If you haven't, I recommend you watch one of the Cougar's recent games on YouTube to get a sense of this surprising bunch of ballers. They've come from the four corners of the earth - New Zealand, Australia, Rwanda, Hawaii, Israel, Estonia, Canada, Turkey, and Nebraska. They play with purpose and humungous effort.
They're led by a pair of 5'-9" Leger-Walker sisters from Waikato, New Zealand, a remote Hobbit-land kind of place on the northwest corner of the North Island. The smaller-built one is the senior point guard, Krystal, and the stouter one is the freshman, Charlisse. To say they play hard would be a understatement. Against Oregon State the two of them had 45 points and 11 rebounds - which is a typical outing for them. They won in Corvallis in double overtime.
The post player, Bella Murekatete, is a 6'-3" scrapper and rebounder from Rwanda. Against the Beavers she had 10 points and 9 rebounds. The Beavers have a post player who is 6" taller and half again as wide.
Those three had 70% of the Coug's points against OSU. 20% of the scoring came from Cherilyn Molina, a 5'-6" troublemaker from Hawaii. Johanna Teder hits 3's when she's left open.
Beating this bunch requires an absolute determination to win - the kind of determination that outfights tough players for rebounds and loose balls. The determination that gets points in the paint off offensive rebounds and putbacks. The floor burn determination that gets loose balls and tie-ups.
Going into Pullman this week with anything less will result in disappointments on Wednesday and Friday. Tara has described "getting slugged in the mouth" in prior losses or poor starts. The "nice girls of Stanford" hogwash won't cut it in Pullman. We need the level of toughness and determination the Cardinal played with when we beat UConn in front of 7500 in Maples:
Stanford Ends UConn's Streak - Final 6:20 (David Lombardi PxP, Kevin Zhang Color) - KZSU)
These two games in Pullman are massively important. We need to come out of there not only with two "W's", but with our team determined to be the toughest grittiest team in the PAC12 from here on out. We have something to prove this week. Stanford is going into the Cougar's lair Wednesday and Friday night to out-tough and out-fight the home team. 14 threes will help. And a dozen mid-range jumpers will, as well. It's time to emerge as the best team in the west. Washington State provides that opportunity.
GO STANFORD!! WE CAN DO THIS!!
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