Published: Sunday, January 10, 2010
Washington women rally to beat Arizona
Kingma has hot hand; McLellan comes off bench to provide second-half spark
SEATTLE — Kristi Kingma has gone from super-sub to super-starter for the University of Washington women’s basketball team.
And on Saturday afternoon, it was senior post player Laura McLellan who assumed Kingma’s former role of providing instant offense off the bench.
With star Sami Whitcomb struggling to score, and the Huskies ’ surprising season looking headed for a dead end, Kingma and McLellan came to the rescue on Saturday. Kingma hit career highs with 25 points and five steals while McLellan added 15 points off the bench and UW ran its winning streak to three games with a 69-59 win over the University of Arizona.
Once the doormat of the Pac-10, the Huskies (8-6 overall, 3-1 in the Pac-10) already have matched their win totals — both overall and in the conference — from last season.
“It’s been so great,” Kingma said after the Huskies improved to 6-2 since she took over for injured starter Sara Mosiman on Dec. 6. “Last year was really a learning lesson. We had a tough time, and it was not fun to be on the other end of those losses going into the locker room.
“We just compete really hard. I don’t know if the fans feel it, but we compete so much harder. We’re more disciplined, and we know what it takes to win.”
The Huskies proved Saturday that they can win without Whitcomb, UW’s leading scorer at 14.4 points per game, on the mark. The senior scored just nine points and was just 2-for-9 from the floor after scoring a season-high 26 two days earlier.
While Kingma filled the void with 11 first-half points and five free throws down the stretch, it was McLellan who provided the spark when the Huskies needed it most.
After Arizona opened the second half with an 8-2 run to go ahead 36-28, McLellan came off the bench and carried the offensive load for a span of 10 minutes. She scored 13 points, celebrated a blocked shot by woofing at her victim, then added a nice give-and-go assist to teammate Mollie Williams to give the Huskies their first second-half lead, at 49-48 with 7:30 remaining.
When all was said and done, UW had outscored Arizona 22-10 and scored 15 unanswered points en route to a 55-48 lead with 6:11 remaining. When Kingma hit a baseline 3-pointer for a 58-50 lead with 5½ minutes to go, a third consecutive win and the first home sweep of coach Tia Jackson’s two-and-a-half-year tenure were all but in the books.
“We feel pretty good about where we’re at right now,” McLellan said.
The wins have been especially sweet for McLellan, who started 18 games last season and was the team’s second-leading scorer. The transfer of Regina Rogers from UCLA and the clean bill of health for Mackenzie Argens have left McLellan as a bench player during her senior season, and she hadn’t hit double figures in points in a single game until Saturday afternoon.
“It’s been tough,” she said. “As a player, you feel like you should be contributing more and like you’re not living up to your potential. But we have really balanced scoring, so it makes it a lot easier when you see your teammates stepping up in your place.”
Kingma is also adjusting to a new role, albeit a more acceptable one. When Mosiman went down with a shin injury that required surgery a little over a month ago, the former Jackson High star stepped into the starting lineup and has helped lead the Huskies on their most impressive eight-game stretch since the beginning of coach June Daugherty’s final season, in 2006-07.
“Obviously, having Mo (Mosiman) would help us out a lot, so whatever situation I’m put in is fine,” said Kingma, who is averaging 11.5 points per game as a starter as compared to 6.2 as a reserve this season. “This is the situation that I’ve been put in right now, and I’m just trying to do the best with it.”
With consecutive wins over Oregon State, Arizona State and Arizona, UW has not only matched the longest winning streak of Jackson’s tenure, but they’ve also risen from the depths of the conference standings.
Jackson said the key to the turnaround was a preseason schedule that included more than a month between home games.
“It’s a credit to being away and bonding as a team,” she said, then joked: “We’re going to do a foreign tour next year. I’m thinking a Scandinavian tour.”
McLellan, who won’t be around for whatever happens next year, is just glad that her senior season has included more wins — no matter what her role is.
“I’m not surprised at all,” McLellan said of UW’s start. “Being picked (by the coaches) to finish 10th was kind of insulting. It makes you want to work that much harder.
“I think we’re starting to prove that, although we didn’t do very well last season, it’s a completely different team — from last season, and even from the beginning of this season. We’ve just improved so much. And I think we’re really going to shock some people with where we finish.”
And on Saturday afternoon, it was senior post player Laura McLellan who assumed Kingma’s former role of providing instant offense off the bench.
With star Sami Whitcomb struggling to score, and the Huskies ’ surprising season looking headed for a dead end, Kingma and McLellan came to the rescue on Saturday. Kingma hit career highs with 25 points and five steals while McLellan added 15 points off the bench and UW ran its winning streak to three games with a 69-59 win over the University of Arizona.
Once the doormat of the Pac-10, the Huskies (8-6 overall, 3-1 in the Pac-10) already have matched their win totals — both overall and in the conference — from last season.
“It’s been so great,” Kingma said after the Huskies improved to 6-2 since she took over for injured starter Sara Mosiman on Dec. 6. “Last year was really a learning lesson. We had a tough time, and it was not fun to be on the other end of those losses going into the locker room.
“We just compete really hard. I don’t know if the fans feel it, but we compete so much harder. We’re more disciplined, and we know what it takes to win.”
The Huskies proved Saturday that they can win without Whitcomb, UW’s leading scorer at 14.4 points per game, on the mark. The senior scored just nine points and was just 2-for-9 from the floor after scoring a season-high 26 two days earlier.
While Kingma filled the void with 11 first-half points and five free throws down the stretch, it was McLellan who provided the spark when the Huskies needed it most.
After Arizona opened the second half with an 8-2 run to go ahead 36-28, McLellan came off the bench and carried the offensive load for a span of 10 minutes. She scored 13 points, celebrated a blocked shot by woofing at her victim, then added a nice give-and-go assist to teammate Mollie Williams to give the Huskies their first second-half lead, at 49-48 with 7:30 remaining.
When all was said and done, UW had outscored Arizona 22-10 and scored 15 unanswered points en route to a 55-48 lead with 6:11 remaining. When Kingma hit a baseline 3-pointer for a 58-50 lead with 5½ minutes to go, a third consecutive win and the first home sweep of coach Tia Jackson’s two-and-a-half-year tenure were all but in the books.
“We feel pretty good about where we’re at right now,” McLellan said.
The wins have been especially sweet for McLellan, who started 18 games last season and was the team’s second-leading scorer. The transfer of Regina Rogers from UCLA and the clean bill of health for Mackenzie Argens have left McLellan as a bench player during her senior season, and she hadn’t hit double figures in points in a single game until Saturday afternoon.
“It’s been tough,” she said. “As a player, you feel like you should be contributing more and like you’re not living up to your potential. But we have really balanced scoring, so it makes it a lot easier when you see your teammates stepping up in your place.”
Kingma is also adjusting to a new role, albeit a more acceptable one. When Mosiman went down with a shin injury that required surgery a little over a month ago, the former Jackson High star stepped into the starting lineup and has helped lead the Huskies on their most impressive eight-game stretch since the beginning of coach June Daugherty’s final season, in 2006-07.
“Obviously, having Mo (Mosiman) would help us out a lot, so whatever situation I’m put in is fine,” said Kingma, who is averaging 11.5 points per game as a starter as compared to 6.2 as a reserve this season. “This is the situation that I’ve been put in right now, and I’m just trying to do the best with it.”
With consecutive wins over Oregon State, Arizona State and Arizona, UW has not only matched the longest winning streak of Jackson’s tenure, but they’ve also risen from the depths of the conference standings.
Jackson said the key to the turnaround was a preseason schedule that included more than a month between home games.
“It’s a credit to being away and bonding as a team,” she said, then joked: “We’re going to do a foreign tour next year. I’m thinking a Scandinavian tour.”
McLellan, who won’t be around for whatever happens next year, is just glad that her senior season has included more wins — no matter what her role is.
“I’m not surprised at all,” McLellan said of UW’s start. “Being picked (by the coaches) to finish 10th was kind of insulting. It makes you want to work that much harder.
“I think we’re starting to prove that, although we didn’t do very well last season, it’s a completely different team — from last season, and even from the beginning of this season. We’ve just improved so much. And I think we’re really going to shock some people with where we finish.”
Comments
(
