Everett, Wash.
Published: Thursday, January 8, 2009

UW expects to be big underdogs in two games in Bay Area

The Huskies face a large task in No. 11 Stanford tonight and No. 13 Cal on Sunday.

By John Boyle
Herald Writer

 SEATTLE -- The Washington women's basketball team may very well get different receptions in its first two conference road games of the season.

When the Huskies play Stanford tonight, there may be a few kind words before the game for the team that helped Stanford win a Pac-10 title outright last season. On Sunday, however, when the Huskies travel north to Berkeley to face Cal, the Bears are sure to remember the shocking upset loss in Seattle that cost them a share of that conference title.

Neither Maples Pavilion nor Haas Pavilion promises to be very hospitable when the games tip off, however. The Huskies will be big underdogs today and again on Sunday as they get the Pac-10's toughest road trip out of the way early. Stanford, which last year made it to the national championship game, is 11-3 and ranked 11th nationally in the AP poll, while Cal is 11-2 and ranked 13th. Both are in the top 10 of the coaches poll.

This week's games figure to pose a particularly tough challenge for Washington's forwards and centers, as the Bears and Cardinal feature some of the conference's best post players in Cal forward/center Devanei Hampton and forward/center Ashley Walker, and Stanford forward/center Jayne Appel, all first-team All-Pac-10 picks last year.

"I'm really looking forward to that challenge, especially being in California where I'm from," said Washington forward/center Laura McLellan, whose hometown of Campbell, Calif., is only about half an hour from Stanford. "A lot of girls on those teams I've played with or against, so I'm really familiar with a lot of them. Those are three of the best posts in the Pac-10, so it's a challenge but it's definitely something I'm looking forward to."

McLellan played well against Cal last year, scoring 13 points while grabbing eight rebounds as the Huskies beat the ninth-ranked Bears in the last regular season game of the season.

McLellan recalls that win earning the Huskies some thanks and high fives from Stanford players at last year's Pac-10 tournament, but she also knows there's a flip side to that upset victory.

"I can definitely see Cal holding a little bit of a grudge," she said.

Grudge or not, just knowing they played with and beat one of the country's best teams a year ago should help the current Huskies who were on last year's team.

"I definitely think that's in the minds of the returning players," said junior forward Sami Whitcomb, who scored 24 points in last year's win over Cal. "If nothing else, we know we can play with them and beat them, so we have to keep that in our heads and try to focus on what was affective last year and try to sustain that."

And while UW coach Tia Jackson tried to downplay what last year's win can mean to this year's team, which has as many new players as returners, she does expect Cal coach Joanne Boyle to use the game as motivation.

"I'm pretty sure she's got that article posted somewhere in the locker room or maybe sending a podcast to their iPhones or iPods or something," Jackson said. "I'm sure they're looking at that for motivation for this game."

Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on UW sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com/huskiesblog
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA