Washington State gets past Lamar in opening round of WBIT, 66-46

On to the next!

The Washington State Cougars were able to handle the Lamar Cardinals in the opening round of the WBIT, 66-46.

WSU, the number one seed in the tournament, opened and finished strong behind a good effort from junior Tara Wallack leading the way with 15 points.

The Cougs flew out the gates with a pair of buckets in the first 40 seconds. Ele Villa kicked things off with a bucket inside and Wallack came up with a steal to start a fast break she would finish off a pass from Ele Villa. Lamar was able to get on the scoreboard, thanks to a NJ Weems jumper, but WSU wouldn’t let Lamar get any closer after that.

Ele Villa kept her hot start rolling with a trey to extend the lead out to seven and igniting a 17-6 run to close the first quarter with Jenna Villa capping it off with her own three-pointer.

Lamar used the early parts of the second quarter to chip into WSU’s commanding lead. A 10-2 run as the Cougs offense became stagnant brought the game within five.

Back-to-back swishes from beyond the arc from Kyra Gardner and Astera Tuhina pushed the lead out to double digits.

Gardner kept the good times rolling, coming off a handoff from Wallack, finding space around the free throw line and cashing the mid-range jumper. She then answered a R’mani Taylor trey with one of her own. The hot hand of Gardner helped lead WSU into the half up 10.

Throughout the season, the third quarter had been owned by the Cougs. Countless times they used it to separate themselves with dominating runs to secure wins.

Lamar, however, didn’t allow that to happen. The Cardinals didn’t allow the Cougs to go on one of their signature third quarter runs and brought the game back within five. Though WSU couldn’t really seperate, they were at least able to keep the Cardinals from getting any closer until Malay McQueen hit a layup with 1:40 to go to make it a four point game. Tuhina answered the call with a three to close the quarter with the Cougs up seven.

After Lamar again closed within five, the Cougs had enough. Wallack splashes back-to-back threes to put WSU back up double digits.

Bella Murekatete went to work in the post with three layups to extend the lead out to 17 and Wallack polished off the game sealing 17-2 run with yet another trey.

The Cougs are now on to the round of 16, where they will meet Santa Clara in Pullman on Sunday at 1 p.m.