SEATTLE — Sometime soon, Tia Jackson says, her team will learn how to win the close games.
The Washington women’s basketball coach hopes that time is now, and that if the Huskies are locked in another tight battle when they host Arizona today, they will find a way to pull out a victory.
So far, that hasn’t been the case. Washington has lost four of its past five games, two by two points, two by four points, and one by six points.
“They always hurt, especially when they’re by two and by four,” said senior guard Emily Florence. “We’re so close. We’re young, but we’re 20 games in now, so we should be getting more experienced every game. We just need one and we’ll start rolling, but it’s definitely tough when they’re so close, and if you would have done one thing different, you think you could have had them. We’re getting better and we’re going to take it out against Arizona.”
Arizona might just be the team the Huskies need to get a win. The Wildcats had lost eight straight games, including their first seven in the Pac-10, before beating Washington State on Thursday.
Following Washington’s latest winnable loss, Jackson said her team needs to experience winning a close to get the ball rolling.
“Just win the first one,” she said when asked what the solution was. “We don’t know what it’s like yet, and I think once we figure that out—and we’re talking about a young team—once we figure that out, it’s a nightmare for the rest of the world.”
The losses are piling up for the Washington, but the Huskies remain confident nonetheless. They look at the recent losses and still see progress on which they can build.
“The team is coming together really well, our defense is much better, we just need to finish,” freshman Katelan Redmon said. “We’re getting so close, we just need to put the ball in the hole and finish the game. I really do think we’re still making progress. The wins and losses might not show it right now, but we’re still growing as a team.”
It’s only a matter of time, the Huskies say. They just hope that time comes soon.
Note: The Huskies will hold their annual silent auction today starting at 1 p.m. and running through halftime. It will take place on the concourse of Hec Edmundson Pavilion in front of the Husky Hall of Fame with over 50 items up for bid. All proceeds go directly to the Husky women’s basketball program. More information is available at gohuskies.com.
Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on UW sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com /huskiesblog
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