PULLMAN – Too many turnovers and not enough rebounding doomed the Washington State women’s basketball team in a 65-54 loss to Colorado on Sunday at Beasley Coliseum.
WSU made 17 turnovers, which led to 25 points for the Buffaloes. Colorado’s 11 turnovers resulted in a mere seven points for the Cougars (10-4, 0-3 Pac-12).
Colorado (12-3, 2-1) had a 38-24 rebounding advantage and a 16-4 edge in second-chance points.
“Just disappointed in our effort,” WSU coach Kamie Ethridge said. “It felt like from the beginning of the game that we were playing in mud. It was concerning coming back today after a hard-fought game (Friday) against a team like Utah. We have a young team. We didn’t have some of our leadership around and didn’t reproduce that energy from the other night. It was a sluggish, undisciplined performance and we got beat by a more disciplined, physical team.
“They were a team willing to do the work and that played out in our decision-making and in our rebounding numbers.”
Senior Bella Murekatete led the Cougars with 15 points and sophomore Tara Wallack added 13. WSU again played without leading scorer Charlisse Leger-Walker, who school officials said was in her home country of New Zealand dealing with a family matter.