As Arizona staged a comeback effort against the Huskies on Thursday night, the Washington women’s basketball team relied on something it didn’t have for most of the season: experience winning close games.
That, UW coach Tia Jackson said, made a big difference for the Huskies, who held on for their second road win of the season that night.
Plenty has improved for the Huskies as Pac-10 play has gone on. Since going 2-6 to open conference play, the Huskies have won five of seven games heading into today’s match-up with Arizona State. A young team, the Huskies struggled for much of the year in close contests, losing four of their first five games by five points or less.
The win over Arizona, however, continued a trend of improvement in that category. Washington has won three straight games, all by five points or less.
“I think the difference is, we’ve lived moments like that already,” Jackson said. “It took a few more games than I thought, but we know now what kind of focus at the end of the game and what kind of defensive effort towards the end of the game we need to seal it. Our last three victories have been testaments to that.”
Things get a lot tougher starting today, however. The Huskies play Arizona State, the No. 3 team in the conference standings, then finish with home games against California and Stanford, a pair of top-10 teams. The Huskies played Arizona State tough at home, losing by six. Jackson said the key this time around will be to rebound better. ASU enjoyed a 37-26 rebound advantage in Seattle.
“The biggest determinant last game was that we gave a very good team 17 offensive boards, and needless to say, we’re not in a place that we can afford to give that up to anyone,” Jackson said. “We’re definitely hoping that we can make rebounding our focus.”
If the Huskies can indeed rebound better, Jackson says her improving team is capable of pulling off the road upset.
“With Arizona State, they’re very capable of being beaten at home,” she said. “Arizona came into their place and only lost by three. Oregon came to their place and only lost by one. So they’re definitely a team that if we come operating on all cylinders — and of course we’ve got to cross as many T’s and dot as many I’s as possible to make it happen — but I truly believe that anything is possible.”
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
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