Washington Rolls Past George Mason, 81-52

Sunday, December 2

Seattle, WA

12:00 PM

University of Washington

5-3

George Mason

4-4

George Mason

Washington

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

December 02, 2018 | Women's Basketball

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SEATTLE --- Washington opened a six-game homestand with an impressive 81-52 victory over George Mason University as junior Amber Melgoza scored 20 points and freshman Haley Van Dyke scored a season-best 13 points on Sunday afternoon at Alaska Airlines Arena.

The Huskies move to 5-3 on the season with their second-straight win, improving to 17-1 in non-conference home games since the start of the 2016-17 season. The Patriots drop to 4-4 overall.

Washington used a big second quarter to overcome a slow shooting start which saw the team hit just three of its first 19 shots in the game and trail 16-13 after one quarter. But the Huskies connected on 9-of-15 shots from the field in the second, winning the quarter 24-9 and outscoring George 68-36 the rest of the game.

UW held a 50-40 rebounding edge in the game, including pulling down 22 offensive boards leading to 24 second chance points. The Huskies also forced 22 turnovers and turned those into 21 points and outscored the Patriots 34-14 in the paint.

Melgoza scored at least 20 points for the fourth-straight game and fifth time this season. She has scored 90 points through her last four games and is averaging 19.9 points per game on the year.

Van Dyke had the best game of her young, collegiate career, scoring 10 of her 13 points in the fourth quarter and hitting 6-of-10 from the field while adding five rebounds, two assists and a steal. It was her third game this season in double-figures and first since scoring 10 at Tulane on Nov. 18.

Sophomore Missy Peterson added 11 points on an efficient 4-6 shooting over 22 minutes of play while senior Hannah Johnson contributed six points but matched a season-high with 10 rebounds and added a career-high four assists.

"There was a definite lid on the bucket in the first quarter!" said Head Coach Jody Wynn. "I thought we did a better job in the second quarter of creating transition opportunities through our defense: getting some steals and turning them over that helped create an easier shot for us. In the second half we took more solid shots. We were able have a balanced attack both inside and outside."

George Mason opened the game strong, jumping out to a quick 7-3 lead before Melgoza tied the score at 7-7 with a lay then two free throws. But the Patriots answered back with a 7-2 run over the next three minutes to stretch the lead back to 14-9 at the 2:51 mark. Jenna Moser drained a three-pointer to get the Huskies back within two, then hit a free throw on the next possession to make it 14-13 with 18 seconds left. But George Mason was able to get a bucket as time expired and led by three after one. The first quarter was not one to remember for the Huskies, who connected on just 4-of-21 from the field including 2-of-15 from three-point range.

But things turned around quickly for Washington in the second quarter. After the teams exchanged buckets to start the quarter, the Huskies took their first lead of the game as Peterson hit a jumper, then followed that up with a three-pointer to put UW on top 20-18 at the 8:12 mark. Nearly two minutes later, George Mason tied the game with a jumper in transition, but the Huskies took over from there, using a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to take a 29-20 lead with 3:55 left in the quarter. The Patriots would close to within six with a three-pointer with 1:18 left, but Washington closed out the half with three-pointers by Moser and Peterson to lead 37-25 at the intermission.

After a back and forth start to the third period, George Mason cut the deficit to 11 on a three-pointer with 6:38 left. But Khayla Rooks answered with a three-pointer on the Huskies' next possession which was followed two possessions later by a back-door layup by Griggsby to make it an 18-point game and the Huskies held a 16-point lead at 57-41 after three.

The Huskies broke the game wide open in the fourth quarter, opening the period on a 13-0 run with Van Dyke scoring six of those points including capping the run with a bucket to put UW up 70-41 with 6:03 left. The Huskies would lead by as many as 31 in the final quarter before settling for the 81-52 victory.

Washington was solid on defense in the game, limiting George Mason to just 29.7 percent shooting in the game and forcing a season-high 22 turnovers. The Patriots, who came into the game averaging 26 free throws per contest, attempted a season-low six free throws—eight shy of their previous low of 14. The Huskies also contained George Mason's leading scorer Nicole Cardano-Hillary, who entered the game averaging an A-10 best 21.1 points per game. However, Washington limited the sophomore to just 14 points and on 5-of-21 shooting.

Moser also had a solid game for the Huskies, scoring seven points but adding five rebounds and four steals. Griggsby contributed seven points and a team-high five steals with two rebounds and two assists.

After a long five-game road trip, Washington is home during the month of December which kicked off with Sunday's game vs George Mason. Next up for the Huskies is a huge showdown against Ohio State on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. Washington is looking to avenge a tough 85-76 loss in Columbus last year when the Buckeyes were ranked No. 9.