Washington State women sweep Apple Cup series with 57-43 win over Washington
![Washington State guard Krystal Leger-Walker drives against Washington on Sunday in Seattle. The Cougars beat the Huskies for the fifth straight time. (Courtesy WSU Athletics)](https://thumb.spokesman.com/uO6q6eDqVn9RLDznlEJuDvMVKgE=/600x0/media.spokesman.com/graphics/2018/07/sr-loader.png)
From staff reports
The women’s basketball edition of the Apple Cup rivalry has been dominated by Washington State lately, and nothing changed on that front Sunday.
Charlisse Leger-Walker fired in 19 points to lead the Cougars to their second win over Washington in three days, this time a 57-43 rout in Seattle in a Pac-12 Conference matchup.
WSU (13-6, 5-3 Pac-12) has won five consecutive games in the series, the first time the Cougars have accomplished that feat since the mid-1970s. Head coach Kamie Ethridge improved to 7-1 in the series.
UW (5-9, 0-6) closed within 45-39 with Haley Van Dyke’s jumper with 4 minutes remaining, but the Cougars’ Johanna Teder made a pair of 3-pointers in a 12-2 spurt that put the game out of reach.
Teder finished the game with 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting. She made 4 of 6 3-point attempts.
WSU, which beat the Huskies 60-56 in Pullman on Friday, trailed 8-2 in the first quarter before Leger-Walker knocked down three jumpers in a row during a 10-0 run that gave the Cougars a four-point advantage. Teder’s 3-pointer at the buzzer sent the Cougars into the second quarter holding a 15-10 lead.
Krystal Leger-Walker made a 3-pointer to give the Cougars a 22-10 cushion at the 6:26 mark of the second quarter. WSU mustered just one more basket before halftime, however, and the Huskies narrowed the gap to 24-21 with Missy Peterson’s bucket just ahead of the horn.
The teams traded the lead several times in the third quarter, and Van Dyke’s bucket with 3:33 left in the period gave UW its final lead at 35-34. The Cougars scored the final seven points of the quarter to take a 41-35 lead into the final period.
Van Dyke led the Huskies with 17 points.
WSU pestered the Huskies defensively and forced 18 turnovers. Bella Murekatete swiped five steals for the Cougars.
The turnover disparity – WSU had seven – helped the Cougars attempt 62 shots from the field compared to UW’s 46.