Washington State women dominant on defense, finish homestand with 64-47 win over Idaho State

From staff reports

PULLMAN – Washington State’s offense played catch-up with the defense on Sunday.

Considering how dominant the Cougars were on the defensive end of the court, that’s not such a bad thing.

The 24th-ranked Cougars forced Idaho State into a woeful shooting performance, and WSU overcame its own offensive struggles in a 64-47 victory in a nonconference women’s basketball game at Beasley Coliseum.

WSU finished its season-opening homestand with a pristine record through three games. The Cougars have held each of their opponents to worse than 40% shooting from the floor, and Idaho State (1-1) couldn’t crack that mark in any of four quarters. WSU held the Bengals to a 17-for-66 performance (25.8%), and Idaho State made just 1 of 11 shots in a four-point second quarter that allowed the Cougars to expand their lead to 38-17 at halftime.

WSU’s Bella Murekatete led all scorers with 16 points, and she also collected seven rebounds. Eleonora Villa and Tara Wallack added 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Alex Covill played an important 16 minutes off the bench for the Cougars. She compiled four of her team’s eight blocks, and she also secured a team-high eight rebounds.

WSU made just 4 of 23 3-point attempts (17.4%), but the Cougars were 20 for 36 (55.5%) inside the arc. Standout senior Charlisse Leger-Walker scored six points on 2-for-10 shooting, including 0 for 7 from distance.

Tasia Jordan led Idaho State with 10 points, and Laura Bello added nine points and 11 rebounds.

The Cougars travel to play Montana in Missoula on Tuesday at 6 p.m. That begins a stretch of five straight games away from home, including a three-game stint at the Cancun Challenge in Cancun, Mexico, Nov. 23-25. WSU returns home to host Texas A&M-Commerce on Nov. 29.