GAMEDAY Womens Basketball

Washington State 65, UCLA 61

(AP Photo/David Becker)

By W.G. RAMIREZ
Associated Press

LAS VEGAS - Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 23 points and Bella Murekatete added 21 to help Washington State earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament by beating No. 19 UCLA 65-61 in the Pac-12 Championship.

It was the first-ever tournament championship for the Washington State women’s basketball program.

Up by three with just nine seconds left, Washington State Astera Tuhina got a piece of UCLA guard Charisma Osborne’s 3-point attempt to tie the game. With the arrow pointing their way, the Cougars took possession after a held ball on the rebound, and Tara Wallack hit one of two free throws with 5.1 seconds left to give Washington State a four-point lead to ultimately seal the victory.

Tuhina had six assists and Wallack added eight rebounds for the Cougars (23-10).

Osborne led the Bruins (25-9) with 19 points. Kiki Rice chipped in with 13 points, while Emily Bessoir added 11 for UCLA.

Washington State’s sustained its red-hot offense for the tournament by shooting 53.7% in the game, hitting 22 of 41 from the floor, including 7 of 11 (63.6%) from 3-point range.

The Cougars were the most efficient team in the tournament, draining 92 of 199 from the floor, a 46.2% clip.

UCLA came in as the highest-scoring team in the tournament averaging 74.3 points on 38.5% shooting after three games, but struggled to find any rhythm from the opening tip, suffocated by the tournament’s No. 1 scoring defense. The Bruins finished 22 of 60 (36.7%) from the floor and 26.3% (5 of 19) from 3-point range.

Though they held a four-point lead after one quarter, the Bruins came out shooting cold from the opening tip. They hit just 35% (7 of 20) in the first quarter, including 1 of 6 (16.7%) from 3-point range, and followed that with a 30.8% clip (4 of 13) in the second period.

ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM

Leger-Walker was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. Other members of the Pac-12 All-Tournament team were: Murekatete (Washington State), Cameron Brink (Stanford), Emily Bessoir (UCLA), Osborne (UCLA), and Rice (UCLA).

BIG PICTURE

Washington State: The Cougars are the first No. 7 seed to advance to the Pac-12 championship game. The previous lowest seed to make the championship round was the No. 6 seed, twice, in 2009 (USC) and 2022 (Utah).

UCLA: After being held to just two points in the first half, on 1 of 6 shooting, Rice bolstered the Bruins’ 8-0 start to the third quarter with five points. In the second half, the freshman guard hit X of X from the field.

March 5, 2023

Washington State
Player	Pos	Min	FG-FGA	FT-FTA	3P-3PA	OR-TR	Ast	Blk	Stl	TO	PF	Pts
U. Motuga	F	12	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	0	0	0	1	0
B. Murekatete	C	28	8-11	5-7	0-0	1-4	0	2	1	5	2	21
T. Wallack	G	39	1-3	1-2	1-1	1-8	3	0	0	1	2	4
C. Leger-Walker	G	38	7-11	4-5	5-7	1-7	3	1	1	1	3	23
J. Teder	G	36	2-3	2-2	1-2	0-1	3	0	0	4	3	7
A. Tuhina		31	2-6	2-2	0-0	1-3	6	1	2	0	0	6
J. Clarke		12	2-6	0-0	0-0	1-3	0	1	0	2	1	4
G. Sarver		4	0-1	0-0	0-1	0-0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Totals		200	22-41 (.537)	14-18 (.778)	7-11 (.636)	6-31	17	5	4	14	12	65

UCLA
Player	Pos	Min	FG-FGA	FT-FTA	3P-3PA	OR-TR	Ast	Blk	Stl	TO	PF	Pts
E. Bessoir	F	31	4-7	1-1	2-5	3-5	3	1	0	1	1	11
C. Osborne	G	35	6-16	6-7	1-4	1-2	3	0	2	1	3	19
K. Rice	G	32	5-16	2-2	1-3	0-3	0	0	0	1	3	13
G. Conti	G	26	2-9	0-0	1-3	0-3	2	0	0	0	1	5
C. Brown	G	21	1-2	0-0	0-0	1-1	0	0	1	1	2	2
L. Sontag		21	2-4	0-0	0-1	2-2	0	0	1	2	2	4
G. Jaquez		17	1-2	3-4	0-1	2-5	0	0	1	0	1	5
L. Jones		10	1-4	0-0	0-2	0-0	0	0	0	0	3	2
C. Iwuala		7	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals		200	22-60 (.367)	12-14 (.857)	5-19 (.263)	14-29	8	1	5	8	16	61

Officials: Michol Murray, Brenda Pantjoa, Lisa Jones