WSU women still can’t solve Stanford

Feb 4, 2023 - 4:40 PM

For the 72nd time in a row, the WSU women’s basketball team came up short against the Stanford Cardinal. “Came up short” is probably not an apt description, seeing as how Kamie Ethridge’s team got absolutely bundled in a 71-38 loss. That’s a 33 point loss, for those who don’t want to do the math. Or 11 three-pointers.

WSU was doomed from the start, falling behind 15-3 after the first quarter. And those three points were the first points of the game, too. No Cougar scored in double figures, and Charlisse Leger-Walker’s eight points were the most for the Cougs.

At the other end, Stanford had three players in double figures. Haley Jones had 13, and Cameron Brink and Lauren Betts each had 10.

WSU was able to get within six in the second quarter, but with Stanford being Stanford, the comeback was quickly washed away thanks to an 11-0 run by the Cardinal. And that was just about all she wrote.

The box score tells the story:

• Stanford shot 50% from the field, WSU shot only 25%. Yuck.
• WSU made only 3 of 20 attempts from beyond the arc. Stanford had 7 of 18.
• Stanford’s bench scored 37 points—one shy of WSU’s team total.
• The teams were semi-even in the turnover category, with WSU turning it over 17 times and Stanford 15. But the Cardinal turned WSU’s 17 turnovers into 18 points while WSU could only muster eight.

It’s obvious why Stanford is the no. 2 team in the nation. WSU has had some great wins this season as it tries for a third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. But there’s clearly a ways to go if WSU wants to compete with the best. There is nobody alive today who has seen a WSU women’s basketball team defeat Stanford. Will it ever happen?