Melgoza and Peterson Lead Washington Past Seattle, 69-58

Friday, November 30

Seattle, WA

6:00 PM

University of Washington

4-3

Seattle

0-7

Washington

Seattle U

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

Melgoza and Peterson Lead Washington Past Seattle, 69-58

November 30, 2018 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

SEATTLE --- Amber Melgoza scored a season-high 29 points and Missy Peterson matched her career-high with 18 as Washington closed out a long five-game road trip with a 69-58 victory over cross-town rival Seattle University on Friday night at the Redhawk Center.

The Huskies improve to 4-3 on the season with a big road win to end a long five-game road trip, while dropping the Redhawks to 0-7. It was Washington's 12th-straight win over Seattle U, pushing its record to 19-3 overall against its city rival.

Melgoza continued her hot start to the season, scoring 29 points on 9-of-21 shooting, but converting 11-of-11 from the free throw line. She added six rebounds and a team-high five assists. Peterson had another solid shooting game, hitting 6-of-8 from the field including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc to score 18 points for the second-straight game.

After a close first quarter, the Huskies blew the game open with a 21-0 run in the second quarter and led 38-22 at halftime. Seattle fought back, closing to within nine in the third quarter and then seven late in the fourth, but Washington held on for the hard-fought victory.

The Huskies shot 42% from the field in the contest including hitting 29% from three-point range. Washington also forced 21 Seattle turnovers, turning those into 29 points.

The Redhawks got the game going with a 5-0 run, taking advantage of a Husky turnover and three missed shots by the visitors through the early going. Melgoza got a bucket just past the two-minute mark to get Washington on the board and the teams exchanged points over the next two minutes before the Huskies called an early timeout. Washington responded out of the timeout, clamping down on defense and finding its offense, closing out the quarter on a 13-2 run. The Huskies would force five turnovers and limit the Redhawks to just 1-of-6 shooting from the field over the final 6:06 of the quarter to give UW a 17-11 lead after 10 minutes.

Seattle U snapped the run with a fastbreak three-pointer off a Husky turnover to start the second quarter, followed by a deep three two minutes later to tie the game at 17-17 2:30 in. But it was all Washington the rest of the quarter as Mai-Loni Henson connected on a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, keying a 21-0 Washington run over the next five-and-a-half minutes. Peterson capped the run with back-to-back three-pointers as the Huskies went up 38-17 with a minute left. Peterson and Melgoza each had nine points over the run to pace UW. Seattle U finally ended the run with a three-pointer and closed the half with a layup at the buzzer, but Washington still led 38-22 at halftime.

Melgoza opened the second half with a pair of tough pullup jumpers to key a 7-2 UW run to open the quarter and stretch the lead to 45-24 at the 7:02 mark. Seattle refused to go away, cutting the lead to nine at 48-39 with a 14-3 run over the next five minutes. The Redhawks hit five-straight field goals and added four points from the free throw line during the run while the Huskies went 1-of-7 from the field. But Melgoza hit a pair of free throws with 2:02 left and then hit a fadeaway jumper on the next possession to put Washington back up 52-39. After a Redhawk bucket, Moser hit a cutting layup and the Huskies led 54-41 after three.

Seattle came out firing in the fourth, getting a three-pointer on its first possession, then forcing a turnover and getting an easy fastbreak layup to cut the deficit to eight. But Peterson answered with a big three pointer to make it 57-46 with 8:14 left. The teams went back and forth over the next five minutes with the Huskies still leading by 11 as Peterson hit a pair of free throws to make it 63-52 with three minutes left. Seattle kept firing and was able to cut the lead to seven with 43 seconds left, but they could get no closer as Melgoza hit six free throws down the stretch to help the Huskies hold on for the 69-58 win.

Kamira Sanders led Seattle with 17 points, adding six assists and four steals with Madeline Dopplick adding 13 points.

The Huskies begin a six-game home stand on Sunday, hosting George Mason University in a non-conference matchup at 12:00 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena.