UW Women's Basketball Notebook: Huskies Heat Up With Back-to-Back Big Ten Wins
Week of January 6-12: Dominant performances by Elle Ladine and Dalayah Daniels lead Washington to key Big Ten road victories over Northwestern and Illinois.
Overall Record: 11-4
Big 10 Record: 2-1
Net Ranking: 52
Last Week’s Recap
Following a couple big wins to finish non-conference play, the Huskies headed to the Midwest for a couple road games to kick off the real Big 10 season. With a 0-1 record in Big 10 play, the Huskies needed to have a successful road trip to stay in the NCAA tournament conversation.
On December 28, the Huskies scored early and often led by Elle Ladine’s 26 first half points. Ladine finished with 40 points while Dalayah Daniels recorded 20 points and 15 rebounds in a 90-71 victory over Northwestern. The Dawgs shot 10-24 from three point range and won every quarter in a dominant win.
The second game of the road trip posed a bigger challenge for Washington. Illinois came into the game as a favorite as the 35th ranked team in NET ranking by the NCAA (the metric used by the tournament committee). With Ladine in early foul trouble, Sayvia Sellers went off with 24 points while playing all 40 minutes. In addition to Sellers’ excellent play, the Husky bench outscored Illinois 23-2 in the victory. The Huskies beat Illinois, 84-75.
Player of the Week
While Elle Ladine appeared to have this award wrapped up after a 40 point outburst against Northwestern, she battled foul trouble against Illinois and only recorded six points. With Ladine and Sellers trading stand out performances, Dalayah Daniels was the rock all weekend. Daniels put up back-to-back double-doubles against good post players on both Northwestern and Illinois. The grad student averaged 18 points and 13.5 rebounds in the two wins on the road.
Stat of the Week
The Huskies shot 21-45 (46.6%) from three-point land in two victories on the road this week.
This Coming Week
Washington hosts Wisconsin on Tuesday, January 7th at 6 pm (Big 10 network)
Wisconsin is led by Serah Williams, averaging 19.5 points (4th in Big 10) and 12.2 rebounds per game (1st in Big 10). Williams is a 6’4 junior post player.
Washington travels to #21 Michigan State on Sunday, January 12th at 11 am (Big 10 plus)
Michigan State features a balanced attack with five players averaging 9.6 points or more this season. Additionally, the Spartans feature nine players averaging double digit minutes and can score in a variety of ways. Julia Ayrault leads the way at 16.2 points (11th in Big 10) and 7.8 rebounds (14th in Big 10).
National Games to Watch
#4 USC at #8 Maryland
Wednesday, January 8th at 5:30 pm on FS1
#5 Texas at #2 South Carolina
Sunday, January 12th at 10:00 am on ESPN
Big 10 Standings
Big 10 record and net ranking in parentheses
UCLA (4-0, #4)
Maryland (4-0, #22)
USC (4-0, #6)
Ohio State (3-0, #11)
Minnesota (3-1, #28)
Indiana (2-1, #37)
Michigan State (2-1, #20)
Washington (2-1, #52)
Iowa (2-2, #30)
Nebraska (2-2, #34)
Oregon (2-2, #36)
Michigan (1-2, #26)
Illinois (1-3, #39)
Wisconsin (1-3, #92)
Purdue (0-3, #129)
Rutgers (0-4, #123)
Penn State (0-4, #87)
Northwestern (0-4, #146)