SEATTLE – Give June Daugherty points for honesty.
Her Washington Huskies’ 82-51 non-conference victory against Denver at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Tuesday night wasn’t a Rembrandt. Neither was it a Warhol. It was, however, Washington’s 18th consecutive win at home.
“Well, it was a ‘W’,” Daugherty said. “It wasn’t very pretty.”
How bad was it? The teams combined for 71 free-throw attempts, 53 fouls and 48 turnovers, making the game more of a Yoko Ono marathon concert than an athletic event. The Huskies shot 44 free throws, which gave the game little flow and almost no roof-raising thrills.
“Is it midnight?” Daugherty asked, looking at her watch.
The positives for Washington: Four players scored in double figures, led by post Andrea Lalum’s 14. She also was stout on defense, with six blocked shots and seven rebounds. Guard Gioconda Mendiola added 13 points, six rebounds, four steals and a pair of assists. Her sister, All-America candidate Giuliana Mendiola, had 11 points, six assists and four steals. Forward Breanne Watson contributed 12 points and three rebounds, all on the offensive end.
Also, reserve post Jill Bell pulled down 16 rebounds in 22 minutes, a Husky high for the year. She also had eight points.
The Huskies (6-1) slapped on the defensive pressure late in the first half and blew the game open. From a 23-all tie, Washington scored 14 straight points, held the Patriots to no field goals in a 5:11 stretch and forced four turnovers.
Suddenly, Washington had a 42-27 halftime advantage.
“We weren’t playing very disciplined defense,” Denver coach Pam Tanner said. “Then we gave a way a lot of offensive rebounds and turned the ball over. If you do that with a team like Washington, even for one or two minutes, they’re going to blow the game wide open. We gave them an opportunity to do that.”
Even with Washington sloppiness, Denver mounted little challenge. The Patriots shot just 29.8 percent from the floor, were just 3-for-16 from 3-point range and made just 14 of 27 free-throw attempts.
Washington’s lead at the end was the game’s largest. The Huskies relentlessly pulled away, or rather, the Patriots relentlessly let them.
Still, the Huskies verbally beat themselves up afterward. With a meeting against third-ranked Texas Tech looming Friday, a duplicate of Washington’s effort won’t get it done.
“We need to clean up our system out there,” Lalum said. “We came out with intensity at the beginning and then we just slowed up real quick. We need to start off strong and keep it all through the game. We never got into our system and we need to work on it.”
Washington’s home win streak began with last season’s home opener against St. Bonaventure Nov. 29, 2002 (105-48). The 18-game streak is fourth-longest in school history … This was the first meeting between Washington and Denver … Denver’s Stephanie Hart, a graduate of Shorewood High School, had five points and six rebounds before fouling out … Patriots reserve guard Jamie Edwards, a Woodinville grad, finished with two points, two rebounds and three assists in 15 minutes of play … Watson’s point-total was her season-high, while freshman post Maggie O’Hara reached her season-high of seven points.
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