Huskies Open Road Trip at No. 12 Arizona on Friday

Friday, February 14

Tucson, AZ

6:00 PM

University of Washington

Arizona

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

February 12, 2020 | Women's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)

Washington (11-12, 3-9 Pac-12) heads back on the road this week, opening a trip to the desert at No. 12 Arizona (19-4, 8-4 Pac-12) on Friday at 6:00 p.m. PT. The game is being broadcast on the Pac-12 Network with Ann Schatz and Mary Murphy on the call. Fans can also listen to Gary Hill Jr. on the UW/IMG College Network on KKNW 1150 AM, on the TuneIn App, or GoHuskies.com.

LEADING THE BREAK …

Washington's defense continues to lead the Pac-12 and ranks 17th in the NCAA in steals per game (10.9) and also tops the conference and ranks 35th nationally in turnovers forced at 19.70 per game. The Huskies have a defensive rating of 81.8 according to HerHoopStats.com which ranks 43rd-best in the NCAA.
Washington is 9-4 in its last 13 games away from home dating back to last season including a 6-3 record in such games this year (3-3 road, 3-0 neutral site). Just one of those losses this year came in regulation.
Senior Amber Melgoza became the 14th Husky to score 1,500 career points with her 35-point performance against Cal on Feb. 2. She currently has 1,556 points and is 13th on UW's all-time scoring list, just 40 points shy of the 12th spot and 119 points away from moving into the Top 10.
Melgoza ranks seventh in the Pac-12 in scoring (15.4 ppg) and sixth in scoring in Pac-12 games (17.4 ppg).
Melgoza's 35 points vs California marked the sixth time she has scored 30+ points and second this year.
Sophomore Haley Van Dyke ranks second in the Pac-12 and 32nd in the NCAA with 54 steals (2.5 spg). She also leads the Huskies with 5.6 rebounds per game and is second in scoring at 9.0 points per game.
Sophomore Darcy Rees ranks second in the Pac-12 in blocks with 23 and in blocks per game at 1.9.
UW has the NCAA's 31st-toughest overall schedule with opponents holding a combined .622 winning pct.
Washington has played four overtime games this season–the most in a single season in program history. The Huskies are one of nine NCAA DI teams (and the lone Pac-12 team) to play four OT games this year and one of two of those teams still looking for an overtime win (Bowling Green).

Scouting the Wildcats
Arizona continues to be among the top half of the conference, losing just four games this season and entering the weekend ranked No. 12. The Wildcats' four losses have all come against teams ranked ahead of them in the Top 25 including two against No. 3 Oregon. Arizona has won two of its last three against Top 25 teams, beating then No. 8-UCLA 92-66 and beating then-No. 9 Oregon State 65-58 in OT at OSU.

Guard Aari McDonald leads the team in nearly every category, averaging 20.5 points per game which also leads the Pac-12. Through 12 Pac-12 games, that number goes up a bit to 21.1 ppg which is also tops in the conference. She also has a team-best 63 steals, 83 assists and is shooting 45% from the field. McDonald is second on the team with 5.9 rebounds per game. Freshman Cate Rees is averaging 14.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game this season.

All-Time Series vs Arizona
Washington leads the all-time series 42-24 and holds a slight 17-15 advantage in games in Tucson. The Huskies have lost three-straight against the Wildcats after winning 10-straight from 2012-2017. The last time the teams played at the McKale Center was in 2017-18 when Arizona edged the Huskies 72-70. Two of the last three games between the teams have featured the Huskies building a big first-half lead before seeing Arizona come back for the win. Earlier this season, Washington jumped out to a 19-point, first-quarter lead at home only to see the Wildcats slowly climb back into the game and pick up the 66-58 win.

Last Time Out
Washington used a balanced scoring attack and suffocating defense to snap its losing streak with a 61-52 win over Colorado on Sunday. The Huskies saw 10 players score in the contest, led by its two seniors with Amber Melgoza scoring 12 while Mai-Loni Henson added 10. Henson also had five rebounds, four steals and three assists in the contest. Overall, the Washington defense put together a solid effort, forcing Colorado into 20 turnovers and limiting the Buffaloes to 37% shooting including just 4-of-15 from beyond the arc. The Huskies also held a 41-31 rebounding edge including an 18-8 edge on the offensive glass.

Up Next
The Huskies close out their trip to the desert on Sunday, facing No. 22 Arizona State at 11:00 a.m. (PT). Washington then closes out the home portion of its schedule next week, hosting USC on Friday and UCLA on Sunday. Friday's game is UW's annual Breast Cancer Awareness Game while Sunday's game will honor the Huskies' three seniors.

Melgoza Eclipses 1,500 Point Mark
Amber Melgoza's pull-up jumper in the lane midway through the first quarter against Cal on Feb. 2 pushed her into rare air at UW as she became the 14th player to score 1,500 career points. She now has 1,556 points to hold 13th place on UW's all-time scoring list.

Last year, Melgoza became the 28th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points with her first basket against Oregon on Jan. 27. She has amassed 1,503 points from her sophomore year on, averaging 17.7 ppg over that stretch. (Melgoza didn't play much as a freshman, scoring just 53 total points in 25 games.)

Melgoza Catching Fire
Amber Melgoza has once again caught fire in Pac-12 play, leading the team in scoring in 11of the Huskies' 12 conference games. Melgoza is averaging 17.4 points per game in Pac-12 contests–sixth-best in the conference–and is connecting on 41.8% from the field while adding a team-best 33 assists. Last season, Melgoza averaged 17.4 points per game in Pac-12 play and poured in 20.6 points a conference game as a sophomore.

Home Away From Home
The Huskies have had success away from home since the end of last year, winning nine of their last 13 outside of Seattle. This season, UW is 6-3 away from home (3-3 in true road games, 3-0 at neutral sites) with two of those three losses coming in overtime at UCLA and USC.

The Huskies closed out last year with an impressive run, winning at Colorado in their final road game, then winning two of three in the Pac-12 Tournament in Vegas. Prior to the Colorado game, UW had won just four games away from home over the last two years–a stretch of 29 games. Washington also has won three of its last six Pac-12 road games dating back to last year after losing its previous 17.

Close Games
Despite a lopsided 3-9 Pac-12 record, the Huskies have been in nearly every game. Nine of the 12 games have been decided by fewer than 10 points with the Huskies holding a 3-6 mark in those games. Washington has also lost three games in OT.

Working Overtime
After a long stretch which saw Washington play just two overtime games over a 5-1/2 year stretch including a run of 133-straight regulation contests, the Huskies have now played a program-record four overtime games this season. The worst part is that Washington is still looking for its first win in overtime and has now lost five-straight dating back to the 2017-18 season. On its last road trip, the Huskies played back-to-back OT games against the LA schools, marking just the second time UW played back-to-back overtime games.

Watch for Watkins
Sophomore T.T. Watkins' strong play of late was rewarded with her first start of the season on Sunday vs Colorado. She performed well in that game, scoring seven points and adding a career-best eight rebounds including four on the offensive end. Watkins is averaging 7.3 points per game over her last six games, adding 20 rebounds, eight steals, three blocks while shooting 49% from the field over that stretch.

Melgoza vs Cal
Melgoza may be a bit disappointed to not see Cal on the schedule again this season. The senior scored 35 points against the Golden Bears on Sunday, to give her a total of 66 points in two games against Cal this season. Over the last three seasons which Melgoza has been a starter, she has averaged 26.3 ppg against Cal–her highest against any Pac-12 team by five points per game (vs Ore., 21.3 ppg).

Offensive Barrage in Los Angeles
Washington's offense was clicking in its last road trip as the Huskies averaged 79.0 points over a two-game trip to LA. Against UCLA, UW scored 70 points in regulation for the first time in conference play, then followed that up with 78 points including a 28-point second quarter vs USC.

The Huskies were especially hot from three-point range, hitting 20-of-50 form long distance, making nine against UCLA and 11 against USC. It marked the fourth and fifth times this season UW made 9+ threes in a game. Nine different Huskies connected from three-point range last week led by Mai-Loni Henson and Missy Peterson each hitting four.

In the UCLA game, the Huskies shot 48.3% from the field–their second-best mark of the season. Washington closed out the game by hitting 12-of-18 from the field in the fourth quarter and OT periods.

Van Dyke's Defensive Prowess
Sophomore Haley Van Dyke has been impressive through her second season in purple and gold, leading the team with 2.4 steals and 5.8 rebounds per game and is second in scoring at 9.0 points per game. Van Dyke ranks second in the Pac-12 and 39th in the NCAA in total steals (55) and is 46th nationally in steals per game (2.4).

Van Dyke played in all 32 games last year, but averaged just 4.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.7 steals per game. She already has scored 69 more points this season than last (137) and has twice as many steals than she did all of last year (23).

Lucky #60!
The number 60 has been a key one for the Huskies this season, especially on defense. Washington is 9-1 when allowing 60 or fewer points to opponents this season and is 2-1 when doing so in Pac-12 games. The lone loss came against Stanford on Friday when the Huskies limited the high-scoring Cardinal to just 58 points but couldn't find the offense to pull off the upset. It was just the second time this season Stanford scored less than 60 points. The number has been relatively lucky when the offense scores 60 or more points, posting a 11-6 record in those games.

Feeling Defensive
Washington leads the Pac-12 and is among the top teams in the NCAA in a pair of key defensive categories: steals and turnovers forced. The Huskies lead the Pac-12 and are 17th in the country in steals per game at 10.9 and rank 15th in overall steals (251). In addition, Washington has forced 19.7 turnovers per game which leads the conference and ranks 35th overall in DI.

Looking at analytics from HerHoopStats.com, the Huskies rank 43rd overall with an 81.8 defensive rating and have limited teams to just 83.1 points per 100 possessions: 42nd-best overall. UW also has the 37th-best turnover rate (22.8%), turning over teams more than once every five possessions.

Washington has forced at least 20 turnovers in 11 games this year and has at least 15 turnovers forced in 20 of 23. The Huskies have recorded double-digit steals in 16 games including 15 or more in three games.

Earlier this season, the Huskies forced 38 turnovers against Weber State, the most by a UW team since turning over Gonzaga 38 times in 1998. It was the second time in the first three games the Huskies forced 30+ turnovers after forcing 31 against Cal State Bakersfield to open the year.

Can I Assist You With That?
Washington has been moving the ball well on offense, recording 355 assists on 570 field goals this season, an assisted shot rate of 61.8%. According to HerHoopStats.com, that ranks as the 46th best rate in the NCAA and third-best in the Pac-12. Overall, UW ranks 49th in the NCAA with 15.4 assists per game and 51st with 355 total assists. Last season, the Huskies were 187th in assisted shot rate at 54.9%.

Washington has at least 20 assists in five games this year including recording 25 assists on 29 made field goals against San Francisco–the most in a game by the Huskies since recording 25 against Portland in 2017. This past week, Washington recorded 17 assists at UCLA, then followed it up with 19 at USC–its two highest totals in Pac-12 play.

Huskies Nearing 850 Program Victories
Washington's win over Colorado on Sunday was the 847th win in program history. The Huskies are averaging 18.4 wins per year over 46 seasons. All-time Washington is 847-526, a .617 winning percentage.

Huskies in The National Rankings
Entering the weekend, Washington finds itself in the Top 60 in the NCAA in numerous categories through 23 games (updated through games 2/10/20):

                •             15th - Steals (251)
                •             17th - Steals Per Game (10.9)
                •             35th - Turnovers Forced (19.7/game)
                •             49th - Assists Per Game (15.4)
                •             51st - Assists (355)
                •             57th - Three-Point FG Defense (28.5%)
                •             60th - Turnover margin (+3.09)

Block Party!
Thanks in large part to added height this season, the Huskies have already recorded 85 blocks this season: an average of 3.7 per game. That is especially impressive considering UW had just 64 in 32 games last year. Darcy Rees is second in the Pac-12 with 1.4 blocks per game and 33 total blocks after recording 29 all of last year.

Double-Double Your Pleasure
The Huskies had a pair of players record a double-double against Seattle, something which hadn't been done in three seasons. Mai-Loni Henson picked up her third career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, adding two steals, a block and an assist. Haley Van Dyke recorded her first double-double with 14 points and a career-best 12 rebounds, adding three steals and two assists. Overall, UW players have recorded three double-doubles this year after recording just two last year.

Radio Show
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. every Monday through March 16. It can also be heard at GoHuskies.com or via the TuneIn App, available in the App Stores.