Huskies Open Pac-12 Play Sunday vs Washington State

Sunday, December 30

Seattle, WA

2:00 PM

University of Washington

Washington State

December 27, 2018 | Women's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)Tickets

OPENING TIP
• Washington opens Pac-12 play this week, hosting cross-state rival Washington State on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena. The game is the first two between the rivals in the Boeing Apple Cup Series. The game is being broadcast on the Pac-12 Network with Elise Woodward and Layshia Clarendon on the call. Fans can listen to the UW/IMG Network broadcast with Gary Hill Jr. on KKNW 1150 AM, on the TuneIn App or online at GoHuskies.com. A live stream of the games will also be available on GoHuskies.com.

• The Huskies are coming off a tough loss, falling 103-56 to #4 Mississippi State on Dec. 20. UW did have an impressive eight blocks against the Bulldogs–the most since recording 11 vs. Arizona on Feb. 10, 2017

• Despite the lopsided defeat, Washington finished the non-conference schedule with an impressive 7-5 record despite playing teams with a combined 74-47 record.

Scouting the Cougars
Washington State enters Pac-12 play with a 5-6 record, snapping a two-game losing streak with a 85-59 win over Wichita State on Dec. 20 in its final game before the holiday break. The Cougars were 1-1 at the Dual of the Desert including the Wichita State game, also losing to Kansas 71-63.

After opening the season at 1-4, the Cougars have won four of their last six games including a 95-71 win over Boise State at home. Washington State has posted a 3-3 record at home, but is 0-2 in road games and 2-1 in neutral site contests.

WSU is under the direction of first-year head coach Kamie Ethridge, who comes to the Palouse from Northern Colorado. The Cougars, who finished the 2017-18 season with a 10-20 overall record and a 3-14 Pac-12 mark, return All-Pac-12 selection Borislava Hristova. She has continued her solid play this season, averaging a team-best 21.8 points per game. She has scored in double-figures in each game this year including a pair of 30-point games.

All-Time Series vs WSU
This will be the 87th meeting between the teams all-time with Washington holding a 72-14 overall record over Washington State. The Huskies are 36-8 in games in Seattle and have won the last three including a 56-49 win at Alaska Airlines Arena last season. Washington has won six of the last seven games in the series with the lone WSU win coming last season in Pullman as the Cougars pulled out a 78-75 overtime win.

This will be the 10th time the two teams have opened the Pac-10/Pac-12 schedule against each other. Washington is 9-1 in those games and has won eight-straight with the lone WSU victory coming in a 75-72 overtime win in Seattle to kick off the 1992-93 Pac-10 season.

Up Next
UW hits the road for the first time in November, traveling to Oregon to take on the Ducks on Jan. 4 before heading up the road to face Oregon State in Corvallis on Jan. 6.

Last Time Out
Alexis Griggsby had a team-high 11 points while Hannah Johnson added 10 points but Washington was unable to pull off the upset, falling 103-56 to No. 4 Mississippi State in its final non-conference game on Thursday night.

Washington struggled with the height and athleticism of Mississippi State throughout the night. The Bulldogs, who lead the NCAA in rebounding and are among the top five in shooting percentage, out-rebounded the Huskies 45-25. MSU also controlled the paint, outscoring Washington 62-20 in the paint.

The Huskies did set a season-high with eight blocks in the game—the most since the 2016-17 season. Darcy Rees and TT Watkins each had two while Mai-Loni Henson, Amber Melgoza, Missy Peterson and Haley Van Dyke each had one.

Amber Alert
Washington junior Amber Melgoza picked up right where she left off last year, averaging 18.5 points per game through the first 12 games of the season–seventh-best in the Pac-12. The junior saw her 24-game streak of scoring in double-figures come to an end vs Mississippi State on Dec. 20, but Melgoza has scored 20+ in six games this season and 20 in her career at UW.

Melgoza's off-season goal was to become a more well-rounded player and it shows as she also leads the team in assists (3.1/game) and is second in rebounds (5.3/game). She recorded her first career double-double against Northern Arizona on Nov. 11 with 20 points and 10 rebound, coming up two assists shy of a triple-double with a career-best eight helpers.

Melgoza is coming off an impressive sophomore campaign where she earned All-Pac-12 honors after finishing second in the conference in scoring at 19.0 points per game. But she did her real damage in Pac-12 play, leading the conference with 20.6 ppg in Pac-12 games. She finished the season with 570 points–11th most in program history and five points shy of the Top 10. In addition, Melgoza ended the season with 120 points over her final four games including pouring in 40 against Stanford–the most by a Pac-12 player on the season.
Melgoza on Ann Meyers Drysdale Watch List
Amber Melgoza was one of 20 players from across the country to be named to the 2019 Ann Meyers Drysdale Watch List as announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association on Oct. 23. The winner will be revealed on ESPN during the 2019 Women's Final Four in Tampa, Florida.

Productive Peterson
After an injury-plagued freshman campaign, Missy Peterson has been solid through the first 12 games of her sophomore season, averaging 10.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. She averaged 14.6 ppg (73 total points) over a five game stretch beginning with a 17-point performance against Duke at the Gulf Coast Showcase and has scored at least 17 points in four games this season.

Peterson struggled with injuries her freshman year as a lingering foot injury kept her off the court until just before the start of the season. After playing sparingly through 18 games last year, Peterson suffering a season-ending knee injury at Washington State on Jan. 17. After rehabbing this offseason, a healthy Peterson has returned with a vengeance. She has already scored twice as many points this year (125) than all of last year (59) and is shooting 46.0% from the field.

Johnson On The Boards
After a rough end of November, Hannah Johnson has played well in December, averaging 8.0 points and 8.2 rebounds per game in five games this month. She had 13 points and eight rebounds against Montana on Saturday, adding two assists and a block. Johnson recorded a double-double in the first game of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds vs Cal State Fullerton. It was her fifth career double-double.

Shooting Stars
The Huskies have been markedly better in shooting from the field this season, connecting on 41.0% through the first 12 games. Last season, Washington shot just 38.3% at the end of the season. Breaking it down even more, the Huskies rank 55th among 351 NCAA DI teams in 2PT FG% at 49.3%. Washington has already shot 45% of better in four games this season after do so in just five games all of last year.

Non-Conference Recap
The Huskies posted a 7-5 record though the non-conference portion of the schedule, despite playing another tough non-conference slate. Through Dec. 20, Washington's opponents had a combined record of 71-39, which includes Seattle U at 0-12.

The Charity Stripe
The Huskies are third in the Pac-12 and 42nd in the NCAA in free throw shooting at 74.5%. Amber Melgoza ranks third in the Pac-12 and 45th out of over 3,000 players in the NCAA at 87.0% (67-of-77). Melgoza, who converted 11-of-11 from the charity stripe against Seattle and went 8-of-8 vs Ohio State, has made 38 of her last 42 free throws overall. Melgoza is one of four players converting at 80% or better along with Khayla Rooks (10-11; 90.9%), Hannah Johnson (13-15; 86.7%) and T.T. Watkins (12-15, 80.0%).

That Halftime Lead...
The score at halftime has gone a long way to determine the score at the end of the game for the Huskies. Since Coach Wynn took over last season, Washington is 14-4 when leading at the half but is 0-24 when tied or trailing at halftime. This season, the Huskies are 7-0 when leading at halftime, but are 0-5 when trailing at the break.

RPI Check-In
Washington stayed put at No. 100 in the latest RPI rankings, 10th best out of the 12 Pac-12 teams. The Huskies are four spots ahead of Arizona and 38 ahead of Washington State. The Pac-12 has three teams in the Top 7: Oregon at #3, Stanford at #4 and California at #7. Four of the Huskies' losses have come against teams ranked in the top 100: Mississippi State (#12), Tulane (#73), Boise State (#78) and Michigan (#95).

Strength of Schedule
Once again, the Huskies are not shying away from playing a difficult schedule in 2018-19. UW plays nearly half its schedule (13 games) against eight teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25 or receiving votes. In fact, the Huskies have the sixth-toughest schedule among the 353 NCAA DI programs when looking at the cumulative record of its opposition this season (249-80, .757). The Pac-12 conference boasts five teams in the AP Top 25 including four in the Top 15: #5 Oregon, #6 Stanford, #11 Oregon State, #14 California and #17 Arizona State with USC and Utah receiving votes. UW is currently in a tough stretch which sees the Huskies play three of four games against AP Top 15 teams. (Miss. St, Oregon, Oregon State).

Huskies in the Rankings
While still early in the season, UW ranks among the Pac-12 leaders in a number of categories. The Huskies rank third in free throw percentage (74.5%), fourth in total rebounds (465), fourth in steals (106), fourth in turnovers forced (18.08/game) and also rank second in three-point field goals attempted (290).

Individually, Amber Melgoza ranks in the top 15 in the NCAA in two categories: 6th in free throws made (67) and 14th in free throw attempts (77). She is also 5th in the Pac-12 and 33rd in the NCAA in total points (222) and ranks third in conference in free-throw percentage (87.0%), seventh in points per game (18.5) and eighth in field goals made (86).

Freshmen Making a Splash
Husky freshmen Haley Van Dyke, T.T. Watkins and Darcy Rees have seen quite a bit of action in Washington's first 12 games of the season with the trio averaging 17.0 minutes per game through the early going.

Van Dyke is averaging 6.2 ppg and has scored in double figures in four games thus far including a career-high 13 points against George Mason. Overall she is shooting 53.1% from the field.

Watkins earned her first collegiate start on Saturday vs Montana and has made two starts so far. She scored 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting against Northern Arizona and is averaging 5.7 points per game. Watkins had four points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal in 15 minutes vs George Mason after missing two games due to a concussion.

Rees scored in double-figures in two of UW's three games in Florida, recording 10 points against Duke and Fordham to open the tournament. She also became the first player in two years to record at least three blocks in a game when she did so against George Mason. Overall Rees is averaging 4.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game and has started six games already for the Huskies.

NCAA Free Throw Records
The Huskies matched an NCAA record earlier this year when they weren't awarded a free throw in the game against Fordham–a record shared with numerous teams. The Huskies now hold the NCAA records for fewest free throws in a game (0) and the most (69). On Nov. 30, 1991, UW attempted 69 free throws (making 51–also an NCAA record) in a 101-91 2 OT win vs. Northern Illinois.

Home, Non-Conference Success
The loss to Boise State earlier this season snapped an eight-game winning streak for UW in home non-conference games. Despite the loss, the Huskies are still an impressive 18-3 in non-conference home games since the start of the 2016-17 season. Going back a bit further, the Huskies are 33-5 in such games since the start of the 2013-14 season.

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. 2, Jan. 8, Jan. 14, Jan. 21, Jan. 28, Feb. 4, Feb. 11, Feb. 18, Feb. 25, March 4 and March 11. The show can be heard online at gohuskies.com or by using the TuneIn Mobile App.

Wynn Adds Talented Trio on Signing Day
UW coach Jody Wynn announced the signing of a talented trio to National Letters of Intent during the November early signing period: JaQuaya Miller (Renton, WA/Kentridge HS), Ali Bamberger (Concord, CA/Carondelet HS), and Nia Lowery (Sacramento, CA/McClatchy HS).

Miller is a local product and one of the top post recruits in the country. The 6-3 post from Renton is a 4.5-star rated recruit by Prospects Nation, ranked No. 41 overall (sixth-best post in the country) and the top overall prospect out of Washington state.

Bamberger, a 6-3 post, is ranked as the No. 8 player out of California (No. 2 post player) and No. 81 overall in the Class of 2019 by Prospects Nation heading into her final season at Carondelet High School in Concord, Calif.

Lowery, a 5-11 wing from Sacramento, is rated as a four-star recruit by Prospects Nation from McClatchy High School. As a senior, she helped guide the Lions to a NorCal Division I Title, an appearance in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championship and a berth in the state tournament.