It’s been a while coming but finally we got to see Krystal and Charlisse Leger-Walker make their Washington State University debuts.
Covid has wreaked havoc with many college basketball programmes but the Cougars schedule has been hit harder than many.
Multiple pre-season games were cancelled. Then last week scheduled meetings with Cal Berkeley and Stanford were called off making Friday’s (local time) meeting with cross-state rival Washington the latest start to a WSU season in 44 years.
The game began with both L-W’s in the Washington State starting five – Charlisse needed a couple of early sighters before her first NCAA points came courtesy of an And-1 play.
She had 9 points in the opening quarter with Krystal a busy 4 rebounds and 2 assists as WSU opened up a 19-8 lead.
Krystal finished with 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists a block and a steal in 35 minutes. Younger sister Charlisse finished with a game high 20 points (5/17FG), 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks as the Cougars began their Pac-12 programme with a 60-52 win against Washington.
Krystal stepped onto the court for the first time for the Cougs having sat out last season, in accordance with NCAA rules, having transferred from Northern Colorado University Bears.
In her three seasons with the Bears she started 87 games, scoring 564 career points and 378 career assists. She helped guide the Bears to the Big Sky Tournament Conference title and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2018.
Krystal once again links up with Coach Kamie Ethridge who was her mentor at Northern Colorado.
The Cougars play in the tough Pac-12 Conference and will be delighted with the win given the team had not have played a game before Friday’s fixture – CL-W will surelty be a front runner for Pac-12 Rookie of the Week.
The strong showing from Charlisse follows on from the fine Div I debuts enjoyed by Tayla Dalton (St Mary’s College, California), Helen Matthews (Wofford University) and Emme Shearer (University of Portland) last month.
LACEY LOWDOWN 