Washington Hosts No. 9 Oregon On Friday

Friday, February 9

Seattle, WA

8:00 PM

University of Washington

Oregon

Tickets

February 07, 2018 | Women's Basketball

Tickets Game Notes (PDF)

SEATTLE --- Washington opens a two-game home stand against the Oregon schools, hosting No. 9 Oregon on Friday at 8:00 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena. The game is being broadcast on the Pac-12 Network with Krista Blunk and Mary Murphy on the call. Fans can also catch the game on KKNW 1150 AM with Gary Hill Jr. on the call. The game can also be heard on gohuskies.com.

• The Huskies are coming off a frustrating loss on Sunday at Arizona, falling 72-70 to the Wildcats in Tucson. Washington led by as many as 15 points in the first half before falling behind by 16 in the fourth quarter. However, the Huskies mounted a rally over the final five minutes, closing the game on a 19-5 run. But the Huskies fell two points shy.

• Senior Jenna Moser poured in 17 points to lead the Huskies, scoring her second-most points of the season thanks to four three-pointers and five free throws to go along with six rebounds.

Scouting the Ducks
Oregon comes into the game in a three-way tie with UCLA and Stanford atop the Pac-12 conference standings at 10-2. The Ducks dropped their last game at home against Stanford, falling 78-65 to the Cardinal. The loss was their first at home this season in 15 games. Oregon hasn't had the same success on the road, tough, posting a 5-3 record away from Matthew Knight Arena.

Oregon is led by Wooden Award Finalist Sabrina Ionescu. The sophomore leads the conference with 19.9 points per game, adding 7.7 assists and 7.1 rebounds. She is the NCAA record holder with nine triple-doubles and has not even finished her second collegiate season. Ionescu had one of those triple doubles when the teams met in Eugene.

She is one of five Ducks to average in double-figures in scoring. Just behind Ionsecu is fellow sophomore Ruthy Hebard, who is averaging 16.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game and has a team-high 33 blocks.

The Ducks lead the Pac-12 in scoring at 83.3 points per game, including a 77.3 ppg mark in conference play. Oregon is also tops in the Pac-12 in shooting at 49.4% and in free throw shooting at 76.0%.

All-Time Series Record
Friday's game will be the 96th meeting between the two schools with Washington holding 50-45 edge in the series having won nine of the last 13 games. The Ducks picked up the win earlier this year in Eugene, holding on for the 94-83 victory. The teams split a pair of games last year with the Huskies winning 99-77 in Eugene before the Ducks pulled an upset in the Pac-12 Tournament, beating UW 70-69 in the quarterfinals. Washington is 28-12 against Oregon and has won six of the last seven games at Alaska Airlines Arena.

Up Next
The Huskies close out the home stand against No. 16 Oregon State on Sunday, Feb. 11 at 3:00 p.m. Washington will be honoring National Girls & Women In Sports Day with a free clinic starting at 1:45 p.m. After the game, fans can take part in a Q&A session with UW players and their parents.

Last Time Out
Despite a hot-shooting first half, Washington get the offense going until mounting a late charge. But that rally fell two points short as the Huskies lost 72-70 at Arizona on Sunday afternoon at the McKale Center.

The game was a tale of two halves for the Huskies, who jumped out to a quick 10-1 lead and led by as many as 15 in the first half and leading 35-25 at halftime. However, Washington went cold to start the second half as Arizona began to heat up with the Wildcats outscoring the Huskies 42-16 over the first 15 minutes of the second half. The Huskies rallied late, closing the game on a 19-5 run but falling two points short in the loss.

Jenna Moser led the Huskies with 17 points, hitting four three-pointers and adding six rebounds. Mai-Loni Henson picked up her second double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Melgoza also added 13 points for the Huskies while Hannah Johnson added 10 points.

One Bad Quarter
The Huskies have been plagued by one bad quarter in nine of their 12 Pac-12 games thus far. In those bad quarters (which quarter differs in each game), UW has been outscored by an average of 13.9 points. However, in the other three quarters of those games, the Huskies have outscored their opponents by an average of 6.2 points.

Henson's Heroics
Sophomore Mai-Loni Henson recorded her second double-double of the season on Sunday, recording 13 points and 10 rebounds at Arizona. It was her second double-double of the season and her 12th game in double-figures this season. Henson ranks third on the team with 9.5 points per game and is second with 4.5 rebounds per game.

Amber Alert
Sophomore Amber Melgoza scored 13 points in each of her last two games giving her 20 games in double figures this year. Melgoza ranks fourth in the Pac-12 in overall scoring at 17.2 points per game. Against the LA schools two weeks ago, Melgoza scored 45 points including 25 against USC and has scored 20+ points nine times this season including six times in 10 Pac-12 games.

Over the last 15 games, Melgoza is averaging 19.7 points per game and is currently third in the Pac-12 with 18.8 ppg in league play.

Earlier this season at Oregon, 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.

Johnson Catching Fire
Junior forward Hannah Johnson has played well in conference play this year, averaging 10.1 points, 7.4 rebounds while shooting a team-high 44.2%. Her rebounding average is 10th-best in the conference since the start of Pac-12 play. 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 the last seven games. 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. The Huskies lead the Pac-12 in turnovers forced at 18.87 per game and rank fourth in turnover margin at +3.39.

Washington also leads the conference and ranks 16th in the NCAA in three-point field goals attempted (597) and is third in the Pac-12 and 32nd in the NCAA in three-pointers made with (189). The Huskies also rank second in steals (225) and steals per game (9.8).

Individually, Amber Melgoza is third in scoring in Pac-12 games at 19.4 ppg and is fourth in the conference in overall scoring at 17.4 ppg, fourth in total points (369) and is seventh in free throw percentage at 75.0%. Jenna Moser is fourth in the conference in three-point field goal percentage at 42.0%, fifth in steals at 1.86 per game, and fifth in three-pointers made with 2.00 per game.

49er Club
The Huskies' goal in each game is to put the opponent in the "49er Club" by holding them to 49 or fewer points. Washington was able to do that for the first time this season when it limited Washington State to 49 points in a 56-49 victory on Jan. 21. The Huskies previous opponent low had been 64 in a 67-64 win over Creighton on Nov. 24.

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 23 games with Amber Melgoza making 18 starts, Hannah Johnson starting 17 games and Mai-Loni Henson starting 16. Moser also leads the team in minutes played, averaging 30.3 mpg with Melgoza playing 26.7, Henson playing 25.2 and Johnson checking in at 22.9 minutes per game. The Huskies have used 15 different lineup combinations through their 23 games including eight different combos over the last 10 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 37th toughest schedule to this point, and have the 28th most difficult schedule overall among the 349 NCAA DI WBB programs.

The Pac-12 conference is the main reason the Huskies' schedule is so tough as the conference boasts five teams in the AP top 25 with one other receiving votes (#8 UCLA, #9 Oregon, #16 Oregon State, #17 Stanford, #25 California, with Arizona State receiving votes). Besides their Pac-12 foes, the Huskies have also squared off against #6 Texas and #13 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 23 games and averaging 9.6 points, 2.7 steals and 2.7 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.

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. After an early season ankle injury, Van Dyke returned to the court with back-to-back 30 point performances in December. 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. 6, Feb. 13, 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.

Versus The State of Idaho
The Huskies played all three DI programs in Idaho this season, posting a 1-2 record against Gem State teams. Washington recorded an 81-69 win at Idaho on December 1, but lost 85-62 at Boise State on Dec. 7 and 79-59 at home to Idaho State in the Huskies season opener.