SEATTLE – In the fall of 2000, Pacific-10 Conference women’s basketball coaches picked the University of Washington to finish seventh in the conference’s preseason poll. The Huskies responded by winning the Pac-10 and advancing to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
This year, Washington was again picked to finish seventh, and the Huskies believe they have another chance to surprise people.
“I thought it was funny,” said senior guard Kayla Burt, the former Arlington High star. “I thought, ‘They’re kidding, right?’ We have everyone back. We have all our starters back. We have two players who were honorable mention all-Pac-10. I think there will be a lot of disappointed people when they see the end result.”
“It shows a lack of respect,” said senior forward Kristen O’Neill, the former Meadowdale standout. “It makes me mad because I know we’re a lot better than that. But I also realize we haven’t finished in the top in the past, so why would they put us there? We have a lot to prove.”
Indeed, Washington is coming off its worst season since 1999-2000. The Huskies finished 14-16, including 9-9 in the Pac-10. It was the second-fewest wins in June Daugherty’s nine seasons as Washington’s coach, and just the second time the team did not play in either the NCAA or NIT tournament.
But there’s reason for optimism. Last season, the Huskies were one of seven teams in the nation to not have a senior on the roster, and Washington returns 14 letter winners, including all five starters. The only newcomer is 6-foot-3 freshman Heidi McNeill, the all-time leading scorer at Oak Harbor High School. On top of that, the Huskies know what they’re capable of. After a slow start, they ended the season by winning eight of their last 13 games and five of their last seven, including a win in the Pac-10 Tournament. Daugherty said the ending streak was “huge.”
“It gave them an enormous amount of confidence,” Daugherty said. “We were playing well, and it was feeling that it ended too soon. But they saw the disappointment of having the season end as a chance to turn things around.”
“That was very good for us, finishing strong,” said Burt, who along with O’Neill and Nicole Castro are the three seniors on the team. “We won some tough games. We won at Arizona, we won a game in the Pac-10 Tournament. We gained momentum into the offseason with that.”
Daugherty said all but one player stayed on campus in the summer to work out. The only player who didn’t, junior forward Breanne Watson, spent the summer playing for the Canadian Junior National team at the World University Games.
The result should be a team that has a better idea of what to do this year. Last season, the Huskies opened the year with eight players on the roster who did not play the year before.
“We’re more experienced and because of that, we have more confidence,” O’Neill said. “There’s a smaller learning curve. We’re able to have more repetitions in practice instead of having to spend time teaching how to do things. Now it’s about just going out and executing.”
Joining Burt and O’Neill as returning starters are forward Jill Bell and guard Cameo Hicks, both honorable mention all-Pac-10 choices. Also back is point guard Emily Florence, who started 27 games as a true freshman last year.
Daugherty said she anticipates having a more aggressive defensive team, one that can set the tempo and get the team into a running game. She also hopes to have a stronger inside game led by Bell and Watson, particularly on the defensive end. Daugherty also expects to run more, and said she hopes to develop a few go-to players, something the team lacked last year when no one averaged in double figures in points.
The Huskies open the season on Nov. 6 at Hec Edmundson Pavilion with an exhibition game against the Northwest All-Stars. The regular season starts with games at Alabama (Nov. 18) and Florida State (Nov. 20) and Washington has its first home game Nov. 23 against Utah.
“We’re going to be a heck of a surprise for a lot of people out there,” Daugherty said.
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