WSU women look to regain footing in Apple Cup

After a 9-1 start to the season, the Washington State women’s basketball team finds itself 0-3 to begin Pac-12 play.

The Cougars are hoping to get back on track against their cross-state rivals today, coming off a 65-54 thumping by Colorado on Jan. 1.

Here are three things to know about WSU (10-4, 0-3 Pac-12) and Washington (9-4, 1-2) heading into today’s game at noon (Pac-12 Network) at Beasley Coliseum.

“We walk into this game 0-3 in the Pac, so we’ve got a big mountain to climb and obviously we want to put a good showing on against our rivals across the state,” WSU coach Kamie Ethridge said.

Revenge game

Coincidentally, WSU and UW’s last two games were losses against the same two teams — No. 8 Utah and the Buffaloes.

The two teams’ only other conference contest came against each other Dec. 11 — a 82-66 Husky victory in Seattle.

UW dominated in almost every facet in that one, from paint points (38-28), to bench points (13-5), to rebounding (39-30), points off turnovers (26-17) and more.

“There weren’t too many phases of the game that they weren’t playing at a high level when they played us in the last game,” Ethridge said, “so we’ve clearly gotta sharpen up and be better.”

The Huskies are a balanced team paced by sophomore forward Dalayah Daniels (11.8 points, 6.9 rebounds).

Leger-Walker’s status unknown

While WSU’s top player, Charlisse Leger-Walker, was present for that previous game against UW, the Pac-12’s leading scorer has missed the past two games with a personal family issue in her home country of New Zealand.

Ethridge on Thursday said the Cougars still are “in a waiting pattern” with Leger-Walker, but after the Colorado loss, the coach wasn’t about to use the star’s absence as an excuse. Leger-Walker leads the conference in scoring with 21.1 points per game.

“She can’t be the savior,” Ethridge said. “We didn’t come with what the game requires (against Colorado). A player coming back doesn’t fix that. The players in that locker room have to fix that … and clearly I as a coach have to try to fix that.”

A new starter

In Leger-Walker’s absence, the Cougars have turned to freshman guard Astera Tuhina and the newcomer has done enough for Ethridge to say she’ll keep her uptick in minutes even when Leger-Walker returns.

“AT” notched 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting, eight rebounds and three assists against Utah, and added eight points on 3-of-5 shooting against Colorado. In the two starts combined she played all but two minutes and went 4-of-7 from 3-point range.

Although it hasn’t been enough to win the games, Tuhina’s quick rise has been a positive for the Cougars.

“I love her aggressiveness,” Ethridge said of the Pristina, Kosovo, native. “I think not having Charlisse these past couple weeks has really given AT some confidence, and she’s competitive and wants to win so I think she’s taken it on herself to be a little bit more offensive-minded.”

Wiebe may be contacted at (208) 848-2260, swiebe@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @StephanSports.