SEATTLE — To say that the University of Washington women’s basketball team thrives off the energy of its home crowd would be more than a bit misleading, considering that the Huskies have had an average attendance of fewer than 1,900 this season.
And yet there is something about playing at Hec Edmundson Pavilion that generally brings out the best in this year’s Huskies.
UW treated the 1,789 faithful to one of its most complete performances of the season Thursday night, unloading on Arizona 77-48. The Huskies (11-7 overall, 3-5 in the Pacific-12 Conference) improved to 8-2 at home this season, with both losses including opponent buzzer-beaters at the end of regulation.
“We have a good crowd, a lot of friends and family here,” senior Regina Rogers said after recording her ninth career double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds on Thursday night. “We want to play well for them.”
The same UW team that lost two games by a combined 42 points in the Bay Area last week was in complete control Thursday night, running out to a 27-10 lead after 11 minutes and rolling into halftime leading 49-21. The Huskies maintained a lead of 30-plus points for most of the second half.
The usual suspects led the way, with UW’s go-to duo of Rogers and Jazmine Davis combining for 48 points.
Davis scored 22 of her career-high 28 points in the first half, and she eclipsed her previous career-best of 27 on a pair of free throws with 7:15 remaining. She scored 25 points through the first 23 minutes of the game, outscoring Arizona 25-21 in the process
After converting a fast-break layup with 2:15 to play in the first half, Davis had single-handedly outscored Arizona 20-19 to that point — the Huskies led 41-20. By halftime, UW held a comfortable 28-point lead, with Davis and Rogers accounting for 44 of the Huskies’ season-high 49 first-half points.
Rogers, in her most significant action since returning from a hamstring injury eight days ago, scored 20 points and had 10 rebounds despite sitting out the final six minutes. It was her fifth double-double of the season.
“Today I played a good game,” the 6-foot-4 senior said. “My hamstring was not really bothering me.”
While the Huskies were dominant on both ends of the floor, the visiting Wildcats (13-7, 2-6) certainly didn’t help themselves. Arizona had 13 turnovers at the half while making just nine of 24 shots. By contrast, UW had just two turnovers and made 20 of 35 shots; Davis and Rogers were a combined 13-for-16 from the field.
Davis, who is averaging 13.9 points per game during her freshman season, has scored at a 23.3 per-game clip in her past three home games. In two of those, she set career highs — with 27 in a win over Colorado two weeks ago, and again Thursday.
She has now scored 25 or more points in three of UW’s past six games. Thursday’s performance was especially sweet, since it’s probably the only time her father, who lives in the Bay Area, will attend a game at Hec Ed.
“I was just thinking: calm down; don’t do anything crazy,” said Davis, whose 28 points tied the fourth-most scored by a UW freshman.
The win came at a good time for a struggling UW team that was in danger of falling into a two-way tie for last place in the Pac-12. Instead, the Huskies are back in the thick of a crowded middle of the standings.
“We really have a good chance, if we play as well as we played (Thursday night), of just moving right up the ladder of the Pac-12,” said sophomore Mercedes Wetmore, who added 10 points and a team-high six assists. “That was our goal from the beginning of the season, to get right up in the mix of the top.
“We have a lot of work to do, but it’s possible.”
Notable
Thursday’s game saw UW assistant and former Seattle Storm player Adia Barnes coaching against her alma mater. Barnes graduated from Arizona in 1998. … The Huskies were without Jackson High School graduate Kristi Kingma and Glacier Peak High grad Marjorie Heard, both of whom are out for the season with knee injuries.
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