Cougs Complete Road Sweep with a 76-63 Win at Colorado

Game Highlights | Krystal Leger-Walker Postgame | Boxscore

BOULDER, Colo. – The Washington State women's basketball team continued to roll on the road, as the Cougars got a pair of double-doubles from junior Ula Motuga and freshman Charlisse Leger-Walker en route to a 76-63 win at Colorado Sunday, Jan. 3. The win gives WSU its third-straight Pac-12 Conference road win for the first time since the 2012-13 season.

The Cougars got an all-around performance from its roster against the Buffaloes to improve to 6-1 overall on the year and 4-1 in Pac-12 play. Washington State is off to its best start since the 2015-16 season, when they opened the year at 8-1. Meanwhile, the 4-1 conference record gives WSU its best start in Pac-12 play since the 2013-14 season when they began the year at 5-0.

The last three-game Pac-12 road winning streak for the Cougars happened six seasons ago, when WSU collected wins at USC (79-75; Jan. 31), at Utah (83-73; Feb. 14) and again at Colorado (80-77; Feb. 16).

WSU had eight players score in the victory, led by redshirt senior Krystal Leger-Walker, who scored a career-best 25 points on the day. The elder Leger-Walker sister was one of three Washington State players to score double digits in the victory. Her younger sister freshman Charlisse Leger-Walker and junior Ula Motuga rounded out the trio, as each player recorded their first career double-double. The youngest Leger-Walker sister collected 16 points and dished out 10 assists, while Motuga pulled down 15 rebounds and scored 11 points in the win over Colorado.

The Cougs got another efficient-offensive performance, as they shot a season-best 54.1% from the field. Washington State was able to penetrate the Colorado defense throughout the afternoon, as they held a 22-point advantage in points in the paint at 46-24. WSU also made seven shots from behind-the-arc, as the Cougars have now made seven-or-more 3-point field goals in each of the last five games.

Washington State's defense turned in another solid effort against the Buffaloes, as they forced CU into 14 turnovers, which led to 18 Cougar points. WSU was able to collect double-digit steals for the third consecutive game, as they picked off 12 Colorado passes in the win.

The Cougars kept Colorado at arms-length all afternoon, as an 11-0 run at the end of the first quarter gave WSU a lead they would never relinquish. Washington State led for 33:46 in Sunday's game and took a game-high 17-point lead with 7:54 left to play in the game before settling for the 13-point road victory.

COUG QUOTES
Coach Ethridge on the Road Win: "We're so excited to get this road win. We get to come home after picking up two wins on the road We managed this game so well against a tough team and we had control of the game for the most part."

Coach Ethridge on Krystal Leger-Walker's performance: "She played like a leader today. When we were struggling, she took charge and made big plays offensively. (Teams) are game-planning around Charlisse and maybe that will get things to open up for (Krystal) a bit more. She was hunting for her shot today and that's unusual for her, but we needed everyone of them."

COUG NOTES
-      Washington State picks up its first win in Colorado since the 2015-16 season. The last WSU win in Boulder was on Jan. 2, 2016 when the Cougs picked up a 74-66 win.
-        The 13-point win is the Cougar's largest margin of victory over Colorado at the CU Events Center in program history.
-        Redshirt senior Krystal Leger-Walker scored a career-high 25 points in the win over Colorado. Leger-Walker's previous career-high in points was 22, which she set at Northern Colorado in a game against Denver on Nov. 11, 2018.
-        Leger-Walker's 25-point performance is her second career game at the NCAA Division l level with 20-or-more points.
-        Junior Ula Motuga and freshman Charlisse Leger-Walker each collected a double-double in Sunday's win. It marks the first time since Dec. 19, 2019 that WSU had two players record double-doubles in the same game. Borislava Hristova (19 pts, 10 reb) and Bella Murekatete (15 pts, 13 reb) were the last two to accomplish the feat against UC Irvine.
-        Junior Ula Motuga posted her first career double-double with a 15-reb, 11-point effort against the Buffaloes.
-        Motuga's 15-rebound performance is the first time a WSU player has collected 15-or-more rebounds since Maria Kostoukova's 19-rebound effort against Nebraska on Nov. 16, 2018.
-        Freshman Charlisse Leger-Walker also collected her first career double-double with a 16-point, 10-assist effort.
-        Leger-Walker's 10-assist performance is the most assists recorded by a WSU player since Chanelle Molina's 11-assist effort against Boise State on Dec. 1, 2018.
-        Charlisse Leger-Walker becomes just the seventh player in WSU history to collect a double-double via points and assists. The last Coug to post a double-double with double-figure points and assists was Chanelle Molina, who collected 18 points and 10 assists in a win over Washington on Feb. 15, 2019.