Murekatete’s Game-Winner Sends Cougs to WBIT Semifinals

Mar 28, 2024

PULLMAN, Wash. (March 28, 2024) – Washington State women's basketball moved past No. 2-seeded Toledo 63-61 Thursday night, ending the game on a 6-0 run that was capped by Bella Murekatete's game-winning shot with three seconds left in the game.

The Cougars (21-14) advance to a postseason semifinal game for just the second time in program history, also doing so in the 2017 WNIT.

Murekatete finished the game with 11 points, nine rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Beyonce Bea led the team with 12 boards to go with six points, two steals, a block and an assist.

Eleonora Villa had a team-high 15 points, while also recording four assists and a rebound.

Tara Wallack scored 14 points, grabbed six boards, and dished three assists to go with a block and a steal.

Astera Tuhina finished with six points, three assists and two rebounds.

Jenna Villa recorded five points, while Jessica Clarke had four points, two steals, an assist and a block.

Early threes from E. Villa and Wallack put the Cougars up early, 8-3, but Toledo came back to even things up at 12-12 with two minutes left in the first. Buckets from Tuhina and J. Villa put WSU back on top as they took a 16-14 lead into the second quarter.

As things went back-and-forth, four points each from Wallack and Tuhina kept the Cougs out in front, leading 24-21 midway through the second. Toledo wasn't done, though, taking a 25-24 lead with 3:53 left in the second quarter, and after two ties and two lead changes in the final few minutes of the first half, the Rockets held a 34-30 lead going into the locker room.

Toledo came out of the break scoring six unanswered to lead by as many as 10 points, 40-30. The Cougs answered that, however, with an 8-2 spurt using an E. Villa floater and a pullup from Wallack to cut the Toledo lead to 42-37 with five minutes left in the third.

A trey and a floater from E. Villa made it a 2-point game, 48-46, before a J. Villa triple put WSU in front 49-48. But Toledo answered with a three of their own to send the game into the fourth quarter with a 51-49 lead.

Teams continued to go blow-for-blow in the fourth, as Murekatete locked things up again 51-51 to start the final period. Toledo jumped back in front, but buckets from Murekatete and Bea kept it a one-possession game and had the Cougs trailing 57-55 with 4:50 to play.

Teams continued to trade buckets until WSU was down 61-57 in closing minutes. Clarke sank a jumper to pull the Cougars back to within a possession, and with under a minute to go, Bea tied the game up at 61-all.

As time ticked down, a Murekatete steal on the other end of the court put the ball into the hands of the Cougar offense one final time, and with three seconds left, a 17-footer from Murekatete off the in-bound from Wallack connected to give WSU a 63-61 lead.

After a Toledo timeout, the Rockets were able to get one final shot up as time expired, but it rimmed out, making the 63-61 Cougar victory final.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Bella Murekatete

Grabbed nine rebounds to extend her program lead to 981 career rebounds
11 points today puts her at 1,550 career points, fifth most in program history
Played in game number 152, and started her 144th game, extending her program lead in both categories

Beyonce Bea

Grabbed 12 rebounds to extend career rebounds total to 1,092
Scored six points to extend her career points total to 2,122 points
Appeared in her 145th career game

Eleonora Villa

With 15 points tonight, she has scored in double-figures 28 times this season, tied for most double-digit scoring games by a WSU freshman
15 points tonight extends her season total to 449, fourth-most ever by a WSU freshman
Made two three-pointers to push her season total to 52, which is the third-most threes by a WSU freshman
35 minutes played puts her at 1,162 this season, most ever by a WSU freshman

UP NEXT
The Cougars advance to the WBIT semifinals at Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. to take on No. 4-seeded Illinois on Monday, April 1. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET and can be watched live on ESPNU.

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