Cougars improbably win Pac-12 title, bid

In one of the most improbable weekends in college basketball history, Washington State won the women’s Pac-12 tournament championship Sunday in Las Vegas, edging No. 16 UCLA 65-61 to earn an automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

What made the Cougars’ championship so improbable?

⬤ It was the first tournament championship for the Washington State women’s basketball program.

⬤ It was the first basketball championship for the school period in 82 years since the men’s team won the Pac-12 regular-season title in the 1940-41 season.

⬤ Washington State won the tournament with victories over three ranked teams: No. 4 Utah, No. 21 Colorado and No. 16 UCLA.

⬤ The Cougars were the first No. 7 seed to advance to the women’s Pac-12 title game.

Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 23 points and Bella Murekatete added 21 to lead the Cougars (23-10) and were named to the All-Tournament team.

Washington State, whose offense was red hot all weekend, shot 53.7% in the game, hitting 22 of 41 from the floor, including 7 of 11 (63.6%) from 3point range. The Cougars were the most efficient team in the tournament, draining 92 of 199 from the floor, a 46.2% clip.

UCLA made its own history, becoming just the second No. 5 seed to make the title game and making the 2023 tournament the first with no Top 4 seed playing in the final. The previous lowest seed to make the championship round was the No. 6 seed, twice, in 2009 (Southern Cal) and 2022 (Utah).

Charisma Osborne led UCLA (25-9) with 19 points, Kiki Rice chipped in with 13 and Emily Bessoir added 11. All three Bruins were named to the All-Tournament team. UCLA defeated 20th-ranked Arizona in the quarterfinals and No. 5 Stanford in the semifinals.