Washington State has dynamic, versatile players who can give USC problems
Washington State is next for USC on Friday night. It’s the first game for the Trojans since their huge upset of mighty Stanford this past Sunday. This game is a bubble game, and it’s a leverage game between two teams which have a very good chance of making the NCAA Tournament. If both teams make the NCAAs, the Pac-12 will put eight teams in the Big Dance.
We wanted to get some detailed insights on Washington State heading into this game. Jeff Nusser follows WSU closely. He gave us a look at the Cougars’ key players and a few team tendencies:
“Everything starts with Charlisse Leger-Walker,” Nusser told us. “The New Zealander is one of the very best players in the Pac-12, and while she’s always been a potent scorer and tremendous on-ball defender, her all-around game has taken a big step forward this year: 20.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists. She’s running things from the point – taking over those reins from her now-graduated sister – and controlling games on the offensive end.
“That said, the biggest reason why the Cougs probably are better than either of the last two years is the development of Bella Murekatete. She’s 6-foot-3, athletic, and a problem for teams on both ends of the floor … when she’s not in foul trouble, which has been less of an issue this year than in her first couple of seasons. She would definitely be someone I would consider an x-factor. Her finishing around the basket has improved greatly (averaged 10.2 points last season to 14.2 this season), and she changes opponents’ shots with her length (about 1.5 blocks per game). If she plays 30 minutes, that’s great news for WSU.
“I’d identify two weaknesses (with WSU). First off, the Cougs can sometimes get kinda turnover crazy – it’s what nearly did them in against Oregon. Second, WSU isn’t a real deep team. They basically run a seven-player rotation, with six players getting the bulk of the minutes. It hasn’t been much of a problem this year, but I suppose the potential is there if they run into foul trouble.”
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