Melgoza Looks to Eclipse 1,000 Points as UW Hosts #5 Oregon Sunday

Sunday, January 27

Seattle, WA

2:00 PM

University of Washington

Oregon

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

Melgoza Looks to Eclipse 1,000 Points as UW Hosts #5 Oregon Sunday

January 26, 2019 | Women's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)Tickets

OPENING TIP
• Washington closes out its brief homestand, hosting No. 5 Oregon on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena.

• The game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network with Ann Schatz and Elise Woodward on the call. Fans can also listen to the UW/IMG Network broadcast with Gary Hill Jr. and Mia Fisher-Augustavo on KKNW 1150 AM, on the TuneIn App on GoHuskies.com.

• The Huskies are celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day on Sunday with a free kids clinic before the game and special promotions for girls in attendance throughout.

• Amber Melgoza has scored 999 career points and will become the 28th player in program history to score 1,000 points with her next point. She has done most of that over the last two years, scoring just 53 points as a freshman. Melgoza is averaging 25.0 ppg in her last three games against Oregon including 23 in Eugene earlier this year.

Amber Melgoza Nearing 1,000 Career Points
Junior Amber Melgoza needs just one point to become the 28th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. The junior has averaged 13.3 points per game through her first three seasons, which will give her the 14th-highest per game average of any of the Huskies' 1,000-point scorers.

Melgoza didn't play much as a freshman, scoring just 53 total points in 25 games. She has scored 946 points during the last two seasons, averaging 18.9 ppg over that time. If she keeps up her current pace, Melgoza should end up in the UW Top 10.

Amber Alert
Melgoza continues to pace the Huskies, averaging 18.8 points per game this season–7th-best in the Pac-12. Once again, she has picked up her play in conference action, scoring 20+ points in five Pac-12 games, averaging 19.3 ppg. Overall, Melgoza has scored 20+ points in 11 games this season and 25 times in her career. She led the Pac-12 in scoring in conference games last season, averaging 20.6 ppg.

Melgoza also leads the team in assists (2.9/game), rebounds (4.7/game) and is tied for the lead in steals (1.5/game). She could become just the second player in program history to lead the team in points, rebounds, assists and steals (Giuliana Mendiola 2x, 2002-03 and 2003-04).

Melgoza on Drysdale Watch List
Melgoza is one of 20 NCAA DI players 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.

Scouting the Ducks
Oregon sits atop the Pac-12 standings with Stanford as the lone undefeated teams in conference play nearing the midway point. The Ducks have won 11-straight games including a 79-64 victory on Friday night at Washington State. Oregon continues to sit at No. 5 in the AP poll, a spot its occupied much of the season after opening the year at No. 3.

The Ducks continue to be an offensive force, rankings second in the NCAA in scoring at 89.8 ppg. They also rank in the top 10 in the country in all three shooting categories: second in field goal percentage (52.0%) and three-point percentage (41.9%) and 10th in free throw percentage (77.4%).

Junior Sabrina Ionescu continues to post impressive numbers, recording her NCAA record 16th triple-double last week. She is averaging 19.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and an NCAA-best 8.4 assists per game.

But the Ducks have more than just Ionescu as four other players are averaging 9.6 points per game or better. Satou Sabally is contributing 18.2 ppg while Ruthy Hebard adds 17.1 points and 9.4 rebounds a game.

All-Time Series vs Oregon
This will be the 99th all-time meeting between the two schools with the Huskies holding a slight 50-48 edge in the all-time series. Oregon has won the last four games between the two and five of the last six after Washington had won eight of the previous nine.

Both teams have been solid at home with Washington is 28-13 in games played in Seattle while Oregon holds a 30-16 edge in those games contested in Eugene. The Huskies have won six of the last eight games at Alaska Airlines Arena. (There have been 11 neutral site meeting with the Huskies winning six of those.)

Oregon pulled out a hard-fought victory when the two met earlier this month in Eugene. The game was a back-and-forth series of runs with the Huskies using a 25-11 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to pull within one with just under seven minutes to play. But the Ducks would get the final run, outscoring UW 18-6 over the final six minutes for the 84-71 win.

Oregon swept the season series last year, though both games were also close contests. In Eugene, Amber Melgoza scored a Pac-12 record 23 points in the fourth quarter, finishing with 31 but the Huskies lost 94-83. The game in Seattle was also close with the Ducks pulling away late for the 76-63 victory.

Up Next
The Huskies spend much of the month of February on the road, playing five of their seven games away from Seattle. The road begins with UW's first trip to the LA schools in two years as Washington plays at USC on Friday at 7:00 p.m. before facing UCLA on Sunday at 12:30 pm.

Last Time Out
Amber Melgoza once again record a 20-point game, finishing one point shy of 1,000 for her career while Darcy Rees added 10 points, but Washington's offense struggled in an 86-39 loss to No. 9 Oregon State on Friday night.

Washington struggled from the field throughout the game, shooting a season-low 21.7% from the field including 12.1% from three-point range. Melgoza had a team-high 20 points on 9-of-21 shooting, adding tow assists and four rebounds. She finished the game with 999 career points after recording her 11th 20+point game of the season and 25th of her career.

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. This season, the Huskies are 8-0 when leading at halftime, but are 0-12 when trailing or tied at the break. Over the last two seasons, Washington is 15-4 when leading at the half but is 0-31 when tied or trailing at halftime.

Freshmen Power
Washington's freshmen trio of Haley Van Dyke, T.T. Watkins and Darcy Rees has seen quite a bit of action this season with the trio averaging just over 17 minutes/game so far with Rees and Watkins combining for 16 starts. The three freshmen put together their best collective game so far this year, combining for 27 points against Colorado on Jan. 11. Watkins led the group with 10 points–just the second time she has scored in double-figures this season–while Van Dyke added nine points and Rees scored eight.

Griggsby Breaks Out
Sophomore guard Alexis Griggsby had a career game at Oregon on Friday, scoring 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting including going 6-of-11 from three-point range. She followed that up with a 15-point game at Oregon State including going 5-of-7 from three-point range.

After finishing the weekend with 41 points, Griggsby has scored 57 points (14.3 ppg) in UW's four games against Top 15 teams this year, including scoring team-bests of 11 vs. #4 Mississippi St. and 26 vs. #5 Oregon and adding 15 at #11 Oregon State.

Darcy from Down Under
Darcy Rees had an impressive showing in her first-ever Pac-12 game, recording career-highs of 15 points and eight rebounds against Washington State. Rees connected on 7-of-14 from the field and had more offensive rebounds (6) than she had rebounds in any previous game this season.

She recorded her fourth game in double-figures on Friday, scoring 10 points including draining a pair of three-pointers. She has connected on four of her last nine from beyond the arc after starting her career 0-for-17 from deep. The freshman from Adelaide, Australia, is averaging 5.7 points and 3.6 rebounds on the season. She had back-to-back 10 point games against Duke and Fordham at the Gulf Coast Showcase in Florida earlier this year.

The Charity Stripe
The Huskies are fifth in the Pac-12 and 66th in the NCAA in free throw shooting at 73.4% (188-256). Amber Melgoza ranks third in the Pac-12 and 24th in the NCAA in free throws made (86) and is third in the Pac-12 and 65th nationally in free throw percentage at 83.5% (86-of-103).

Melgoza is one of four players on the team converting at 80% or better along with Khayla Rooks (11-13; 84.6%), Hannah Johnson (13-15; 86.7%), Missy Peterson (19-23; 82.6%). Freshman Haley Van Dyke started her season making just 2-of-14 from the line, but has converted 8-of-9 free throw attempts over her last five games.

Strength of Schedule
Once again, the Huskies are not shying away from playing a difficult schedule in 2018-19. UW plays over one-third of its schedule (12 games) against seven teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25 or receiving votes. The Huskies have the 11th-toughest schedule among the 351 NCAA DI programs when looking at the cumulative record of its opposition this year (363-175, .675).

The Pac-12 conference boasts five teams in the AP Top 25 including four in the Top 16: #5 Oregon, #6 Stanford, #9 Oregon State and #16 Arizona State. #21 Utah made its debut in the Top 25 this week with California receiving votes. With only Pac-12 games remaining UW has the 22nd-toughest remaining schedule in NCAA DI.

Huskies in the Rankings
Coming into the weekend, UW ranks among the Pac-12 leaders in a number of categories. The Huskies rank first in total steals (169), fourth in turnovers forced (16.68/game), fourth in free throw percentage (74.1%), fourth in three-pointers made (135) and first in three-point field goals attempted (449).

Individually, Amber Melgoza ranks in the top 25 in the NCAA in two categories: seventh in field goals attempted (313), 22nd in free throws made (85), and 22nd in total points (356). She is also 38th in free throw attempts (101), seventh in the Pac-12 and 48th in the NCAA in points per game (18.7), and ranks third in conference and 62nd nationally in free-throw percentage (84.2%) and is fifth in the Pac-12 and 28th in the NCAA in field goals made (126).

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.

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.

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. 28, Feb. 4, Feb. 11, Feb. 18, Feb. 25, March 4 and March 11. The show can be heard online at GoHuskies.com or on the TuneIn 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.

Medical Retirements
Jody Wynn announced a pair of roster changes heading into the 2018-19 season, as Deja Strother and Natalie Romeo will be medically retired, ending their UW careers. Strother, a redshirt-junior center, suffered a leg injury prior to the start of the 2017-18 season. Despite rehabbing over the last season, she has not been able to return from the injury. Romeo, a senior guard, has battled an undisclosed medical issue which kept her off the court last season. She attempted to make a comeback this season, joining the team for summer workouts, but the condition kept her from returning.

2017-18 Recap
Washington's first season under new head coach Jody Wynn proved to be a tough one with the Huskies' new coach inheriting a team with just five returning players and one who had started a college game. Despite the inexperience and the fact that no Husky on the active roster stood taller than 6-1, Washington proved to be a gritty, gutty team which gave many of its opponents as much as they could handle. The Huskies finished the 2017-18 season with a 7-23 overall record.

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.