SEATTLE – Washington women’s basketball coach June Daugherty says there are a number of reasons why the Huskies’ offense is suddenly potent, but none of them have anything to do with changes in how the team is practicing, apart from the attitude it brings to workouts every day.
Instead, Daugherty said, it’s a combination of better defense, stronger inside play and the experience the young team has gained through the season finally coming together.
Washington hopes to continue its solid late-season play when it plays host to Washington State at 6 p.m. today at Bank of America Arena. It is the Huskies’ home finale.
Washington beat Washington State 68-61 on Jan. 22.
The Huskies need a win today to avoid being the first team in the program’s history to have a losing record at home.
Through the first 20 games of the season, Washington (7-8 Pacific-10 Conference, 11-14 overall) averaged 65.2 points, scored at least 80 points just once and didn’t shoot better than 40 percent in its first 16 games.
In the past nine games, in which Washington has gone 5-4, the Huskies have shot better than 40 percent five times, scored at least 80 points in four of the past five games and are averaging 78.8 points in that time.
“It’s the residual effects of a few things,” Daugherty said. “As a team, we’ve stepped up our defensive intensity and are forcing a lot of turnovers. That gets us into our running game, which leads to fastbreak layups. Our inside game has really improved. They’re drawing more attention and that opens up our perimeter. And our players are getting used to this level, which takes time. The good news is I think we’re there.”
Indeed, Washington’s defense has been strong lately. The Huskies have forced nearly 100 more turnovers than their opponents, averaging 20.5 a game. In wins last weekend against the Oregon schools, Washington forced a combined 45 turnovers and held its opponents to an average of 55 points.
While the Huskies haven’t changed any drills or procedures in practice, they have changed their approach.
“We’ve focused on doing everything with more intensity,” Daugherty said. “We want to create game-type tempos and focus. You can’t practice one way and then turn things on in a game. We want to carry the intensity we set in practice into games. We’ve been doing that lately.”
The team also seems to have become comfortable with each other. Eight of the 15 players on the roster did not play last season, including five freshmen. The freshman backcourt of Emily Florence and Dominique Banks played particularly well against the Oregon schools.
“Emily Florence has been our catalyst,” Daugherty said. “She’s setting the tempo and making good decisions; she only has one turnover in the last two games. Dominique Banks is playing great defense and is getting more comfortable on offense.”
“We’re sharing the ball better than we have all year,” added junior guard Kayla Burt, who is expected to play today with a protective mask after breaking her nose against Oregon. “We’ve started to learn to play together on both sides of the ball. We talk more on defense, we get turnovers and get into our running game. We’re just playing with a lot more confidence.”
Washington has six players averaging at least seven points a game, but none averaging double figures. Cameo Hicks has averaged 10.8 points over her past five games to raise her season average to 9.0, and Breanne Watson is averaging 10.6 over her past eight.
The Cougars broke a four-game losing streak by defeating Oregon State 68-63 on Saturday. Washington State, though, has lost 15 of 17. Still, because of the rivalry factor, Daugherty said today’s game will not be easy.
“They are definitely better than the first time we played them,” Daugherty said. “Their confidence level has continued to grow and the win over Oregon State will be nothing but a positive for them. They are a team that is capable of giving us a lot of problems, especially if we don’t come out with the intensity we played with last weekend.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
