Women's Basketball Takes on No. 5/4 NC State this Saturday

NASSAU, Bahamas – The Washington State women's basketball team seeks its fifth-straight win to open the season when they take on No. 5/4 N.C. State this Saturday, Nov. 27, in the final game of the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. PT and will stream live on FloHoops.com.

WASHINGTON STATE (RV) (4-0, 0-0 Pac-12) vs. No. 5/4 NC State (5-1, 0-0 ACC) | Saturday, Nov. 27 | 3 p.m. PT | Nassau, Bahamas | Baha Mar Convention Center
  Live Stats | StatBroadcast
  Watch | FloHoops.com (Paid Subscription Requried)
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STARTING FIVE
>> Washington State will be seeking its first 5-0 start to a season since the 2015-16 campaign. WSU has opened a season at 5-0 four times in program history: 1978-79, 1986-87, 1998-99, 2015-16. The Cougs will also be searching for a perfect trip to the Bahamas, as they knocked off Miami, 62-47, on Thursday.

>> The Cougars and the Wolfpack will be meeting up on the hardwood for the third time. North Carolina State has won both matchups, with the last one ironically coming in the Bahamas at the 2007 Junkanoo Jam in Freeport. NC State has won both of the previous matchups, claiming a 92-64 win at the 1995 Wahine Classic in Hawaii then knocked off the Cougars 12 years later, 77-51, in the Bahamas.

>> Saturday's matchup against the No. 5/4-ranked Wolfpack will be the first time this season the Cougars have taken on a top-25 team. Last season, WSU knocked off three top-25 teams, with wins over No. 5/4 UCLA (67-63), No. 7/10 Arizona (71-69 OT) and No. 21 Oregon State (61-55). Washington State has played a total of 33 games against ranked teams during the Ethridge Era.

>> Redshirt fifth-year senior Krystal Leger-Walker enters Saturday's game as the Pac-12's leader in assists at 5.2 per game. Leger-Walker has handed out at least one assists in her last 42 games, a streak that dates back to her last season at Northern Colorado.

>> Sophomore Charlisse Leger-Walker's 13-point performance against Miami extended her double-digit scoring streak to 13 games. She has scored 10-or-more points in 26 of her 28 games played at Washington State.

Protecting The Rim
Washington State has been defending the paint with high efficiency this season, as the Cougars head into the weekend as the top shot-blocking team in the Pac-12. WSU is currently averaging 7.0 blocks per game, which is the sixth-best average in the NCAA. Junior Bella Murekatete currently ranks second in the Pac-12 and fourth in the nation in block shots, as the center from Rwanda is swatting 3.75 shots per game.

She's Not Just a Scorer
Due to an injury to Ula Motuga, sophomore Charlisse Leger-Walker had to step into the power forward position for the Cougars against Miami and responded with a career-best 15 rebounds. It marks the second time that a Cougar has pulled down 15 caroms in a game, as junior Bella Murekatete was the first to accomplish the feat back on Nov. 12 against Northern Arizona.

Receiving Votes
Washington State once again earned votes in the most recent Associated Press and USA Today/WBCA Top-25 polls. The Cougars picked up nine votes in this week's USA Today Coaches Poll, while earning Eight votes in the AP Poll.

Teder's Hot Start
After missing the first two games of the season due to having to play for Estonia at the FIBA Eurobasket 2023 Qualifiers, junior Johanna Teder has led the Cougars in scoring in each of her first two games back with WSU. Teder scored 13 points in last Sunday's win at Idaho then followed that up with a 15-point performance in Thursday's victory over Miami. It marks the first time in her career that Teder has led the Cougs in scoring in back-to-back games.

Scouting the Wolfpack
North Carolina State comes into Saturday's matchup as the No. 4 ranked team in the country according to the USA Today/WBCA coaches poll, while they are No. 5 in the Associated Press poll. The Wolfpack are 5-1 overall, with their lone loss being to top-ranked South Carolina.

N.C. State averages 83.3 points per game, while shooting 50.7 percent from the field as a team. The Wolfpack have four players who average double-digit points, with Elissa Cunane pacing the way at 15.3 points per game. North Carolina State shoots 41.9 percent from behind the arc, while they have four players who have made eight-or-more 3-point field goals.

The Wolfpack are allowing teams to score 59.3 points per game against them. Teams are shooting 37.4 percent from the field against N.C. State, while limiting its foes to 27.4 percent from behind the arc.

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