University of Washington
USC
Trojans Wear Down Huskies, 60-51, To Complete L.A. Sweep
January 02, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2011
Final Stats
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SEATTLE - Excuses are, by rule, not in the Huskies' lexicon. So the Dawgs aren't about to gripe about their snake-bit injury situation, which has ravaged their front line. Nor will they bemoan having to toss their freshmen into the fire of Pac-10 play.
That being said, the Huskies shorthanded roster is finding life in conference difficult after a 60-51 loss to USC on Sunday at Hec Edmundson Pavilion, their third straight defeat. The Trojans wrapped up a sweep by the Los Angeles schools in the Pacific Northwest with a dominant performance on the glass, out-rebounding a size-deficient Huskies team, 52-40.
Kristi Kingma led UW with a game-high 18 points. The do-everything guard kept her team in the game with timely 3-pointers (four overall) to go along with a career-high eight rebounds. Even with the roster limitations (the Huskies employ just two healthy post players), Kingma is not about to start making excuses for her team's start to the Pac-10 season.
"Teams go through injuries all the time," said the 5-10 Kingma, who at one point played center because of foul trouble. "There are a million other things we could have done to get the win out there. There are not really any excuses. Just because we have some players out doesn't give us any reason to say we couldn't win those games."
Briana Gilbreath scored 13 points for the Trojans, and was a nightmare defensively for the Huskies shooters. The defending Co-Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year also tallied three steals and three blocks. But the story of the game for the Trojans was their performance on the boards. Despite shooting just 28 percent from the floor, USC pulled down 24 offensive rebounds, which helped extend possessions.
Afterward, Coach Tia Jackson said that while her team may take some lumps now, she knows their resiliency will only harden for games down the road. The Huskies still have 16 Pac-10 games remaining, with a trip to the Oregon schools upcoming next weekend.
One particularly strong highlight for UW was a defensive effort that flustered the USC guards. The three-headed monster of Ashley Corral, Jacki Gemelos and Gilbreath shot a combined 10-of-41 (24 percent) from the floor.
"For the most part, it was playing those three guards straight up, because they can do anything," said Sarah Morton. "They can come off curl screens, they can shoot, they can drive ... making sure you're focused on the little things and getting in their grill."
As strong as she was on defense, Morton was at her best orchestrating the offense from the point position. The senior tied a career-high with seven assists, finding wipe-open teammates for easy looks. The perimeter shooting also unlocked some space in the post for Marjorie Heard and Mackenzie Argens, who scored 12 and 10 points respectively.
Some other good news for the Huskies was the surprise return of Jeneva Anderson. The sophomore wing played in her first action this season after missing the first 11 games recovering from hip surgery. Anderson was held scoreless, but did an excellent job playing defense and tipping passes. Jackson said her contributions will only improve as she synchronizes with her teammates.
"She's ready to give to this team," Jackson said. "(We are) very, very excited about it."
Trailing 30-24 at the half, the Huskies cut the Trojans' lead to one point on multiple occasions. But the Women of Troy had answers for seemingly every situation, whether it was a timely 3 from Gemelos, or offensive rebounds after missed shots. Nevertheless, the Huskies remain optimistic about how their effort will eventually translate to wins.
"I'm proud of the way we've battled through adversity," Kingma said.
