Guru’s WBB Report - National: Washington State Upsets No. 7 Arizona While Magarity Daughter Sweeps Dad

Guru’s note: In the interest of shining more moments off Sunday’s action, the blog has undergone a special local-national two-parter. The local is already posted.

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Hair-raising finishes produced upsets and near-upsets while the special Holy Cross-Army family coaching weekend produced a Crusaders sweep in the Patriot League for daughter Maureen Magarity over her coaching Army father Dave in the Patriot League.

But we start first in the Pac-12 in Pullman, Wash.

There are some things that it seems the Washington State women’s basketball team has never done, but it has, like appearing in the NCAA tournament, or beating Top 25 teams.

But there is one thing the Cougars have absolutely never done — they are the only current member of the PAC-12 who have never appeared in the AP women’s poll.

But that has a great chance to change Monday afternoon when the rankings of season 45, week 8, are released by the organization’s New York headquarters.

Credit goes to freshman Charlisse Leger-Walker, who hit a left-handed layup in traffic in overtime to give the unranked Cougars a stunning 71-69 upset of No. 7 Arizona in a PAC-12 game in Beasley Coliseum.

The win capped a rally from a deficit that at one stage was 16 points to the Wildcats (8-2, 6-2), whose other loss was recently to top-ranked Stanford.

It’s the second upset of a Top 25 team by Washington State (7-1, 5-1 PAC-12) this season, having beaten Oregon State several weeks ago when the Beavers were still ranked.

The Cougars’ sole loss was by four points in a conference game with No. 11 Oregon.

Leger-Walker finished with 17 points, while her older sister Krystal scored 14, as did Bella Murekatete.

“She’s a very special player,” Washington State third-year coach Kamie Ethridge said of Leger-Walker, “one of the best I’ve ever seen.”

Ethridge, who previously coached at Northern Colorado, played on the great University of Texas squads in the mid-1980s, including the NCAA championship squad in 1986 that became the first Division I women’s team to go unbeaten in the NCAA.

Should the Cougars get ranked, Ethridge would join what is now becoming a growing list of women who have played on and coached teams ranked in the A.P. with some doing both at their alma maters.

In the game, Aari McDonald had 23 points and 11 rebounds for Arizona, while Cate Reese scored 10.

The game in the extra period was tied 69-69 with 15 seconds remaining and Ethridge chose to have Legar-Walker retain possession of the ball. Despite the pressure of the Wildcats’ defense, she was able to get off a shot that rolled on the rim and dropped as time expired.

Leger-Walker got 10 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter and the overtime. Indeed, her shot at the end of regulation extended the game.

Now in second, the 5-1 start in league play ties its previous best in the 2013-14 season. A year later was the last time Washington State knocked off two Top 25 squads, both out of conference, beating No. 22 Dayton of the Atlantic 10 and No. 10 Maryland, which had switched from the Atlantic Coast to the Big Ten.

The deep deficit of 16 existed in the third quarter before the rally began with Murekatete personally taking care of a 7-0 run to bring the squad within nine at the close of the period.

The run kept going with four more at the outset of the fourth to make it a five-point game. 

Arizona blunted the rally temporarily with a pair of foul shots but the Cougars used another 7-0 run to get within a point at 56-55 with 3:13 remaining in regulation.

The Wildcats hit a free throw for a two-point lead that got knotted on Cherilyn Molina’s basket.

Arizona then went ahead again, 60-57, with seven seconds left in regulation. Two missed free throws by the visitors leaving the score at 60-58, gave the home team a chance, and Leger-Walker out of a time out hit a reverse layup to to get Washington State five more minutes of life, the end of which, the talented freshman may have now provided much more.

“Those who know me, know I don’t get too high or too low,” she said. “But after I hit that shot, I was so hyped and everyone could tell. It was a great play drawn up to get the ball, the girls spaced, the floor well. I’m just glad that (the team) had the trust in me to make a play.”

The overall 7-1 is the best start in five seasons, which, in 2015-16 Washington State began 8-1.

“It doesn’t take a very smart coach to get the ball into Charlisse’s hands,” Ethridge said. “That was the plan, both at the end of regulation and the end of the game.

“Overall, I couldn’t be happier for our team. I’m so happy for the players that have been here and and that have taken a lot of lumps. I’ve seen the progress they’ve been making and I just love this team.,” Ethridge said. “We got behind 16 points, but we never got down.”

Daughter Sweeps Dad: After routing Army, the team of her father, veteran men’s and women’s coach Dave Magarity, daughter coach Maureen proved it was no fluke with her Holy Cross squad playing the second weekend game at home and winning 61-42 in Worcester, Mass.

The pairings are believed to be the first time in a Division I women’s game that a coaching father-daughter combination have been on opposite sides as head coaches.

“It’s just amazing,” Maureen said to the Guru late Sunday night. She is in her first year with the Crusaders after a successful stint at New Hampshire. The elder Magarity, a native of Philadelphia, has coached the Army women, promoted soon after the tragic death of  Black Knights first-year coach Maggie Dixon of a heart arrhythmia following the end of the 2006 season.

A former DePaul assistant, she had just led Army to their first Patriot League title and NCAA tournament appearance, and then collapsed while out for a job.

“I knew coming here this was going to be a rebuilding one, of course with us playing only two games earlier in the week (against Boston U.) he wasn’t going to be able to see much on film to scout us. We have to play two more times, so maybe he’ll figure it out and those will be much closer.”

Unlike Saturday, this stayed much closer for a while, until Holy Cross again put the hammer down in the second half, 38-22, to improve to 2-2 on both the season and in the conference.

The Patriot League did not permit a season start until recently and only on league play because of the virus, though Army and Navy, the second of which is in a pause, were given permission to start a non-conference slate earlier.

“It’s really been a wild and emotional week for the family,” Maureen said. “After Doug Feinberg of the AP brought attention to the situation, coverage really took off and we are really appreciative.”

Alisa Fallon and Natalie Stralkus each scored 15 points for Army (4-5, 1-3 Patriot League), while the Crusaders’ Cara McCormack scored 12 and Addisyn Cross matched her career high set Saturday with 11 points.

Holy Cross next plays a weekend conference series back to back Saturday and Sunday hosting Colgate.while Army will be hosting Boston U. at West Point the same afternoons.

Survivors: No. 5 South Carolina, No. 8 Texas A&M, and unranked Tennessee all survived narrow outcomes in Southeastern Conference games Sunday.

In a matchup of the Gamecocks, who began the year No. 1 until a home loss upset moving North Carolina State into the Top 5, and No. 10 Kentucky, that previously fell to Texas A&M, Destanni Henderson scored 22, and Aliyah Boston scored 20, to enable South Carolina to eke out a 75-70 win after trailing by nine at the half, and eight late in the third period before exploding to come back and win to go to 8-1 overall and 3-0 in the SEC, while Rhyne Howard had 32 for the Wildcats (9-2, 3-3).

Meanwhile, No. 8 Texas A&M edged No. 13 Arkansas 74-73 on Jordan Nixon’s layup at the buzzer to stay unbeaten at 12-0 ov erall and 3-0 in the league. The Razorbacks fell to 10-4 and 1-3.

The Aggies’ unbeaten start is their best and matches a similar record in 2008-09..

N’dea Jones set the Texas A&M program record for double doubles, scoring 12 points and grabing 12 rebounds for 34, breaking the tie with Anriel Howard. While Aaliyah Wilson set a career-high against her former Razorbacks squad with 27 points in Arkansas’ Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville. 

Chelsea Dungee topped four players in double figures with 21 points for the home team (10-4, 1-3).

Tennessee, coming off a previous upset of Arkansas earlier in the week, clipped LSU on the road 64-63 in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center as Rae Burrell scored 18 points, Tamari Key scofred 12, and Jordan Horstan scored 11 for the Lady Vols (8-1, 2-0 SEC) in Baton Rouge, La., their first win in Bayou Country in four seasons. Khayla Pointer scored 22 for the Tigers (4-6, 2-2).

In another game, No. 14 Mississippi State edged state rival Mississippi 60-56 in the SEC in at home in Starkville.

More Upsets: Nebraska hit No. 23 Michigan State with another upset, 68-64, on the road in the Breslin Center in East Lansing as Isabelle Bourne scored 18 for the Cornhuskers (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) against the Spartans (8-2, 3-2), who fell narrowly Thursday night to No. 12 Maryland. Nia Coulden scored 14 for the Spartans.

No upset, but Maryland beat Purdue 83-46, completing a week with previous wins over Michigan State and 84-80 over No. 19 Indiana. In the win over Purdue, Ashley Awusu scored 19 for the Terrapins (9-1, 5-0) in College Park.

Looking Ahead: It’s quiet till Wednesday when three locals plasy, Villanova visits Ptovidence in the Big East, while Temple hosts Cincinnati in The American, and La Salle hosts Drexel.

And that’s the national report, previous sentence notwithstanding, till now.