Montana no longer a thorn in side of WSU's women

Dec. 3—PULLMAN — Before Friday, the last time the Washington State women's basketball team beat Montana was well before WSU's current players were born.

That's no longer the case for the Cougs against an unlikely nonconference rival.

WSU (6-1) used a big third-quarter run, deadly 3-point shooting and stiff defense to pull away in the second half for a 77-57 victory against the Grizzlies (2-5) at Beasley Coliseum.

The win snapped a nine-game losing streak against Montana going back to 1988. It was also the 40th meeting between the two programs.

"I think as a team, this is a huge win for us," said WSU guard Charlisse Leger-Walker, who led all scorers with 24 points. "We hadn't beaten Montana in a while, so just getting some firsts and breaking new records as a team is awesome not only for our confidence going forward but for everybody else who is watching and tuning into our games — it's a big statement game."

16-0 run to pull away

With the game tied at 46-46 late in the third, Leger-Walker dished a dime to center Bella Murekatete for a fast-break layup to kickstart what would be a 16-0 run for WSU to put the game out of reach.

Moments later, Leger-Walker drained back-to-back 3-pointers for a 56-46 lead, WSU's first double-digit advantage of a game largely led by Montana up to that point, and the Cougars never looked back from there.

Leger-Walker and Murekatete combined for 45 points in the win.

But it was WSU's defense that stood out in holding Montana scoreless for that almost eight-minute stretch in the third and fourth quarters. WSU led 62-46 before a pair of Mack Konig free throws ended the run.

"We were scoring no matter what, we just needed to get some stops on defense," said Murekatete, a senior from Butare Huye, Rwanda, who prepped at Genesis Prep Academy in Post Falls. "At halftime coach told us to stay with our scheme and (know) what we have to do on defense and that helped us get some stops."

WSU's inside-out, 1-2 punch

Leger-Walker did most of her damage from outside, where she shot 6-of-12 (50 percent) from 3-point range, and Murekatete provided 21 points mostly in the paint as the duo continued their stellar scoring season.

But while Leger-Walker and Murekatete stand out on the stat sheet, it was the team's defense and passing that set up the two stars.

The sequence that led to the first of Leger-Walker's back-to-back 3s is a prime example. Forward Ula Motuga stole away a big rebound on the left wing, tossed the ball to point guard Astera Tuhina who quickly passed to guard Tara Wallack inside, then Wallack flipped a behind-shoulder pass to the waiting Leger-Walker at the top of the key for the wide-open 3.

Money.

WSU finished with 17 assists on the night, many coming in transition of the team's 15 steals.

Guard Johanna Teder had 10 points and five of those steals and fellow guard Grace Sarver added five steals off the bench.

"The defensive pressure really took them out of rhythm and we translate those into an aggressive attack at the rim and some of our best offense is when we're not running set plays," WSU coach Kamie Ethridge said.

Montana's 3 area connections shine

The Grizzlies got their biggest contributions from three players with connections to the Palouse.

Playing in just her second game of the season, Colfax graduate Carmen Gfeller led the Griz with 17 points. The senior forward went 4-of-4 from beyond the arc in the first half and finished 5-of-6 from long range.

"She's going to be one of the best players in the Big Sky and really created some problems for us," Ethridge said. "Did most of her damage in the first half; the fact we can put a lot of different people on her I think kind of wore her down. But 17 points, very efficient, her shooting was phenomenal."

Also big for Montana were WSU transfer Keeli Burton-Oliver (13 points, six rebounds) and Idaho transfer Gina Marxen (seven assists, five points).

"I thought Keeli had a great game too," Ethridge said.

MONTANA (2-5)

Fatkin 2-6 1-2 5, Burton-Oliver 5-7 1-2 13, Gfeller 6-11 0-0 17, Marxen 2-11 0-0 5, Stump 4-7 0-0 9, Konigh 2-6 2-2 6, Tsineke 1-2 0-0 2, Pirog 0-1 0-0 0, Bartsch 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-52 4-6 57.

WASHINGTON STATE (6-1)

Wallack 5-8 0-0 10, Leger-Walker 8-16 2-2 24, Motuga 1-5 2-2 4, Teder 3-7 1-2 10, Murekatete 10-19 1-2 21, Thuina 3-6 0-0 0, Gardner 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 30-63 6-8 77.

Montana 24 13 9 11—57

Washington State 25 15 18 19—77

3-point goals — Montana 9-14 (Gfeller 5-6, Burton-Oliver 2-3, Stump 1-2, Marxen 1-3), Washington State 11-28 (Leger-Walker 6-12, Teder 3-6, Tuhina 2-3, Motuga 0-2, Gardner 0-2, Wallack 0-3). Rebounds — Montana 29 (Burton-Oliver 6), Washington State 37 (Motuga 8). Assists — Montana 11 (Marxen 7), Washington State 17 (Leger-Walker 6). Total fouls — Montana 12, Washington State 10. A — 792.

Wiebe may be contacted at (208) 848-2260, swiebe@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @StephanSports.