SEATTLE Washington coach June Daugherty didn’t like what she was seeing and she made sure she let her team know. The Huskies, battling for an at-large NCAA Tournament berth, trailed the ninth-place Oregon State Beavers by a point at halftime and the intensity that should come with a late-season game just wasn’t there.
But then the second half started.
Washington turned up its defensive pressure after halftime, holding Oregon State to one field goal over a 10 minute, 17 second span, and the Huskies got a balanced offensive attack to defeat the Beavers 70-59 in front of 2,556 fans Thursday at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
The win was Washington’s fourth in its last five games and improved the Huskies to 10-7 in the Pacific-10 and 17-11 overall. Washington moved into a tie for fourth place with USC in the conference with one game remaining in the regular season.
Daugherty said she wanted her team to up its intensity in the second half, and the Huskies complied.
“I was disappointed with our defense, I thought we were a little soft,” Daugherty said. “What we thrive on is getting after it defensively and I challenged them to step it up, get into it and start playing Husky basketball.”
Washington allowed Oregon State to shoot 47.8 percent in the first half en route to a 28-26 lead. The Huskies led 22-14 before OSU (3-14, 8-18), which has lost eight in a row, closed the half with a 14-4 run to claim its narrow lead.
“We were all a little disappointed in our defense,” said junior guard Emily Florence, who led Washington with six rebounds and three steals. “That’s our big key to winning ballgames. We were all a little down but we turned it around quickly. We knew we had to pressure more, get up in people’s faces, get in lanes. We win basketball games by getting steals and easy baskets.”
Florence was key to the second-half turnaround. Oregon State point guard Mercedes Fox-Griffin, who leads the Pac-10 in assists, had just one turnover in the first half, but committed six in the second half as the Huskies extended their defense and made it tougher for the young Beavers to get into their offense.
Oregon State eventually wilted under UW’s pressure. OSU played just eight players, five of whom were freshmen and only one of which was a senior. Of course, that senior is Casey Nash, the Pac-10’s leading scorer. But after going 13-for-16 for 27 points in Oregon State’s overtime loss to Washington earlier this season, Nash suffered through a painful game.
Late in the first half, she bloodied her face diving for a loose ball, requiring stitches in her nose and mouth, and after missing the start of the second half, she finished 4-for-16 for 13 points with six turnovers. In all, OSU committed 20 turnovers, leading to 20 Washington points.
Oregon State coach LaVonda Wagner said fatigue is starting to set in for her club.
“We outrebounded them by one, we shot well from the free throw line, (but) we did not shoot well from the floor and we did not take care of the basketball,” Wagner said.
Washington took control quickly in the second half, making seven of its first 10 shots. A 10-0 run grew to 23-5 as the Huskies took a 58-39 lead with 8:22 to go. Breanne Watson scored eight of her 13 points in the run. Oregon State climbed back within 10 but never got closer.
After shooting 34 percent in the first half, Washington shot 48 percent in the second. Cameo Hicks had 13 points, five rebounds and two blocks and Andrea Plouffe and Stefanie Clark each scored eight for Washington. Fox-Griffin had 17 points and Judie Lomax had 13 points and 12 rebounds for Oregon State.
“This type of ballgame didn’t surprise me at all,” Daugherty said. “Coach Wagner has those kids playing with a lot of heart and intensity. I was surprised when we were up 20 because they’re in every ballgame. But if we can keep our defensive intensity up and rebound hard, I think we can beat anybody.”
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