Washington State guard Charlisse Leger-Walker named to All-Pac-12 preseason team
To the surprise of no one, Washington State guard Charlisse Leger-Walker was named Monday to the preseason All-Pac-12 Conference team.
Leger-Walker, a junior from New Zealand, is coming off another strong season as she led the Cougars to a tie for second place in the conference and a second straight berth in the NCAA Tournament.
WSU post Bella Murekatete earned honorable mention honors. On Tuesday, the conference will announce its preseason predictions.
No player in the Pac-12 has scored more points in the last two years than Leger-Walker’s 935, and she’s averaged 17.3 points per game in that span.
Last year, Leger-Walker averaged 16.1 points and 5.2 rebounds while playing 36 minutes per game. She has scored double-digit points in 87% (47 of 54) of her career games and has collected the most 20-point games for an active Pac-12 player with 23.
This is second straight preseason selection for Leger-Walker, a two-time all-conference pick and the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in 2020-21.
Murekatete burst onto the scene last season for the Cougars, as she set a career-high in nearly every statistical category en route to being named the 2021-22 Pac-12 Co-Most Improved Player of the Year.
The 6-3 center, the first known Rwandan-born NCAA Division I women’s basketball player, averaged a career-best 10.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in 30 starts last season.
The Cougars will get the 2022-23 season off to an unofficial start Sunday, when they host Westmont (California) in an exhibition game that tips off at 2 p.m. The regular season opens Nov. 7, when Loyola Marymount visits Pullman for a noon tipoff.
The preseason all-conference team was selected by media members covering the Pac-12.
Other honorees are Te-Hina Paopao, Sedona Prince and Endyia Rogers of Oregon; Cameron Brink and Haley Jones of Stanford; Jade Loville, Cate Reese and Shaina Pellington of Arizona; Jenna Johnson and Gianna Kneepkens of Utah; Charisma Osborne of UCLA; Jaylyn Sherrod of Colorado, and Talia von Oelhoffen of Oregon State.