GAMEDAY Womens Basketball
Washington State 66, Utah 58
By W.G. RAMIREZ
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS - Bella Murekatete scored 19 points and Washington State upset No. 3 Utah 66-58 in a Pac-12 quarterfinal game.
The Cougars (21-10) led by three with 39.3 seconds left and had the ball, and rather than foul, the Utes allowed Charlisse Leger-Walker to virtually dribble out the shot clock, make one pass, get the ball back, and drain a 3-pointer with eight seconds left to extend the lead to 64-58.
Leger-Walker finished with 15 points, while Ula Motuga chipped in 13 for the Cougars.
Utah (25-4) was led by Gianna Kneepkens, who scored 18 points. Alissa Pili added 11 points for the Utes.
After trailing by four at halftime, the Cougars outscored Utah 27-11 in the third quarter after erasing a two-point deficit by closing the period on a 14-0 run and took a 53-41 lead into the final period.
Washington State hit 11 of 19 (57.9%) from the floor in the third, including 5 of 7 (71.4%) from 3-point range, while the normally high-scoring Utes struggled behind 36.4% shooting (4 of 11).
After opening the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer from Kneepkens, the Utes missed eight straight shots while the Cougars built a 14-point lead, 58-44, with 7:41 left in the game.
The Cougars limited Utah’s second-chance opportunities, with 77.1% defensive rebounding percentage. Washington State also outscored Utah with second-chance points, 11-4
BIG PICTURE
Washington State: The Cougars exacted revenge from last year’s tournament when the teams also met in the quarterfinals. Utah beat Washington State, 70-59.
Utah: The Utes were the highest-scoring team in the Pac-12 this season, averaging 84.4 points per game. They never found their groove on offense, from the opening tip, as they shot a rather bleak 27% over the first five minutes.
March 2, 2023
| Washington State | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| U. Motuga | F | 34 | 4-5 | 2-2 | 3-4 | 0-8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 13 |
| B. Murekatete | C | 32 | 7-14 | 5-8 | 0-0 | 1-5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 19 |
| C. Leger-Walker | G | 38 | 5-14 | 1-2 | 4-7 | 1-3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 15 |
| T. Wallack | G | 28 | 3-5 | 0-2 | 1-1 | 3-8 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| J. Teder | G | 20 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| A. Tuhina | 28 | 1-6 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 1-6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| J. Clarke | 8 | 2-4 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |
| G. Sarver | 8 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| L. Glazier | 3 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| K. Woods | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 199 | 23-51 (.451) |
12-18 (.667) |
8-17 (.471) |
8-35 | 18 | 6 | 7 | 17 | 19 | 66 | |
| Utah | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| A. Pili | F | 26 | 3-14 | 5-5 | 0-4 | 0-2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 |
| J. Johnson | F | 15 | 1-6 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 1-3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| K. McQueen | G | 36 | 2-6 | 1-1 | 0-3 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| G. Kneepkens | G | 32 | 5-12 | 4-4 | 4-8 | 0-3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 18 |
| I. Vieira | G | 29 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| T. Sidberry | 19 | 3-3 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 2-5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| D. Young | 17 | 2-5 | 2-2 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | |
| K. Rees | 14 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| L. White | 9 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| P. McFarland | 4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 201 | 20-53 (.377) |
13-16 (.813) |
5-21 (.238) |
7-28 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 19 | 58 | |
Officials: Lisa Jones, Charles Gonzalez, Tiffany Bird
