Huskies Look to Bounce Back Against Colorado on Sunday

Sunday, January 7

Seattle, WA

2:00 PM

University of Washington

Colorado

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January 06, 2018 | Women's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)

SEATTLE --- Washington closes out its first homestand in Pac-12 play, hosting Colorado on Sunday, Jan. 7, at 2:00 p.m. The game can be heard on KKNW 1150 AM in Seattle with Gary Hill Jr., streaming live on the TuneIn App or at gohuskies.com. A live video stream of the game will also be offered at gohuskies.com.

The Huskies saw their four-game, home winning streak come to an end on Friday, falling 74-65 to Utah. The loss dropped Washington to 0-3 in conference play and to 1-4 over its last five games. Amber Melgoza continued her hot play, scoring 21 points, eclipsing 18 for the sixth-straight game. The sophomore was clutch at the free throw line, converting on 10-of-11, both career-best marks. Jenna Moser contributed 16 points, reaching double-figures for the 2nd-straight game. Kierra Collier added 12 points with Mai-Loni Henson contributing eight.

Scouting the Buffaloes
Colorado has posted a 1-2 record to open Pac-12 play after falling 89-75 at Washington State on Friday. The Buffs opened conference play with a 72-47 loss at home to Arizona State before bouncing back with a 79-60 win over Arizona. Colorado posted a 9-2 mark in non-conference play, including an overtime loss at North Carolina.

The Buffs have five freshman on the roster this season. Among them, forward Annika Jank has taken the conference by storm, earning Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors three times already. Jank is averaging 13.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. She currently leads Pac-12 freshman in scoring and ranks second in rebounding.

Kennedy Leonard, who was named to the Nancy Lieberman Watch List for point guard of the year, is averaging 15.0 points, 7.0 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game. She had 20 points and eight assists at WSU on Friday. Junior forward Janea Bunn had 15 points and 13 rebounds on Friday and is among the Pac-12 leads in blocks with 24.

All-Time Series Record
Washington leads the series 12-8 and has won the last eight games between the two schools dating back to the 2013-14 season. Colorado's last win in the series was a 68-61 win in Boulder on Feb. 24, 2013. The Huskies lead the series 10-2 since Colorado joined the Pac-12 in 2012-13. Last season, the Huskies swept the series, pulling out a close 79-75 win at Colorado before cruising to a 79-46 victory in their penultimate game of the regular season.

Up Next
The Huskies head back out on the road, traveling to the Bay area to face #23 California at 8:00 p.m. on January 12.

Last Time Out
Washington used a big push in the fourth quarter to cut into a big first-half deficit, but in the end ran out of time, falling 74-65 to Utah.

Amber Melgoza continued her hot play, scoring 21 points including 14 in the second half for the Huskies, thanks in large part to hitting 10-of-11 from the charity stripe. Jenna Moser added 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field while Kierra Collier scored 12 points.

But despite the furious comeback, UW could not overcome a 26-2 Utah run which spanned the first and second quarters. The Utes broke open a 14-14 tie with the run and took its largest lead of the game at 40-16 with 6:56 left in the 2nd.

Amber Alert
Sophomore Amber Melgoza continued to put up big numbers, recording 21 on Friday against Utah. Over her last six games, Melgoza is averaging 23.3 points per game, scoring no fewer than 18 in any of those games. The sophomore currently leads the Pac-12 with 23.7 ppg in league play. At Oregon, Melgoza scored a career-high 31 points–the most by a UW player since Kelsey Plum scored 38 against Oklahoma on March 20, 2017. Melgoza had just eight going into the final quarter, but erupted for 23 points, a Pac-12 record for points in a quarter.

Moser's Shooting Prowess
Senior Jenna Moser ranks third in the Pac-12 in three-point field goal percentage, hitting 47.5% (29-for-61) from beyond the arc. (Using NCAA stat minimums of 2 made per team game, she leads the conference.) Moser broke out of a mini-slump with a 4-for-5 performance from beyond the arc at Oregon and has hit six of her last nine overall. In addition, Moser is shooting 46.8% from the field and has connected on her last 15 free throw attempts after starting the season 2-of-8. Moser began her UW career as a practice player, was added to the roster her second year and awarded a scholarship at the start of this season.

Huskies in the Rankings
Washington is among the leaders in the conference in a number of categories. The Huskies lead the Pac-12 in turnovers forced at 19.5 per game and rank third in turnover margin at +4.64. Washington also ranks second in the conference in steals per game (10.3) and three-point field goal attempts (367), third in 3-pointers made (118), steals per game (10.3), and steals (136).

Individually, Amber Melgoza leads in scoring in Pac-12 games at 23.7 ppg. In addition, she ranks fifth in overall scoring at 17.1 ppg, leads the Pac-12 in free throw percentage at 82.8%, ranks third in field goal attempts (110) and eighth in field goals made (91). Jenna Moser leads the conference in three-point field goal percentage at 47.5% and is sixth in three-pointers made with 2.07 per game.

Henson's Heroics
Sophomore Mai-Loni Henson has quietly moved into second on the team's scoring chart, averaging 11.1 points per game. She has scored in double-figures in 10 of 14 games this season including a career-high 17 points vs. Creighton. Henson is averaging 12.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game over her last nine games.

Everybody Starts, Everybody Plays
All 10 of Washington's active players have made a start this season and each is averaging at least 13 minutes per game. Senior Jenna Moser is the lone Husky to start all 14 games with sophomores Mai-Loni Henson and Amber Melgoza each making 11 starts. Moser also leads the team in minutes played, averaging 29.5 minutes per game with Melgoza playing 25.7and Henson playing 24.6.

Strength of Schedule
The Huskies are not shying away from playing tough teams in the 2017-18 as UW faces eight teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25. In fact, the Huskies' overall schedule ranks as the 46th most difficult among the 349 NCAA DI WBB programs.

The Pac-12 conference is the main reason the Huskies' schedule is so tough as the conference boasts six teams in the AP top 25 (#9 Oregon, #14 UCLA, #14 Oregon State, #23 California, #24 Stanford and #25 Arizona State). Besides their Pac-12 opponents, the Huskies have also squared off against #8 Texas and #10 Ohio St. in non-conference games.

Seven in Double Figures
Washington saw a program-best seven players score in double-figures in the 93-67 victory against Portland on Dec. 3. Mai-Loni Henson and Amber Melgoza led the way with 14 points each while freshmen Kierra Collier, Alexis Griggsby and Missy Peterson each contributed 12 points in the game with Griggsby and Peterson scoring all of their points in the second half. Senior Jenna Moser was the seventh player to reach double-figures in the game, hitting a tough jumper in the lane with 1:23 left to give her 11 while freshman Khayla Rooks scored 10 in the game on 4-of-5 shooting.

Freshman Power
The Huskies have received solid contributions from the five freshmen on the squad. Kierra Collier ranks fourth on the team with 8.4 points per game, second with 33 assists and third with 17 steals. Fapou Semebene recorded her first double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds against GCU–both season-highs. She is averaging a team-best 5.1 rebounds per game with over half of those coming on the offensive end (40o/32d). Missy Peterson is contributing 4.1 ppg and shooting a team-best 57.5% from the field. Alexis Griggsby has added 6.5 ppg which is the highest among players with five or fewer starts. Khayla Rooks has been battling injury but is still averaging 6.3 points and pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds vs. Seattle.

No Overtime, Please
UW's streak of games decided in regulation came to an end Sunday as the Huskies needed OT to beat Seattle, 84-76. Washington's last overtime game came on Jan. 17, 2014 when the Huskies beat Utah 53-52. Despite one streak coming to an end, one remained: UW has not lost an overtime game since Feb. 5, 2012, a streak of 199-straight games.

First Half Heroes
Washington suffered its first loss of the season when leading at the half at Oregon State (12/29). The Huskies are now 6-1 when leading at halftime and 0-7 when trailing at the half. Dating back to last year, the Huskies have won 14 of their last 15 games and 34 of 36 when leading at half.

Road Warriors
After opening the season with a pair of home games, the Huskies played just four of their next 10 games at home. The Huskies open conference play on the road at the Oregon schools on Dec. 29 and 31st before hosting Utah and Colorado at home in early January. After making its Bay area trip and facing Washington St. in Pullman, the Huskies play 7 of their final 11 games at home. Washington's season includes one of its longest road trips in recent memory, a 2,432 mile trip to play North Carolina in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Viva Las Vegas
Mai-Loni Henson had an impressive trip to Vegas, scoring 23 points in two games, earning her all-tournament honors. Henson scored a career-high 17 points, adding nine rebounds, three assists and three steals. Overall, she averaged 11.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game in Vegas.

Impressive Debuts
Washington had a solid showing from its core of freshman making their collegiate debuts against Idaho State. The Huskies were led in scoring by Kierra Collier, who scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting in 19 minutes off the bench. Griggsby added nine points, four rebounds and two steals in 15 minutes with Peterson contributing eight points and two assists. Two freshman cracked the starting lineup for the Huskies with Semebene and Rooks each scoring five points and pulling down a team-high five rebounds.

Versus The State of Idaho
The Huskies played all three DI programs in Idaho this season, posting a 1-2 record against Gem State teams. Washington recorded an 81-69 win over Idaho, but lost 85-62 at Boise State and 79-59 at home to Idaho State.

Huskies Ranked in the Preseason Polls
Washington opened the season tied for No. 25 along with fellow Pac-12 foe California with 79 votes in the USA Today Coaches Preseason Poll and received four votes in the AP Poll.

Huskies Ink Talented Duo to NLIs
UW coach Jody Wynn announced the signing Haley Van Dyke (Moraga, Calif./Campolindo High School) and Tyiona "TT" Watkins (Walnut, Calif./Walnut HS) to National Letters of Intent during the November early signing period.

Van Dyke, a 6-0 forward, scored the fifth-most points in the state of California last season, pouring in 765 points in 32 games for a 23.9 points per game average. She ranks 21st among '18 forwards according to ESPN and as the No. 82 player overall according to Prospects Nation. After an early season ankle injury, Van Dyke returned to the court with back-to-back 30 point performances late in December. On Jan. 2, Van Dyke scored a school and league record 56 points to go along with 27 rebounds in a 96-75 win over Brookside Christian.

Watkins is a 5-11 wing who will wrap up her high school career at Walnut High School in Walnut, Calif., after three seasons at Brea Olinda High School–the alma mater of Head Coach Jody Wynn and Coordinator of Player Development Anna Kim. She is currently ranked as the No. 14 wing player in the class of 2018 by ESPN and No. 20 by Prospects Nation. Watkins, who had to sit out after transferring schools, will be eligible to play in mid-January.

2016-17 Recap
The Huskies posted a 29-6 record and made their second-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2016-17. Washington went 18-1 at home and earned a pair of home games to open the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. The Huskies downed Montana State and Oklahoma before falling to Mississippi State in the Sweet Sixteen. UW's Kelsey Plum earned numerous honors including the Naismith Trophy and the Wooden Award as the NCAA Player of the Year before being selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft by the San Antonio Stars.

Radio Show
Washington Head Coach Jody Wynn joins Elise Woodward for the UW Coaches Show throughout the season at Chinook's at Fisherman's Terminal. The show is carried live on KOMO AM 1000 in Seattle at 6:00 p.m. on the following dates: Jan. 9, Jan. 16, Jan. 23, Jan. 30, Feb. 6, Feb. 13, Feb. 20, Feb. 27 and March 5. The show can be streamed online at gohuskies.com or by using the TuneIn App, available in the Apple and Google App Stores.