker said.
With 7:37 left in the game, Leger-Walker grabbed her 10th board to secure her second-career triple-double and second of the season. Leger-Walker once again joined Penny Bowden in the WSU program record books, matching Bowden’s two triple-doubles in the 1987–88 season.
Leger-Walker’s first triple-double came in WSU’s 87-67 win over Maryland to begin the Cancun Challenge, in which she scored 11 points and tallied 13 assists and 15 rebounds.
Junior Tara Wallack and freshman Jenna Villa added career-high totals of 21 and 18, respectively, and Bella Murekatete turned in 10 points and 14 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the year. The senior from Rwanda did not miss a shot (3-for-3, 2-for-2 from the line) but ran into foul trouble down the stretch.
Head coach Kamie Ethridge said she was pleased with her team’s response following a frustrating 60-55 loss to Pac-12 rival Washington seven days prior.
“We have to feel good about how we came out into this game. I think we were on edge. It’s how we need to play, it’s how we need to compete, it’s how we need to treat whoever we’re playing on any given night,” Ethridge said.
Ethridge said she was proud of the way her team attacked the rim and created opportunities for each other.
“Probably one of our best offensive performances and quite frankly, defensive too.” she said.
One week removed from a first quarter in which WSU shot 6.7% and made just one shot against UW, the Cougs looked night and day different.
“Coming off a loss to UW, we knew that we could play better than what we showed. So we wanted to start really well,” Leger-Walker said.
Leger-Walker said the change in mindset this past week in practice was thanks to Ethridge’s intensity.
“Coach E’s Grinch side comes out,” Leger-Walker said. “She pushed us really hard in practice this week.”
Ethridge said that Leger-Walker told her about a year ago that the team performs better when Ethridge is on edge.
Ethridge said she does not like the fact that she has to be on edge in order to get the best from them and wishes that the team could provide their own energy.
“It’s a little bit of a leadership problem for our team,” Ethridge said.
Ethridge said the team’s energy and intensity was closer to what she expected it to be, although she is still looking for consistent leadership from the point guard position.
Astera “AT” Tuhina, WSU All-Pac-12 sophomore point guard has had streaks of brilliance and struggles this season. AT recorded a career-high versus UC Davis Dec. 1 with 19 points, but was shut down by Green Bay (0-for-3) and UW (1-for-6) in both WSU losses.
Among a slew of positive days, AT’s Sunday included nine points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Tara Wallack was all over the court for the Cougs. The junior from South Surrey was a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor in the first half and a favorite target of Leger-Walker on back-to-back possessions in which Wallack connected on easy layups.
She finished the game with a career-high 21 points on a 9-for-13 clip from the floor.
One of the keys for Wallack?
“Making my layups, that’s always helpful,” Wallack said as she giggled.
However, her finest play of the day might be an assist. Wallack provided the savory pass in a Villa to Villa sandwich as she caught a ball Eleonora threw from the top of the key straight into the post and with one seamless tap adjusted its path by 90 degrees and perfectly into the hands of Jenna Villa who drained the 3-pointer to put the Cougs up 54-38 with 4:25 to play in the third.
Coug fans who turn on ESPN’s SportsCenter may see Wallack’s touch pass as a top 10 play of the day.
WSU’s pair of freshmen Villas (no relation) contributed stand-up shooting and intelligent defense to the win, both Leger-Walker and Ethridge said.
Jenna Villa scored a career-high 18 points on a 6-for-8 clip as the freshman from Arlington buried four 3-pointers. Eleonora, in a day that is far more pleasing than surprising, continued to deliver with 11 points on a 5-for-9 clip with one 3-pointer.
“[Jenna] comes in and has an impact straight away. Her 3-point shooting is sniper-like, she is really long defensively, she gets a lot of tips and rebounds for us,” Leger-Walker said.
Ethridge said in the absence of Johana Teder, Jenna brings essential long-range talent to the floor.
“She just stepped into big moments and made shots,” Ethridge said.
Leger-Walker said Eleonora’s intelligence and athleticism have made her a key part of the team.
“So Ela, I just don’t think plays like a freshman,” Ethridge said. “She can guard she can get to the rim. She’s got those floaters, she can shoot it. She can defend it.”
The WSU Cougars’ large lead allowed starters such as Leger-Walker and Wallack to spend more time on the bench than they get to in closer contests. This led to some marquee celebration moments for Leger-Walker as she did not miss an opportunity to cheer on her teammates.
At the end of the pair’s press conference, Wallack clearly had something she wanted to share. She waited, almost giddy with excitement before she said that Leger-Walker and her would be wearing matching PJs at the team’s Christmas party later that night.
Leger-Walker laughed and shook her head as the two walked out of the room.
Following their 95-48 win and Christmas party, the Cougs wrap up their nonconference schedule, Wednesday in Auburn, Alabama against the SEC’s Auburn Tigers.
They then have 15 days between games, in which the team will receive an eight-day break for the holidays before coming back to Pullman to prepare for a trip to the Bay Area to begin their Pac-12 Conference schedule against No. 9 Stanford, Jan. 5.
Coug fans can catch WSU face Auburn at noon Wednesday on SEC Network +.
