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WSU Men's Basketball

Washington State sisters Charlisse and Krystal Leger-Walker earn all-Pac-12 honors; Spokane native Lexie Hull earns third nod

Washington State guard Charlisse Leger-Walker (5) drives past Stanford guard Anna Wilson (3) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022, in Stanford, Calif. Stanford won 61-54.  (Associated Press)
By Jim Allen jima@spokesman.com

After dominating the Pac-12 Conference on the stat sheets, Washington State’s sister duo of Charlisse and Krystal Leger-Walker won all-conference honors Tuesday.

Charlisse, a sophomore guard, was named to the 10-player all-conference squad for the second straight year after leading the Pac-12 in field goals made. Krystal, a senior guard who led the conference in assists, was an honorable mention selection.

Junior post Bella Murekatete was named the conference’s inaugural Most Improved Co-Player of the Year, sharing the honors with Southern California’s Jordan Jenkins.

The conference honors cap a historic regular season for the Cougars, who went 19-9 overall to set the program record for most wins in a season in the NCAA era.

WSU also set a record for most conference wins, going 11-6 in the rugged Pac-12.

Charlisse, the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in 2020-21, is the fourth WSU player in program history to earn multiple All-Pac-12 accolades in their careers.

She leads the Cougars in scoring this season at 16.3 points per game, fourth best in the Pac-12. She was second in the Pac-12 in minutes played, just behind her older sister.

Charlisse scored 20 or more points in a conference-high 10 games this season, which includes a career-high 30-point performance at Colorado on Feb. 5. Leger-Walker also scored 10 or more points in 23 of her 28 games played this season.

The elder Leger-Walker sister concluded her second regular season with the Cougars as the Pac-12’s assist leader for the second straight season.

Murekatete, a 6-foot-3 post, made remarkable strides this season, posting career highs in points (10.3), rebounds (7.3), blocks (1.7) and steals (1.5) .

Last season, she averaged 6.7 points and 5.3 rebounds.

Spokane native Lexie Hull of Stanford was named to the all-conference team for the third time. She’s a two-time all-defensive team selection and was recently named Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year.

Other honorees were: Player of the Year, Haley Jones, Stanford; Defensive Player of the Year, Cameron Brink, Stanford; Freshman of the Year, Gianna Kneepkens, Utah; Sixth Player of the Year, Quay Miller, Colorado; and Coach of the Year, Tara VanDerveer, Stanford.