SEATTLE — After opening the regular season with disappointing losses to Gonzaga and Weber State, every member of the University of Washington’s women’s basketball team was looking for a better showing against Boise State on Sunday afternoon.
And no one more than freshman guard Kristi Kingma.
One game after shooting and missing 11 times from the field in a 77-68 loss at Weber State last Wednesday, Kingma had a sterling all-around game in Washington’s 74-51 victory over Boise State. In a game that was a rout by halftime, Kingma had 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals in just 23 minutes as the Huskies picked up their first regular-season win of the season.
Kingma’s rebounds and assists were both highs for Washington, and she trailed teammate Laura McLellan by just one point for the game-high scoring lead.
In her basketball career, which began in youth leagues and included four stellar seasons at Mill Creek’s Jackson High School, Kingma cannot remember ever being shut out from the field as she was last week against Weber State.
And when she missed her first attempt on Sunday, “I could have been (thinking), ‘Oh, no. Here we go again.’ But I have a lot of confidence in myself and I’m real competitive and my shot felt good. So I just thought, ‘I have to keep shooting.’ And the next one fell,” she said.
Kingma scored five minutes into Sunday’s game with a pull-up jumper from left of the key and followed moments later with a 3-pointer from the left side. Those points capped a 15-0 Washington flurry that erased an early 4-0 Boise State lead and pushed the Huskies on top to stay.
The lead swelled to 48-18 at halftime as the Huskies closed the period with 19 unanswered points. Then they opened the second half by outscoring Boise State 10-2 — Kingma dropped in another 3 in the burst — to go ahead 58-20, a 38-point margin that was their biggest of the game.
Kingma finished the game 5-for-13 from the field and 2-for-4 from the 3-point stripe.
“Even though I know I didn’t play well last game, I came into this game pretending like I did so I’d have that confidence,” she said. “I am a freshman, I’m going to make mistakes and I know that. And after that last game, I took it pretty hard.
“But all throughout the week I just got encouragement from my teammates, my coaches and my parents. They were all saying, ‘You’re so much better than the way you played.’ And I think that was a big part of me just coming into this game being confident.”
Washington opened its season with two exhibition victories, but Sunday’s win was officially the first of the season after the Gonzaga and Weber State losses. “And I’m very excited to get our first win, that’s for doggone sure,” Jackson said.
“We were out there ready to win,” said guard Sarah Morton from Monroe High School. “We were determined. We were kind of (angry), actually.”
Boise State was missing starting point guard Tasha Harris, who was injured in an 85-77 loss to Washington State on Thursday, and the Huskies took advantage of her absence with a pestering full-court trapping zone press. Washington totaled 23 steals and forced the Broncos into a whopping 32 turnovers.
“We knew their point guard was out, so we wanted to press them,” Jackson said. “Our athleticism showed. Our quickness. We really did some good things with that press.”
Overall, she added, “the girls played hard. … We feel good. The ladies are going to embrace this victory.”
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