Preview:
Following our difficult 1-1 trip to the south and the nailbiter loss to South Carolina, we return to the West for a trip that was originally going to include Washington and Washington State. Unfortunately, protocols in the Washington team caused the cancellation of that game, but the more difficult part of the road trip remains: Washington State. By now fans of this board know the story: Washington State WBB has never in its history beaten Stanford WBB--an extraordinary record. But WSU has become much more competitive in recent years as coach Kamie Ethridge got them to the NCAAs last year for the first time in 30 years.
Ethridge has been riding on the production of the Leger-Walker sisters from New Zealand, chiefly sophomore Charlisse, a 5'10" guard, who has averaged 17ppg in a mix of treys, drives, and mid rangers that are quite difficult to defend. WSU's second leading scorer is Bella Murekatete, a 6'3" junior center from Rwanda averaging 12 pts and 9 rebounds, and with 24 blocks already in this young season. Krystal Leger-Walker is more the point guard, with a good assist/turnover ratio. WSU tends to start Ula Matuga, an Aussie guard, and Johanna Teder, an Estonian guard, but at times has started Tara Wallack, a 6'2" freshman Canadian guard. Thus all 5 starters and the 6th off the bench are not from the United States, making this an interesting international team. Just getting everyone to Pullman for the season must have required some logistical juggling, and I doubt that many (if any) of these teammates traveled home for the holidays.
The Cougs are 8-3 so far this year, unranked, rated 45 by Massey. We have two common opponents. They beat UC Davis handily, 68-42, and barely edged Gonzaga 51-49. I am struck by how similar to our own scores both of those games were. In their marquee game against North Carolina State they fell apart and lost 34-62, but they beat Miami handily and also USF, which has proven to be a tough team this year. However, WSU has lost its last two on the road to BYU and then were thrown into a make up game the next day when Cornell cancelled and Stony Brook was added. They lost to Stony Brook 62-69. That last loss hurt a lot. That was Stony Brook's first win at home over a power 5 opponent in its history, and it just shows how the topsy-turvy world of Covid can confound the best laid plans. (San Diego's surprising showing against Texas is a similar scenario, although they did not win.) In the loss to Stony Brook Charlisse did score 19 points, but shot badly, going 6-27. If she had hit at her average level (37%) the outcome would have been different.
WSU is a better team than the last loss would indicate, and they are playing at home in a place that it is very difficult to travel to--particularly in the depth of winter snow storms. Let's hope Tara can keep the team focused on this (at times) dangerous opponent and get us back to Maples with another win.
Following our difficult 1-1 trip to the south and the nailbiter loss to South Carolina, we return to the West for a trip that was originally going to include Washington and Washington State. Unfortunately, protocols in the Washington team caused the cancellation of that game, but the more difficult part of the road trip remains: Washington State. By now fans of this board know the story: Washington State WBB has never in its history beaten Stanford WBB--an extraordinary record. But WSU has become much more competitive in recent years as coach Kamie Ethridge got them to the NCAAs last year for the first time in 30 years.
Ethridge has been riding on the production of the Leger-Walker sisters from New Zealand, chiefly sophomore Charlisse, a 5'10" guard, who has averaged 17ppg in a mix of treys, drives, and mid rangers that are quite difficult to defend. WSU's second leading scorer is Bella Murekatete, a 6'3" junior center from Rwanda averaging 12 pts and 9 rebounds, and with 24 blocks already in this young season. Krystal Leger-Walker is more the point guard, with a good assist/turnover ratio. WSU tends to start Ula Matuga, an Aussie guard, and Johanna Teder, an Estonian guard, but at times has started Tara Wallack, a 6'2" freshman Canadian guard. Thus all 5 starters and the 6th off the bench are not from the United States, making this an interesting international team. Just getting everyone to Pullman for the season must have required some logistical juggling, and I doubt that many (if any) of these teammates traveled home for the holidays.
The Cougs are 8-3 so far this year, unranked, rated 45 by Massey. We have two common opponents. They beat UC Davis handily, 68-42, and barely edged Gonzaga 51-49. I am struck by how similar to our own scores both of those games were. In their marquee game against North Carolina State they fell apart and lost 34-62, but they beat Miami handily and also USF, which has proven to be a tough team this year. However, WSU has lost its last two on the road to BYU and then were thrown into a make up game the next day when Cornell cancelled and Stony Brook was added. They lost to Stony Brook 62-69. That last loss hurt a lot. That was Stony Brook's first win at home over a power 5 opponent in its history, and it just shows how the topsy-turvy world of Covid can confound the best laid plans. (San Diego's surprising showing against Texas is a similar scenario, although they did not win.) In the loss to Stony Brook Charlisse did score 19 points, but shot badly, going 6-27. If she had hit at her average level (37%) the outcome would have been different.
WSU is a better team than the last loss would indicate, and they are playing at home in a place that it is very difficult to travel to--particularly in the depth of winter snow storms. Let's hope Tara can keep the team focused on this (at times) dangerous opponent and get us back to Maples with another win.
