Huskies Begin Final Road Trip Of Season at Colorado Friday

Friday, February 16

Boulder, CO

6:00 PM

University of Washington

Colorado

Huskies Begin Final Road Trip Of Season at Colorado Friday

February 14, 2018 | Women's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)

SEATTLE --- Washington heads on the road for its final road trip of the regular season this week, traveling to face Colorado in Boulder on Friday at 7:00 p.m. CT (6:00 p.m. PT). Fans can catch Gary Hill Jr.'s call of the game on KKNW 1150 AM or on gohuskies.com. Colorado will also provide a video stream of the game. A link for the video can be found on gohuskies.com

The Huskies fell victim to a three-point barrage by No. 16 Oregon State as the Beavers hit 18 from beyond the arc in a 95-57 victory on Sunday. Sophomore Amber Melgoza scored 18 to lead the Huskies, scoring 14 in the final quarter of the game. She added eight points and three assists. Senior Jenna Moser scored nine points and added four steals and four rebounds while Khayla Rooks scored nine points while matching a career-high with three three-pointers.

Scouting the Buffaloes
Colorado–like Washington–comes into Friday's matchup having one just once in its last 10 games. That victory was a surprising 69-65 win over mountain rival Utah in Salt Lake City. However, the Buffs are just 1-6 through seven Pac-12 home games this season, defeating Arizona 79-60 on Dec. 31. Colorado had finished the non-conference schedule with a 6-1 record at home including a 67-61 win over Miami (Fla.) in November.

Colorado has just three conference wins on the season but one of those came in Seattle where the Buffaloes erased a 13-point first-half deficit to win 66-61 at Washington on January 7.

Junior guard Kennedy Leonard is among one of the top point guards in the Pac-12, averaging 15.0 points and 6.6 assists per game–both of which are among the top in the conference. Fellow junior guard Alexis Robinson is adding 11.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Robinson had a team-high 22 points and seven rebounds when the teams met in Seattle.

All-Time Series Record
Washington leads the series 12-9, but had its eight-game series winning streak come to an end when Colorado came from behind to win 66-61 in Seattle on January 7. Prior to that, the Buffs' last win in the series was on Feb. 24, 2013. The Huskies lead the series 10-3 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 play their final road contest of the regular season on Sunday, heading to Salt Lake City to take on Utah at 2:00 p.m. MT (1:00 p.m. PT) at the Huntsman Center.

Last Time Out
Washington ran into a red-hot shooting Oregon State squad which used a three-point barrage en route to a 95-57 victory over the Huskies on Sunday afternoon at Alaska Airlines Arena.

Washington received a team-high 18 points from sophomore Amber Melgoza, who added eight rebounds and three assists. Jenna Moser and Khayla Rooks each contributed nine points while Kierra Collier scored eight points.

Oregon State just seemed to be unable to miss from outside, hitting 18 three-pointers to set a program record and tie UW's record for most in a Pac-12 game. Kat Tudor led the way by hitting 7-of-9 and finishing with a game-high 23 points. She was one of six Beavers to score in double figures. However, the Huskies did manage to hold another all-conference opponent well under their season low as Marie Gulich scored a season-low five points in the contest.

Young Dawgs
Washington is one of the youngest teams in the Pac-12 with a roster comprised of five freshmen, two sophomores, one junior and two seniors. Of the returning players, just one saw significant playing time prior to this season: red-shirt sophomore Hannah Johnson, who averaged 16.5 minutes in 35 games last season.

One Bad Quarter
The Huskies have been plagued by one bad quarter in 10 of their 14 Pac-12 games thus far. In those bad quarters (which quarter differs in each game), UW has been outscored by an average of 13.7 points. However, in the other three quarters of those games, the Huskies have outscored their opponents by an average of 5.5 points.

Amber Alert
Sophomore Amber Melgoza scored 39 points in two games against the Oregon schools including a game-high 21 points on Friday against Oregon. Melgoza has reached double-figures in 22 games this season including 10 games with 20 or more points and five games with 25 or more points. Overall, Melgoza leads the team and ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in scoring at 17.4 ppg.

Against the LA schools two weeks ago, Melgoza scored 45 points including 25 against USC. Over the last 17 games, Melgoza is averaging 19.6 points per game and is currently fourth in the Pac-12 with 18.9 ppg in league play.

Melgoza's 23 Point Quarter
Earlier this season at Oregon, Amber 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. UW's previous best came from Plum at USC.

Henson's Heroics
Sophomore Mai-Loni Henson recorded her second double-double of the season at Arizona on Feb. 4, recording 13 points and 10 rebounds. It was also her 12th game in double-figures this season. She followed that up with a 16-point performance on Friday against Oregon, connecting on a season-high four three-pointers. Overall, Henson ranks second on the team with 9.6 points per game and is second with 4.4 rebounds per game.

Johnson Catching Fire
Junior forward Hannah Johnson has played well in conference play this year, averaging 9.2 points, 7.1 rebounds while shooting 40.5% from the field. Her rebounding average is 10th-best in the conference since the start of Pac-12 play. Earlier this season, over a six-game stretch starting with the home game against Colorado, Johnson averaged 12.7 points and 12.0 rebounds per game.

Johnson's rebounding has especially taken off lately as she has established then broke her career-high in rebounding four times over that six game stretch. Her latest record-breaking performance came last weekend when she pulled down 17 boards vs. Washington State just days after recording 16 at WSU, giving her 33 in two games. Since the Pac-10/12 added women's basketball in 1986-87, Johnson is one of three Huskies to record at least 33 total rebounds over a two-game stretch (Johnson 2017-18; Chantel Osahor 2015-16 and 2016-17; Amber Hall 1997-98).

The most impressive fact is those numbers have come against two of the best rebounders in the Pac-12. Johnson had 11 boards at Cal, out-rebounding All-American candidate Kristine Anigwe 11-10. Against UCLA, Johnson out-rebounded another All-American Monique Billings 14-8.

Huskies in the Rankings
Washington is among the leaders in the conference in a number of categories and the Huskies currently lead the Pac-12 in turnovers forced at 18.56 per game and ranks second in turnover margin at +3.60.

Washington also leads the conference and ranks 15th in the NCAA in three-point field goals attempted (657) and is third in the Pac-12 and 31st in the NCAA in three-pointers made with (209). The Huskies also rank second in steals (245) and steals per game (9.8), three steals and 0.1 per game behind UCLA for the top spot.

Individually, Amber Melgoza is fourth in scoring in Pac-12 games at 18.9 ppg and is fifth in the conference in overall scoring at 17.4 ppg. In addition, she ranks fifth in total points (369) and is fifth in free throw percentage at 75.5%. Jenna Moser is fourth in steals at 1.8 per game, and sixth in three-pointers made with 1.9 per game.

Everybody Starts, Everybody Plays
All 10 of Washington's active players have made at least one start this season and each is averaging at least 14 minutes per game. Jenna Moser is the lone Husky to start all 25 games with Amber Melgoza making 20 starts, Hannah Johnson starting 19 games and Mai-Loni Henson starting 18. Moser also leads the team in minutes played, averaging 30.4 mpg with Melgoza playing 26.4, Henson playing 25.4 and Johnson checking in at 23.2 minutes per game. The Huskies have used 15 different lineup combinations through their 25 games including eight different lineups over the last 11 games.

Strength of Schedule
The Huskies are not shying away from playing tough teams in the 2017-18 season as UW faces seven teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25 and two others receiving votes. In fact, the Huskies' have played the 23rd toughest schedule to this point in the season, and have the 25th most difficult overall schedule among the 349 NCAA DI WBB programs with UW's opponents posting an overall winning percentage of .602 this season.

The Pac-12 conference is the main reason the Huskies' schedule is so tough as the conference boasts four teams in the AP top 25 with three others receiving votes (#7 UCLA, #9 Oregon, #14 Oregon State, #15 Stanford with Arizona State, California and USC receiving votes). Besides their Pac-12 foes, the Huskies have also faced #6 Texas and #16 Ohio State 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.

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 in the Huskies big win against Creighton. Overall, she averaged 11.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists a game in Vegas.

Moser's Incredible Journey
Senior Jenna Moser's road to being a senior captain was not traditional. Moser started at UW as a practice player, not earning a roster spot until her second year. As a sophomore and junior she appeared in just 14 games, playing 30 total minutes and scoring four points. But as a senior, she was awarded a scholarship and has provided leadership to the young team both on and off the court, starting all 25 games and averaging 9.3 points, 1.8 steals and 2.6 assists per game.

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, bringing a talented duo of wing players to Montlake next season.

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 by Prospects Nation. On Jan. 2, she scored a league record 56 points and added 27 boards 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 ranked as the No. 14 wing in the class of 2018 by ESPN and No. 20 by Prospects Nation. Watkins, who had to sit out a quarter after transferring schools, just began playing with Walnut High School in early January.

Radio Show
UW 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: Feb. 20, Feb. 27 and March 5. The show can be heard on gohuskies.com or on the TuneIn App, which can be downloaded on either the Apple App Store or Google Play.