PULLMAN — Seemingly motivated by the return of their standout guard, the Washington State women's basketball team emphatically put an end to their two-game losing streak.

Junior guard Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 26 points to lead three players in double figures as the Cougars dumped Washington 66-52 in Pac-12 Conference action Sunday before 1,057 fans at Beasley Coliseum.

"I've kind of been rubbing it in their faces so much of being 0-3 (in the conference before the win) and I'm sure I've been brutal in practice trying to continue to make this team handle adversity a little bit better than we did this past weekend," WSU coach Kamie Ethridge said. "I just think this week was a big step for us, and we responded great after that loss (to) Colorado. It was a big statement game for us."

Senior center Bella Murekatete added 20 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots for the Cougars (11-4, 1-3), who had lost their first three games in conference play for the first time since the 2010-11 season before this one. Senior forward Ula Motgua tallied 11 points, six rebounds and two steals.

Dalayah Daniels was the lone player in double figures for the Huskies (9-5, 1-3), finishing with 10 points but just four in the final three quarters.

But the focus all was on the return of Leger-Walker, who had missed home losses Dec. 30 to Utah and Jan. 1 against Colorado dealing with a personal issue in her homeland of New Zealand. But the 5-foot-10 All-Pac-12 standout returned with avengance. She scored 22 of her points in the second half.

"I don't think necessarily anything changed from (UW's) end defensively, I just think in the first half I was just trying to feel the game out and see how they were playing," Leger-Walker said. "At halftime, coach was talking about the looks we should be getting were, and I think just me going in a bit more aggressive and taking open shots when they were there helped out a lot."

It also coincided with one of Washington State's better shooting games of the season. The Cougars went 30-for-56 (53.6%) from the field, just the fourth time this year they've shot 50% percent or better. It was the third-best shooting percentage of the season for Washington State, which hit 58.6% of its attempts in a season-opening 93-41 victory against Loyola Marymount on Nov. 7.

In the teams' first meeting of the year, Lauren Schwartz, Jayda Noble, Trinity Oliver and Haley Van Dyke combined to score 57 of the Huskies' 82 points in a 16-point victory Dec. 11 in Seattle. This time, the quartet finished with a combined 23.

Murekatete got the Cougars going in the first quarter, scoring eight of her points as the two teams exchanged five ties and headed to the second quarter knotted at 14-14.

However, Washington State started asserting its will in the second, as it got five consecutive points from Motuga and a jumper from Leger-Walker to build a seven-point lead almost thee minutes in. The Cougars got it to 11 at 29-18 on a layup from sophomore guard Tara Wallack with 3:03 left before halftime. Washington State went into the locker room up 31-24.

An 8-2 spurt to start the third quarter, including six from Murekatete, had the Cougar advantge quickly up to 13 just 1:48 in. The Huskies slowly chipped away, getting to within 46-39 going to the fourth.

Then it became the Leger-Walker show. She scored seven consecutive points in a two-minute period midway through the quarter to stretch the Washington State lead from 55-48 to 62-48, and the Cougars finished it from there.

Washington State, despite committing 19 turnovers, held Washington to just 20-for-60 (33.3%) shooting and had 15 miscues itself. The Cougars also held a 50-26 edge in points in the paint.

Washington State next plays at 7 p.m. Friday at Oregon State.

WASHINGTON (9-5, 1-3)

Schwartz 3-9 0-0 7, Noble 2-12 2-2 6, Van Dyke 2-8 1-4 5, Daniels 3-7 4-6 10, Oliver 2-6 2-2 6, Stines 4-5 0-0 8, Brown 2-7 0-0 5, Grothaus 1-2 0-0 2, Ladine 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 20-60 9-14 52.

WASHNGTON STATE (11-4, 1-3)

Wallack 1-7 0-0 2, Leger-Walker 11-7 2-3 26, Motuga 5-6 0-0 11, Teder 1-2 0-0 2, Murekatete 10-16 0-0 20, Gardner 1-2 0-0 3, Clarke 1-3 0-0 2, Sarver 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 30-56 2-3 66.

Washington 14 10 15 13—52

Washington State 14 17 15 20—66

3-point goals — Washington 3-17 (Ladine 1-1, Schwartz 1-3, Brown 1-4, Oliver 0-1, Stines 0-1, Van Dyke 0-2, Noble 0-5), Washington State 4-11 (Leger-Walker 2-3, Gardner 1-1, Motuga 1-2, Sarver 0-2, Wallack 0-3). Rebounds — Washington 34 (Noble, Van Dyke 6), Washington State 34 (Murekatete 8). Assists — Washington 9 (Schwartz, Noble, Daniels, Oliver 2), Washington State 13 (Leger-Walker 4). Total fouls — Washington 5, Washington State 11. A — 1,057.