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Washington State women make school history, claiming first basketball title of any kind in 82 years

ellen j. horrow, usa today
·2 min read

In one of the most improbable weekends in college basketball history, Washington State won the women’s Pac-12 conference tournament championship Sunday in Las Vegas, edging No. 16 UCLA, 65-61, to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament later this month.

What made the Cougars' championship so improbable?

  • It was the first-ever tournament championship for the Washington State women’s basketball program.

  • It was the first basketball championship for the school period in 82 years since the men's team won the Pac-12 regular-season title in the 1940-41 season.

  • Washington State won the tournament with victories over three ranked teams: No. 4 Utah, No. 21 Colorado and No. 16 UCLA.

  • The Cougars were the first No. 7 seed to even advance to the women's Pac-12 championship game.

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Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 23 points and Bella Murekatete added 21 to lead the Cougars (23-10) and were named to the All-Tournament team.

Washington State, whose offense was red-hot all weekend, shot 53.7% in the game, hitting 22 of 41 from the floor, including 7 of 11 (63.6%) from 3-point range. The Cougars were the most efficient team in the tournament, draining 92 of 199 from the floor, a 46.2% clip.

Washington State center Bella Murekatete celebrates after the Cougars beat UCLA in the final of the Pac-12 women's basketball tournament.
Washington State center Bella Murekatete celebrates after the Cougars beat UCLA in the final of the Pac-12 women's basketball tournament.

UCLA made its own history, becoming just the second No. 5 seed to make the title game and making the 2023 tournament the first with no Top-4 seed playing in the final. The previous lowest seed to make the championship round was the No. 6 seed, twice, in 2009 (USC) and 2022 (Utah).

Charisma Osborne led UCLA (25-9) with 19 points, Kiki Rice chipped in with 13 and Emily Bessoir added 11. All three Bruins were named to the All-Tournament team. UCLA defeated 20th-ranked Arizona in the quarterfinals and No. 5 Stanford in the semifinals.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Washington State tops UCLA in women's Pac-12 tournament, makes history