SEATTLE – Just call them the mad bombers.
After having little success from 3-point range last season and the beginning of this season, the Washington women’s basketball team all of a sudden is dangerous from the outside. And Friday, the Huskies rode their long-range marksmanship to an 82-60 victory over Michigan at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
The win was the eighth in a row at home for Washington (6-2), which snapped a two-game losing streak.
“We played hard,” senior guard Kristen O’Neill said. “We came out with a lot of fire and intensity and maintained that throughout the game. They’re a very physical team and we responded well to that.”
Washington made 9-of-22 from 3-point land against the Wolverines. For the past three games, the Huskies are shooting 44.3 percent (27-for-58) on 3s. In the first five games of the year, Washington shot 24.8 percent (26-for-105) on 3-pointers and shot 32.6 percent last season.
Washington coach June Daugherty said the hot outside shooting is a combination of improved touch and a strong inside game.
“We really believe in our shooters and our ability to hit the long 3,” Daugherty said. “But a lot is predicated on if we can get our inside game going. (Andrea) Plouffe was going early, really trying to pound it in there and get some easy scoring. They double and triple teamed and when they do that, the outside is going to open up.”
Leading the way was O’Neill, who came off the bench for the first time since the 2002-03 season. The former Meadowdale star scored a season-high 17 points, making 6-of-12 shots, including 3-for-5 on 3-pointers. Daugherty said with forwards Breanne Watson and Jill Bell finally healthy, she was looking for more production from the power forward spot, and also wanted to move O’Neill back to guard.
“It’s a nice luxury to have to be able to mix Kristen into several positions,” Daugherty said. “But what we’d like to do now that we’re starting to get steady play from Watson and Bell is to be able to keep O’Neill at the guard position.”
“I hadn’t been producing, and Breanne was back,” O’Neill said. “I was more than happy to go back to the guard spot.”
O’Neill had struggled at the beginning of the season, averaging 5.9 points on 31 percent shooting, including just 26.9 percent on 3-pointers. But she was clearly more comfortable roaming the perimeter than playing in the post.
“I was being tentative on offense,” O’Neill said. “I was thinking too much out on the court. I had so many positions to play, and I was trying to be perfect in all of them. …It was taking me out of that killer mentality, attacking the basket and just play. I was kind of my own worst enemy.”
It wasn’t just the outside shooting that helped Washington, which lost to Michigan 75-68 last season. The Huskies outrebounded the Wolverines 40-34, grabbing 22 offensive rebounds, and forced 24 turnovers.
“I knew that they run a great motion and shoot the three extremely well,” Michigan coach Cheryl Burnett said. “I thought we defended their first actions fairly well. But Washington just makes the second and third and fourth pass so extremely well that we didn’t react and continue to play out the possession.”
Michigan suffered a blow when junior guard Kelly Helvey went down with a knee injury early in the first half. Michigan made just two field goals in the final 7:56 of the first half as Washington went on an 18-6 run to turn a 19-17 lead into a 37-23 halftime advantage.
Washington next plays host to Eastern Washington at 7 p.m. Monday.
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