Cougs Fall to No. 6 Stanford at Beasley on Wednesday

Game Highlights | Kamie Ethridge Postgame | Boxscore

PULLMAN, Wash. – The Washington State women's basketball team dropped the first of two Pac-12 Conference contests against No. 6 Stanford at Beasley Coliseum this week, as the Cougars were handed a 71-49 defeat by the Cardinal on Wednesday, Jan. 27.

The Cougars got a team-high 12-point performance from sophomore Johanna Teder, as the guard made a team-best four shots from behind the arc. Junior Ula Motuga also notched her second career double-double, as the forward from Logan, Australia scored 10 points, while pulling down a team-best 10 rebounds against the Cardinal.

The loss moves Washington State to 8-5 overall on the year, while the Cougars now stand one game about .500 in Pac-12 play at 6-5. For Stanford, they improve to 13-2 overall in 2020-21, while they move to 10-2 in league games.

Washington State could not keep up with a hot-shooting Stanford squad on Wednesday night, as the Cardinal shot 52.9% over the first 10 minutes of play to take a 19-9 lead over the Cougs. Stanford's keen-shooting continued in the second stanza, as they posted an even 50% shooting percentage in the frame to lead WSU by as many as 30 points in the second quarter.

The Cougars regrouped after the halftime break and opened the third quarter on an 8-0 run to cut their deficit to under 20 points, 44-26, after back-to-back 3-pointers from Teder. The guard's performance in the third sparked WSU, as they outscored the Cardinal in the frame, 19-10, to cut its deficit to 17 points heading into the fourth quarter.

The Cougars got back-to-back buckets from redshirt senior Krystal Leger-Walker and freshman Charlisse Leger-Walker to begin the fourth quarter, pulling WSU to within 13 points at 54-41 with 9:04 left to play. There would be no comeback on this night for the Cougars, as Stanford limited WSU to just one field goal over the final six minutes of play to collect a 22-point win over the Cougs.

As a team, Washington State shot 32.8% from the field against No. 6 Stanford, while the Cardinal shot 47.6%. WSU was able to rebound from a slow defensive start in the first half, as the Cougs limited the No. 6-ranked team in the country to 10 points below their season scoring average.

The Cougars return to action this Friday, Jan. 29, as they conclude their two-game week against Stanford at Beasley Coliseum. Tip-off for Friday's contest is set for 12 p.m. PT and will be streamed live on Pac-12 Plus.

Cougs Quotes
Coach Ethridge on Tonight's Result: "I think we just got beat by a really good team. They taught us a lot about what some of the best teams in the country look, and play, like. They're resilient at what they do, and obviously we got off to a bad start in the first quarter, and even worse in the second quarter. We turned the ball over and let them dictate things a bit. I think we got a little rattled. When you let (Stanford) score 44 points in a half, you're not going to beat them."
 
Coach Ethridge on outscoring Stanford in the second half: "I was proud with how we responded in the second half. I thought we responded the right way, but we did it a little bit too late. We got a bunch of stops late in the game and forced them into some turnovers in the second half. But credit to Stanford. They are a good team and they're long and hard to guard. They really make the game hard and we didn't respond well tonight."

Coug Notes

• With tonight's loss, the Cougars fall to 0-68 all-time against Stanford.
• The 12-point performance from Johanna Teder marks her second career game with double-digit points. It is also the first time she has scored double-digit points since notching a career-high 20 points on Dec. 19 in the win over No. 21-ranked Oregon State.
• Junior Ula Motuga collected her second double-double of the season with a 10-point, 10-rebound effort against Stanford. Motuga's first double-double came on Jan. 3, when she had a 15-rebound, 11-point performance at Colorado.
• Freshman Charlisse Leger-Walker had her 12-game double-digit scoring streak snapped, as the guard scored six points against the Cardinal. Leger-Walker still pulled down seven rebounds, while handing out three assists on Wednesday.
• Washington State held a 40-38 edge in rebounds over Stanford.