UW women’s 10-game home win streak on the line tonight

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, December 21, 2005

SEATTLE – So far, the University of Washington women’s basketball team has been able to get by with a less-than-stellar offensive output thanks to outstanding rebounding and enough defensive pressure to force plenty of turnovers.

But against No. 10 Stanford tonight, the Huskies probably are going to need to find some consistency on the offensive end.

The teams meet at 7 p.m. at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

Stanford has won or shared the past five Pacific-10 Conference titles, and is the clear favorite to do so again this season. The Cardinal are off to a 6-2 start, including 1-0 in the Pac-10 after Tuesday’s 76-56 win at Washington State. Stanford has won its past four games against Washington (1-0, 8-2), but the Huskies have won 10 in a row at home.

Washington does get a break as Stanford forward Kristen Newlin will not play after being diagnosed with a stress reaction in her left femur. Newlin ranks second in the conference in rebounding (10.3 boards per game) and averages 12.3 points.

Still, there’s no shortage of talent on the Stanford roster. The Cardinal feature sophomore guard Candice Wiggins, one of the nation’s top players who averages 17.5 points and 2.25 steals. She teams with center Brooke Smith (15.6 points) to give Stanford a lethal inside-outside game. The Cardinal can also shoot the three, as Krista Rappahahn is 20-for-38 (53 percent) this season from behind the arc.

Stanford is expected to use a triangle offense featuring plenty of high-low plays, similar to what California ran against the Huskies on Tuesday in Washington’s 62-55 win.

“We’re going to see a lot of triangle with Stanford,” Washington coach June Daugherty said. “We’re going to have to keep defending on the block because they love the high-low as well. We’re going to have to cut down on our turnovers and hopefully get back into our running game.”

The most interesting aspect of the game, though, will come when Washington has the ball. The Huskies are shooting just 38.3 percent from the floor this season, and Stanford is allowing teams to shoot 33.7 percent. The Huskies also committed a season-high 27 turnovers against Cal’s pressure defense on Tuesday. Expect Stanford to bring as much pressure, and do it even better.

But Washington has made up for its shaky shooting and ball handling by averaging a league-best 19.9 offensive rebounds a game.

However, Stanford leads the league in defensive rebounding as well as blocked shots.

Washington undoubtedly would like to find better balance on offense. Cameo Hicks averages 16.0 points per game, but no other player averages more than eight.