I’m not there but I wish I was!
Good morning, Coug fans!
As you read this, I am likely on the road driving up to Seattle, where I now (at the time this is posted) live. Pretty crazy! Moving across the country is no joke (it’s terrible, physically) and I’m just happy to share a timezone with most of you again.
Another thing I’m excited about? Sharing a STATE with our beloved Cougs!
However- two of our all time faves aren’t just across the country right now, but across the world. Yes, you guessed it, I’m talking about two of the greatest Cougs to ever do it, the most dynamic of all duos: Krystal and Charlisse Leger-Walker.
The pair joined New Zealand’s National team, the Tall Ferns. One could argue that the Tall Ferns is even more of a family business than Washington State was to the LW duo, as their mother played on the same team and even represented New Zealand with the Tall Ferns at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics!
Krystal made her Tall Fern debut in 2016, and has made 16 appearances. She’s putting up a team high of 4 assists per game, and played all five games against Jordan. In this tournament, she’s averaged 4 points and 4 rebounds, along with an assist.
Charlisse has made 23 appearances, joining the Tall Ferns in 2018. This season, she’s averaging 11 points per game. She was the youngest Tall Ferns player in the history of the franchise at 16 years old (I don’t want to talk about the fact that she was 16 in 2018), and during her debut season she averaged 11.3 points and 4.2 rebounds. In this tournament, CLW is averaging 13.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists.
So- the fun thing about trying to keep up with these games is: as I’m writing this at 8:15 PM (west coast time) on June 29th, it’s currently 1:15 PM on June 30th in Sydney, Australia, where the Asia Cup is being played. If you visit the website (linked), you’ll see some active roster WNBA players (like Han Xu who plays for the New York Liberty).
The preview I’m reading of the game happening on the 30th is happening at 5pm Australia time, so about midnight West Coast time. I thought when I moved I’d be done doing timezone math, but anything for the LW sisters! By the time you wake up and are reading this, we likely already know the outcome of the game. I’ll update in the morning of the result, entered…
Here!: They did win!! 83-78 against the Philippines! Our gal CLW put up 34 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists!
This win sends the Tall Ferns to the semi-finals for the first time in competition history. They’ll also get a qualifying bid for the 2024 Olympics
Note from the past: hopefully they won!!!
Earlier in the tournament, the Tall Ferns obtained a critical win over Korea, beating them 66-64. They unfortunately fell to China (who is ranked second, so, I think we can look past that), but beat Lebanon 76-45.
Overall, go Cougs and go Tall Ferns!! Watch women’s sports!!