Charlisse Leger-Walker had scored just 2 points entering the final minute of the first half versus Stanford. She had not scored a single 3-pointer in December, but she sent the Cougs to the Maples Pavilion locker room with a lot of confidence and the halftime lead after a towering 3-pointer.

The Cougs cooked up the shot thanks to a little bit of ball movement in the final seconds of the first half as they finally had a moment to breathe after keeping up with the Cardinal’s highly efficient offense with their respectable dose of efficiency.

Wazzu went blow for blow with Stanford for 40 minutes, never allowing the Cardinal to get too far ahead, before the Cardinal did what they do best by pulling away one last time for the 74-65 win, Friday at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, California.

WSU women’s basketball (11-4, 0-2 Pac-12) outplayed Stanford (13-1, 2-0 Pac-12) in several key aspects. Wazzu outshot Stanford from beyond the arc (making 42% of its 3-pointers to Stanford’s 28%) and forced more turnovers (18 to Stanford’s 12).

However, Stanford outpaced the Cougs where it counts thanks to a typically dominant showing from star senior center Cameron Brink, who scored 20 points. Brink shot well below her searing season average of 59%. She missed six 3-point attempts and four shots from inside of the arc for a 37.5% clip.

With their best player at the center of the court, Brink grabbed nearly as many rebounds (18) as she scored points (20) and made five blocks.

The Cardinal also benefited from 19 opportunities at the charity strip which they converted to 15 points, the difference in the game. Brink made 7-of-8 and junior Kiki Iriafen made 5-of-7 from the free throw line.

Irafen scored 17 points on a 50% shooting day (6-for-12) with eight rebounds and four assists.

Charlisse Leger-Walker found her 3-point shot, sinking 5-of-10 from beyond the arc against the top ten Cardinal.

It was the first time since the Pac-12 Championship in which Leger-Walker made five 3-pointers in a single game.

Leger-Walker scored 22 points with nine rebounds and four assists. She shot 42.1% from the floor.

First quarter

Stanford wasted very little time getting Brink involved. Just 37 seconds into the game, Brink hit a 3-pointer for an early 3-0 Stanford lead.

The Cougars’ senior center Bella Murekatete responded with points in the paint 10 seconds later.

Charlisse Leger-Walker made her first shot of the night off of a jumper in the paint to give the Cougs their first lead of the night, 4-3.

Six of the game’s 12 lead changes happened in the first 10 minutes. 

Freshman Elenora Villa made a jumper to restore a 1-point Cougar lead and Tara Wallack extended the lead with a fastbreak layup.

Down three with 4:44 remaining in the first quarter, Stanford went on a 9-0 run to close the quarter and led WSU 18-12 after 10 minutes.

Second quarter

Facing one of the best centers in college basketball, WSU’s centers combined for 16 of the Cougars’ 23 second-quarter points.

Murekatete can match Brink in many aspects of the game and she put that on display.. Murekatete scored 13 points and showed off her effective post-presence as Iriafen was powerless to stop Murekatete from running into the paint and making the shot as she put her back to the basket, turned over her left shoulder and made the shot off the glass with 3:06 left in the second.

To back up Murekatete’s efforts, senior center Jessica Clarke got 15 minutes on the floor and made it count. Clarke scored 8 points at a 4-for-6 clip and grabbed two rebounds.

Clarke demanded respect from Stanford, drawing a double team on the right side of the paint. With her back to the basket, the paint empty of Cougs and Iriafen and Brink between her and the basket, Clarke dribbled twice, swayed back and forth and turned around to sink the layup to cut the Stanford lead to four with 5:40 left in the second.

Graduate transfer Beyonce Bea was out for an extended period earlier in the season but was on the floor for the beginning of the rest of Pac-12 play. 

Bea’s veteran presence makes the Cougars taller and of course deeper leading to an uptick of scoring opportunities as Bea paced the Cougs with nine rebounds.

Charlisse’s scoring threat made Stanford respect her, opening up a scoring lane for Beyonce Bea.

WSU took their first lead of the second quarter into the locker room. Wazzu let the clock drain to nine seconds before they created some motion on the premier setting up Leger-Walker for her first 3-pointer of the game to give the Cougs the 35-34 halftime lead.

“They’re a little bit confident. They’re playing with a really high IQ,” head coach Kamie Ethridge said in her halftime Pac-12 Network interview.

Third quarter

Stanford came out of the locker room with a rise in intensity. Brink had herself a field goal and block within the first minute of the second half.

The Cardinal failed to make a shot from the field over the course of five minutes and 17 seconds. During this period, WSU failed to capitalize, as the Cardinal defended the floor quite well with the exception of Leger-Walker finding her 3-point shot, making three fantastic 3-pointers.

Leger-Walker entered Stanford with an 18% 3-point percentage. She left with a 23.2% clip.

While Stanford did not score from the floor for 5:17, they took three trips to the free-throw line and scored all six points.

Fourth quarter

The fourth quarter stuck to the trend of a game of runs as neither team made fewer than two consecutive baskets.

With All-Pac-12 sophomore Astera Tuhina out with a leg injury, freshman Elanora Villa, who had already claimed a regular role in the offense made her sixth career start. Villa had a tough night against a top-10 team, making two of her 10 shots.

Villa made her second and final shot of the game in the fourth quarter with a jumper in the paint to cut the Stanford lead to nine.

Stanford extended its lead off Talana Lepolo’s fourth 3-pointer of the game which sparked an 8-0 Stanford run.

Down a game-high 15 points, WSU engineered a run of its own, thanks to consecutive 3-pointers from freshman Jenna Villa of Arlington, Washington. Leger-Walker drained her fifth 3-pointer of the game and Murekatete made both of her free throws to forge an 11-0 WSU run to bring WSU within striking distance with 1:25 to go.

Stanford did everything right to control possession of the ball and cashed in on two final trips to the line and an Irafen layup to put the game out of reach.

WSU 64 Stanford 75.

The Cougs have a short jaunt up the Bay in search of their first Pac-12 Conference win of the season as they face the Cal Golden Bears (11-3, 1-1 Pac-12).

Cal is fresh off a win over Washington, Friday.

WSU will challenge Cal at noon Sunday at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, California. Cougs versus Cal will be seen on Pac-12 Network.