With a three-game Pac-12 Conference win streak, the Cougs head south to the land where dreams come true: Los Angeles.
WSU women’s basketball (14-5, 3-3 Pac-12) visits No. 11 USC (13-3, 3-3), at 7 p.m. Friday in the Galen Center and No. 2 UCLA (15-2, 4-2) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Pauley Pavilion.
“I told [the team] it’s like climbing Mount Everest. Now we’re in that stretch of, you know, four top 15 teams maybe in the country. But I think the thing that we can count on is we’ve really gotten better as a team,” head coach Kamie Ethridge said.
The Cougs lost non-conference games to Green Bay (15-4, 8-1 Horizon Leauge) on the third day of the Cancun Challenge when they shot 34.6% from the floor to lose 59-48 and to the SEC’s Auburn Tigers (13-6, 2-4 SEC) 69-62 right before winter break. The Tigers cashed in on 23 points off of turnovers and 11 second-chance points.
WSU lost its first Pac-12 Conference game against in-state rival Washington 60-55 after the Cougs made one shot in the first quarter, trailed by 20 points near half, before cutting the deficit to 2 points late in the fourth quarter.
WSU started 2024 about as strong as a team could against a top-10 Stanford Cardinal squad on its home court. The Cougs went blow-for-blow with the Cardinal, led at halftime, and remained within three scores of the home team for the majority of the game. Two days later, Wazzu lost a heartbreaker to Cal 73-72 (OT) after they failed to grab a rebound to give the Golden Bears another shot to take the lead.
“It is something we’ve reminded our players because we were so you know, consumed with not letting their posts hurt us in that first five or 10 seconds of offense. And we really guarded that unbelievably well,” Ethridge said.
Ethridge said the Cougs succeeded in defending Stanford and now-No. 17 Gonzaga in the post and prevented them from scoring on their first looks. While Stanford’s deep lineup hurt the Cougs in other ways, the Cougars’ commitment to defending the low post kept them in it against the Cardinal.
“That is a confidence builder. But like I said, it doesn’t mean that we’re going to be good against these guards that are coming at us,” Ethridge said.
WSU’s best win of the year so far came in the second game against now No. 17 Gonzaga 77-72 (OT) in Beasley Coliseum. The Zags overcame a late deficit to tie the game, but the Cougs stood tall in overtime to win. Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 26 points, her highest point total of the 2023–24 season through 19 games. Leger-Walker took 19 shots in 38 minutes.
In each of Wazzu’s Pac-12 wins, Leger-Walker has taken fewer than half of those shots in each game, shooting the ball exactly nine times in each conference win.
While the Gonzaga game was a return to vintage Leger-Walker, the 2023–24 and three-time Ann Meyers-Drysdale Award finalist has seen herself take fewer shots and set up her teammates for more offensive opportunities. She is averaging a career-high 5.2 assists per game.
“I don’t need to take 25 shots for our team to win and that’s kind of been the mindset this whole year is I’m playing a lot more of a point guard role,” Leger-Walker said. “When we have, you know, five or at least four people in double figures, every game, we’ve won almost every game.”
Leger-Walker is right. In the Cougs’ five losses, they have had two players in double figures once (Green Bay) and three in double figures four times (UW, Auburn, Stanford, Cal).
Ethridge said she wants the Cougs’ leading scorer Bella Murekatete (13.7 points per game) to continue to be a disruptive force for opponents in the way that she plays the game. By running down the court in transition and immediately becoming a threat on each Cougar possession, the Cougs unlock the pressure and intensity necessary to score at a higher rate.
The Cougs will need every point this weekend as USC and UCLA are two of the best teams in the country.
USC is enjoying its best season since 1993–94 with 10 weeks in the AP top 10 poll and two ranked wins over then-No. 7 Ohio State and No. 2 UCLA.
All three of the Trojans’ losses have come against their fellow ranked Pac-12 schools. They split the season series with UCLA, losing in Pauley Pavilion but defending their home floor.
On their mountain road trip, the Trojans lost to now-No. 16 Utah (14-5, 4-3) by 20, 78-58 and No. 3 Colorado (16-2, 6-1), 63-59.
The Trojans are led by the best freshman in the country JuJu Watkins. Watkins, an LA native, averages over 26 points per game and has led USC in scoring in each of her 15 collegiate games.
Watkins posted 32 points against Ohio State in her first career game and has scored 30+ points six times, including a career-high of 35 against Le Moyne.
Ethridge said Watkins is not the only Trojan she is focused on.
“JuJu is just amazing. I mean, I don’t know what else can be said about her, what a talent, she can score any way she wants, but that three-guard lineup that they have that are such snipers and good good good 3-point shooters,” Ethridge said.
Ethridge said the Cougars’ transition defense is a point of emphasis against USC as the Trojans have shown an ability to punish any mistakes or lapses in transition.
UCLA is another deep team with a dominant center in Stanford transfer Lauren Betts (15.4 points, 8.4 rebounds per game). The Bruins are packed with shooters from transfer sophomore Betts to graduate guard Charisma Osborne (14 points per game and 41% from the floor and 36.6% from three) to five total players with at least 11.8 points per game.
“How do you guard Lauren Betts without double or triple-teaming her and then the second you do that you create, you know, just great shots for the lead shooter,” Ethridge said.
Toward the end of last season, the Cougs recorded their first win in program history in Pauley Pavilion. Wazzu prevailed partially thanks to UCLA playing Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” during the game. They had no idea at the time, but the song was one of the Cougars’ favorite karaoke songs. When the song came on, Ethridge looked at her players, stopped talking and said “Sing”. Sing they did. Then they rallied and beat UCLA 62-55.
Ten days later, the Cougs and Bruins met again in the Pac-12 Championship in Las Vegas. Leger-Walker sank five 3-pointers and Wazzu won its first women’s conference championship.
“Every time you step on the board in this league, you’re gonna play against a great competition and the challenges are going to be immense and you’re gonna have to figure some things out and get to your strengths,” Ethridge said.
The Cougs play USC at 7 p.m. Friday on Pac-12 Washington and at noon, Sunday on Pac-12 Network.
