Huskies Battle Tough In Loss To Trojans

Friday, February 11

Seattle, WA

7:00 PM

University of Washington

5-12,0-9Pac-12

USC

10-12,3-9Pac-12

Southern California

Washington

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

February 11, 2022 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

SEATTLE – The Washington women's basketball team opened up the weekend against USC at Alaska Airlines Arena on Friday night.

The Huskies would get out to a 6-point lead at halftime, but the Trojans would ultimately take home the win by a final score of 70-59.

"Everyone's goal is to win the game," said head coach Tina Langley. "Our goals are (also) are we playing up to our standards, do we defend the way we would like to defend, are we running our offense the way we want to, do we have the culture we want to have? I think we're still a team growing in all those areas."

The Huskies started the game off strong on defense. They held USC to 13 first quarter points on 30% shooting from the field and 1-5 from three.

Nancy Mulkey led the way on offense, scoring 7 points and making every single one of her shots, going 2-2 from the field, 1-1 from three and 2-2 from the free throw line.

Washington played one of its best quarters in the second period, outscoring USC by a mark of 18-10.

Trinity Oliver had a breakout game and scored six points in the second quarter, making both of her shots and both of her free throws. She would finish the game with 11 points, her first time in double figures with Washington, while also grabbing nine rebounds and three steals in an all-around effort.

"She brings toughness," Langley said of Oliver. "We assigned her a post tonight because we knew she would get in there and battle for us. I think she did a nice job, had three steals tonight and really picked it up defensively."

Defensively, UW locked down the Trojans in the second quarter, holding them to a 25% mark from the field and 0-4 from three.

Thanks to great ball movement (seven assists) and defense, Washington would hold a 29-23 lead at halftime.

In the fourth quarter, Lauren Schwartz caught fire from deep, knocking down three three-pointers to keep the Huskies within striking distance. She finished with a team-high 16 points in the game.

Missy Peterson had one of her best career games as a distributor, dishing out seven assists and not turning the ball over once.

As a team, UW passed the ball incredibly well, dishing out 15 assists to just the seven of USC.

Backed by another tremendous home crowd, Schwartz's barrage of threes and the never-say-die attitude of the Huskies helped them remain in the game until the final whistle.

"I'm beyond grateful to our community," Langley said. "To walk out and see that fan base with where we are right now as a team results-wise, it shows their commitment to the process and their commitment to these young women. I think they can see that they're working hard and I'm beyond grateful for that."

The Huskies are back in action on Sunday afternoon at 12:00 p.m. against UCLA.