SEATTLE — June Daugherty’s return to Hec Edmundson Pavilion started with a warm ovation when she was introduced as Washington State’s coach.
The Washington women’s basketball team, however, was far less kind to their former coach.
Facing their former coach in Seattle for the first time since she was fired last March, the Huskies showed little mercy on the way to an 84-40 victory over the Cougars in front of 4,129 fans Sunday afternoon.
“It didn’t matter who we were playing,” said Tia Jackson, who was hired last spring to replace Daugherty. “It just so happened to be Washington State with a lot of hoopla around it. It was about us, and we wanted to go in making this game about us.”
The Huskies made the game about them, while making Washington State look like they weren’t even there for long stretches of the game. In a game that was never in doubt, Washington led 9-0 before WSU scored with 15:40 left in the game. That was the only field goal the Cougars would make in the next 10 minutes as the Huskies raced to a 26-point halftime lead.
“I think we gained a lot of confidence,” said senior point guard Emily Florence, who had seven points, eight assists, seven rebounds and no turnovers. “Coming off a big win like this, it builds our confidence a lot … All around, I thought it was a great game for us and it will definitely get us ready for the L.A. games.”
The second half didn’t start any better for the Cougars, who made their first field goal then missed their next 14, going almost nine minutes without a point. The Huskies, who shot a season-best 45.5 percent from 3-point range, had 22 assists and 15 turnovers, compared to 27 turnovers and five assists for Washington State, which shot just 20.8 percent from the field and 16.7 percent on 3-pointers.
“They played well today,” Daugherty said of the Huskies, all of whom were recruited by her. “Certainly their defense gave us some problems.”
Katelan Redmon scored 20 points to lead the Huskies, who have now beaten the Cougars 26 straight times. She was joined in double-figure scoring by Laura McLellan, who scored 11 points, and Kali Bennett, who had 10.
Despite a lopsided loss, Daugherty said she enjoyed being back in Seattle.
“I really appreciate the fans, the standing ovation and the signs and all that kind of stuff,” she said. “That was terrific. It was a great decade here, it was nice to see a lot of people that had made that experience so wonderful here today.”
Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com/huskiesblog
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
