Despite a crushing six-game losing streak still remaining fresh, the Washington women’s basketball team has shown that it has zero quit as the regular season comes to a close.
UW’s women’s squad finished its final home stand 2-0, with an eight-point win over Oregon followed by Sunday afternoon’s electric 61-51 defeat of No. 9 Oregon State on Senior Day.
The Huskies (15-12, 5-11 Pac-12) grabbed the lead early leaving the Beavers (22-5, 11-5 Pac-12) behind in an 8-0 deficit within the first five minutes of the game. Head coach Tina Langley noted that her team departed from its normal style of play, notably in that the players decided to be more aggressive overall.
“We changed a few things, and we knew we would change a good bit in the game,” Langley said in a postgame press conference. “I thought coming out doing something a little different for us says a lot about the time they put into the scout and understanding what we were doing, and doing it at a high level from the very beginning.”
Washington closed out the first quarter with a six-point run, keeping its foot on the gas with a 14-5 lead. By halftime, UW was up 24-17 with the Beavers struggling with 10 turnovers and shooting 28% from the field.
Thankfully, the Huskies pushed through the third quarter without faltering much, finding themselves with a 44-33 lead going into the fourth. Three recent overtime losses left an air of uncertainty as to if UW could power through this final stretch – and it rose up to that challenge, to say the least.
Hannah Stines got things going with a jumper, and, following a five-point run from OSU, Elle Ladine banked in two back-to-back threes. Lauren Schwartz, who finished the game with seven points and three steals, pretty much sealed the deal with a three-pointer of her own with a minute and a half to play, giving Washington a 10-point advantage.
“We’ve talked about being the team that, when we catch the ball, we look at the room, and if we have a shot, we want to be able to take a good shot,” Langley commented. “Those are time and square moments, so you’re trying to make a decision – do you slow down, or do you hang on to a lead. I loved the confidence – I thought the decisions were really good. I believe in this team, and I think they’re believing in themselves and each other. You want to put them in those positions just to play with great confidence.”
Ladine wowed with a total 23 points, and Dalayah Daniels also reached double digits long before the game ended with 15. Stines was the Huskies’ highest performer in both rebounds and assists, garnering eight and three respectively. Freshman Sayvia Sellers also had herself a game, with six points, four rebounds, and two blocks.
The team will close out conference play with a visit to the Mountain schools, where it looks to add to its three total top-25 wins with games against No. 11 Colorado on Thursday and No. 18 Utah on Saturday.
