Huskies Open Final Home Stand vs No. 16 Stanford

Friday, February 23

Seattle, WA

8:00 PM

University of Washington

Stanford

Tickets

February 22, 2018 | Women's Basketball

Game Notes Tickets

SEATTLE --- Washington plays its penultimate home game on Friday, hosting No. 16 Stanford at Alaska Airlines Arena at 8:00 p.m. The game is being broadcast on the Pac-12 Network with Anne Marie Anderson and Ros Gold-Onwunde on the call. Fans can also listen to the game on radio with Gary Hill Jr. and Elise Woodward on the call on KKNW 1150 AM or on gohuskies.com.

The Huskies hung close with Utah through the first half of the game on Sunday, but the Utes used a big third quarter to break the game open and win 81-46. Sophomore Amber Melgoza scored a team-high 27 points, reaching double-figures for the 24th time this season and scoring 25 or more points for the sixth time. Melgoza was 10-of-20 from the field also had team highs with six rebounds and three steals.

Scouting the Cardinal
Stanford heads to the state of Washington sitting in second place in the Pac-12 standings: just one game behind Oregon in the conference. The Cardinal are coming off a tough loss their last time out, losing to arch-rival California 78-66 in Berkeley on Saturday. That loss snapped Stanford's seven-game winning streak.

Stanford went a perfect 9-0 in Pac-12 games at Maples Pavilion, but has struggled to a 4-3 mark on the road. The Cardinal did win at Oregon and Oregon State–arguably the toughest road trip in the conference this season. However, they have also lost at Arizona State, UCLA and Cal.

The Cardinal have a pair of players averaging in double-figures in points, led by senior guard Brittany McPhee. McPhee, who was injured through the team's first nine games, is averaging 18.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Junior Alanna Smith is adding 12.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game along with 1.9 blocks per contest.

All-Time Series Record
Stanford leads the all-time series 47-17 and has won the last two games and 19 of the last 22 games between the two. Earlier this season, Stanford won 71-45 in Palo Alto pulling away with a big second half to take the victory. Last year, the Cardinal stunned the Huskies 72-68 in the only meeting between the two last season. Washington, playing in front of its first-ever sellout crowd, led by 18 midway through the second quarter and held a 45-33 lead at the half. But Stanford would fight its way back into the game in the third and pulled away for the win in the fourth.

Up Next
The Huskies close out the regular season on Sunday, hosting California at 3:00 p.m. The game is Senior Day and Washington will honor its two seniors Jenna Moser and Mackenzie Wieburg along with Kelli Kingma, who had to medically retire after last season.

Last Time Out
Washington stayed close with Utah through the first half but the Utes pulled away with a big second half as the Huskies lost 81-46 on Sunday afternoon at the Huntsman Center.

Amber Melgoza led the Huskies with 27 points on 10-of-20 shooting to lead the Huskies. Mai-Loni Henson scored seven points for Washington while Alexis Griggsby added six points.

But the story of the game was the tale of two halves. The Huskies put on a defensive show in the first half, forcing 13 turnovers and limiting Utah to just 24 points. Washington had 23 points and was looking strong. The second half belonged to the Utes, though, as Utah outscored the 57-23 over the final 20 minutes and turned the ball over just four times.

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 15 Pac-12 losses thus far; a quarter which turned a close game into a big loss. In those bad quarters (which quarter differs in each game), UW has been outscored by an average of 16.0 points. However, in the other three quarters of those games, the Huskies have outscored their opponents by an average of 3.6 points.

Amber Alert
Sophomore Amber Melgoza continued her solid scoring with 42 points in two games last week including 27 points at Utah on Sunday. Melgoza has scored in double-figures in 24 games this season including 11 games with 20+ points and six games with 25+ points. Overall, Melgoza leads the team and ranks third in the Pac-12 in scoring at 19.2 ppg.

Melgoza has been solid since the start of Pac-12 play, ranking fifth with a 17.6 ppg average in conference games. Over her last 10 games, the sophomore is averaging 18.8 ppg, shooting 43.7% from the field, 44.1% from three-point range and 76.1% from the free throw line.

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 9.4 points per game and 32 total steals.

Johnson Catching Fire
Junior forward Hannah Johnson has played well in conference play this year, averaging 8.4 points, 7.1 rebounds Her rebounding average is 11th-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 18.41 per game and ranks second in turnover margin at +3.44.

Washington also leads the Pac-12 and ranks 15th in the NCAA in three-point field goals attempted (711) and is third in the Pac-12 and 32nd in the NCAA in three-pointers made with (222). The Huskies also rank second in steals (262) and second in steals per game (9.7).

Individually, Amber Melgoza is third in scoring in Pac-12 games at 19.2 ppg and is fifth in the conference in overall scoring at 17.6 ppg. In addition, she ranks fourth in total points (476) and is eighth in free throw percentage at 76.0%. Jenna Moser is fourth in steals at 1.9 per game, and sixth in three-pointers made with 1.9 per game.

Everybody Starts, Everybody Plays
All 10 of Washington's active players at the beginning of the season 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 27 games with Amber Melgoza making 22 starts, Hannah Johnson starting 21 games and Mai-Loni Henson starting 20. Moser also leads the team in minutes played, averaging 30.6 mpg with Melgoza playing 26.8, Henson playing 25.7 and Johnson checking in at 23.7 minutes per game. The Huskies have used 15 different lineup combinations through their 27 games this season.

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 the 23rd most difficult overall schedule among the 349 NCAA DI WBB programs with UW's opponents posting an overall winning percentage of .600 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 (#8 Oregon, #10 UCLA, #12 Oregon State, #16 Stanford with Arizona State, California and USC receiving votes). Besides their Pac-12 foes, the Huskies have also faced #6 Texas and #14 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 27 games and averaging 9.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 2.5 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.