Astera Tuhina muscled the ball inside to Beyonce Bea from the 3-point line and then took one, two-three, four, five-six steps back, caught the rock Bea flung back and let it fly.
The Cougar coaching staff and bench got on their feet as Tuhina released the ball and were all smiles as it fell through the net.
Tuhina, the sophomore point guard from Kosovo, did not just make the 3-pointer to extend the Cougars lead to 6 with 45 seconds to go. She made it from way downtown, nearly 30 feet out from the hoop.
Everyone loved Tuhina’s shot, and no reaction was more classic than head coach Kamie Ethridge, who could not keep her jaw off the floor after Tuhina’s glimmering dagger of a 3-pointer.
WSU women’s basketball (18-13, 7-11 Pac-12) beat No. 13 Colorado (21-8, 11-7) 72-63 thanks to Tuhina’s 14 points and four 3-pointers and freshman guard Eleonora Villa career-high-tying 20 points.
Monster games from the Cougars’ two underclassmen guards paved the way to Wazzu’s upset victory to spoil CU’s Senior Day, which puts them squarely in the conversation for the NCAA Tournament.
“When I think of our young players, I think they can get better. I think they can be more consistent,” Ethridge said in her mid-week press conference.
The Cougs and Buffs traded runs all afternoon. Eleonora scored each of the Cougars’ first 8 points with three layups and two free throws. Ele snagged her third shot on a sky-hook-like layup under the basket thanks to senior center Bella Murekatete who found Ele inside on a bounce pass.
Freshman center Alex Covill snagged a shot to help the Cougs jump out to a 10-4 lead with 5:27 to go in the first quarter, making each of the Cougs’ first 10 points a freshman-fueled endeavor.
CU flipped the script to close the quarter with an 11-2 run before sophomore Krya Gardner drained two free throws to restore the Cougar lead after 10 minutes, 16-15.
The second quarter saw CU stall the Cougar attack and grad student Jaylyn Sherrod dominate on her senior day with 9 points after the Cougs held her to 2 points in the first quarter. Her first quarter points were flashy, as she stole the ball and crushed a fastbreak layup.
CU put together another 11-2 run to start the second quarter. With 2:18 to go in the first half, Murekatete drove from the 3-point line to the paint, spun around and nailed it through the nylon to make it a 4-point game.
Both offenses were relatively cold in the first half with a 34.5% CU shooting percentage while Wazzu shot 37%.
The difference in the game proved to be the Cougs’ 14% improvement and CU’s flat line in the second half.
The Buffs led 31-26 at halftime and extended their lead thanks to a pair of Sherod free throws and graduate guard Maddie Nolan’s one of three senior day 3-pointers.
The Cougs were 2-7 since Leger-Walker’s ACL injury, which coincided with Tuhina’s return. After a month-long absence because of a lower-leg injury, Tuhina returned to the court versus then-No. 6 Colorado, Feb. 2 and posted 15 points in Pullman.
Although it took time for Tuhina to regain her conditioning after a six-week absence, Tuina delivered a classic four 3-pointer performance just in time for the Pac-12 Tournament.
Exactly 90 seconds into the third quarter, Tuhina hit her first 3-pointer of the game with an emphatic metal ‘thunk.’ to make it a 7-point game.
Three minutes later, Ele hit her own thunker of a three, this time from the left wing with her back to the Wazzu bench to make it a 1-point game.
About two minutes later, Bea pulled up for a long two to put the Cougs up 43-42.
Ethridge said she felt Murekatete and Bea could have greater scoring punch. They certainly boxed with the Buffs Saturday to snag two snazzy stalines.
Bea finished the game with 8 points and seven rebounds, an assist a block and a steal while shooting 50% from the floor. Murekatete posted 12 points, three rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal.
“Bella, this time a year ago, put together the best two-week period of her career. Patience in the post,” Ethridge said. “A lot of stop-start and explosiveness. We need her to trust her game and trust her her experience and scoring in the low block with people on her back.”
The Cougs edged out CU 21-19 in the third quarter but trailed by three after Sherrod closed the quarter with an authoritative 3-pointer.
Wazzu led with about five minutes left in the previous CU brawl. Issues of fatigue and the sinking reality of not playing with Leger-Walker hurt the Cougs in February.
On Saturday, nothing seemed to slow Tuhina down. She played 37 minutes and sank each of her three 3-point shots in the fourth quarter.
Ele and AT paced the Cougs with 9 points each in the fourth.
AT made back-to-back threes to give Wazzu a 3-point lead with 7:44 to play, including a tough one with a Buff in her face from the left corner.
The Buffs made consecutive threes of their own to flip the script as Ele and Murekatete made short-range shots to keep up.
CU held a 5-point lead with 2:56 to play before the Cougars stepped up.
It started with a Tara Wallack 3-point shot. Continued with an Ele 3-pointer to put the Cougs up by 1, gained liftoff with Murekatete’s layup and made Cougar nation absolutely insane with a towering AT 3-pointer from 30 feet out.
Ele closed out the game with three free throws and the Cougs won 72-63, a final score far from indicative of how close the Cougars’ battle with the Buffs was.
With the victory, the Cougs hold ranked wins over now-No. 8 UCLA, 85-82 in Pauley Pavilion and a 77-72 (OT) win over now-No. 16 Gonzaga in the second game of the year. The CU win put the Cougs in prime position for a fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
WSU finished in ninth place in the final year of the ridiculous Pac-12 women’s basketball Conference.
Wazzu will face eighth-seeded Cal in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament at 2:30 p.m. on Pac-12 Network. The winner will play Stanford Thursday.
