If the Washington women’s basketball team reaches the NCAA Tournament, it can look to its performance away from Hec Edmundson Pavilion as the reason.
With the Huskies’ double-overtime victory over USC on Thursday, Washington improved to 6-4 this season on the road. Last season, the Huskies were 6-9 away from Seattle. Among Washington’s road wins were season-opening victories over Alabama and Florida State, and the Huskies are 4-2 on the road in Pacific-10 Conference play.
“You can’t only win at home and hope to go very far,” Washington coach June Daugherty said. “You have to get some wins on the road, especially in the conference. That’s why we played those early games on the road, so we’d be prepared for these games.”
The Huskies (9-4 Pac-10, 16-6 overall) now find themselves in third place in the conference, but hold just a half-game lead over USC and today’s opponent, UCLA (9-5, 14-9). Washington plays the Bruins in a nationally-televised game at 1 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion.
Washington has lost three in a row and seven of eight at UCLA, but broke a four-game losing streak to the Bruins with a 96-75 victory in Seattle on Jan. 12. In that game – the highest scoring by a UW team in nearly three years – Washington shot 47 percent and had five players score in double figures, led by the 17-point, 10-rebound game of Cameo Hicks.
In fact, the Washington offense has been improving recently. In five of its past eight games, the Huskies have shot at least 45 percent.
“It’s all based on our defense,” Daugherty said. “We’re getting stops, we’re rebounding, we’re pressuring the ball. That allows us to get into our running game, where we’re really good. It gives us a chance to get some easy shots.”
Washington played fairly effective defense against UCLA the first game, no easy task as the Bruins starting lineup is one of the most dangerous offensive units in the league. Guard Nikki Blue scored 24 points but the Huskies held leading scorer Noelle Quinn to five points on 1-for-9 shooting.
Still, UCLA figured to be a different team at home. The Bruins are averaging 79.5 points and shooting 46 percent behind the play of their three talented guards. Quinn is averaging 18.1 points and 7.6 rebounds, Blue is averaging 13.4 points and 5.2 rebounds and Lisa Willis averages 17.6 points and 5.3 rebounds. Center Lindsey Pluimer is averaging 10.9 points.
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