Cougars beat Huskies in Seattle to sweep Apple Cup weekend

The Washington State Cougars defeated the Washington Huskies for the second time in under 45 hours, this time in Seattle by a score of 57-43.

Washington State (13-6, 5-3 in Pac-12), which needed overtime to dispatch UW on Friday, won more comfortably this time around, using the final quarter to add on to a lead that grew as large as 16 with 40 seconds to go. Washington (5-9, 0-6 in Pac-12) only trailed by six coming into the fourth quarter but could only muster eight points in the final ten minutes of play.

Kamie Ethridge continues her dominance over the in-state rival, winning her fifth straight over Washington and her seventh in eight tries since being hired.

Charlisse Leger-Walker, whose shot has been unusually off the past few games, got going early for WSU. The New Zealander scored eight of the Cougars’ first nine points. WSU was set to take a four-point lead in the second quarter, but Johanna Teder had a different idea.

The Cougars began the first 3:47 of the second quarter on a 7-0 run to build their lead up to 12. WSU only got one more shot to fall for the remaining six and a half minutes as UW, led by seven points from junior Haley Van Dyke, ended the quarter on a 11-2 run. Missy Peterson hit the buzzer-beater this time around, and the Huskies cut WSU’s halftime lead down to three. The rivals exchanged leads throughout the third quarter, with UW’s leads never growing more than a possession. The Cougars took the lead back for good on a Bella Murekatete lay-up with just over two minutes to go in the third quarter. The lay-up sparked a seven-point run for WSU to end the quarter up six.

The Huskies remained within reach, but the Cougar offense put any thoughts of a UW comeback away by going on a 9-0 run to balloon the lead to 15. Teder put the exclamation point on the Apple Cup win with her fourth three of the game to push the lead up to its largest of the day at 16. The Huskies added a basket with 5 seconds to play to reach the game’s final score of 57-43.

WSU finishes the three-game week perfect, with the trio of victories putting the Cougars right back on track on their quest to reach the tournament for an unprecedented second consecutive year. Charlisse Leger-Walker’s eight-point first quarter is hopefully a sign that she’s turned the corner and put the cold streak behind her. She finished as the game’s leading scorer with 19 points. The Huskies were able to hang around on Friday due to a plethora of offensive rebounds, but this time around, the Cougars limited the Huskies to just eight offensive rebounds.

The Cougars will spend next weekend in the mountains as they play Colorado Buffaloes on Friday night and the Utah Utes on Sunday morning.