UW Women's Basketball Notebook: Huskies Face a Challenging Week
Week of February 10 - 16: Washington looks for a statement win to improve tourney resume
Overall Record: 14-10
Big 10 Record: 5-7
Net Ranking: 53
Last Week’s Recap
The Huskies traveled to Penn State to begin the week and showed that they can dominate inferior teams. Washington hit 12 of 25 three pointers and recorded 24 assists in a 82-71 win over the Nittany Lions. This continued the Washington trend of beating up on bad teams.
Unfortunately, Washington also showed that when they play good teams, they can’t get over the hump. The Huskies jumped out to a 27-19 first quarter lead over the Terps before struggling mightily in the second quarter. Despite a valiant comeback, Washington lost 81-73 to #16 Maryland at home.
Player of the Week
Welcome to the Player of the Week club Hannah Stines! In two games this week, Stines played 75 out of a possible 80 minutes for the Dawgs. While Stines put up only nine points against Maryland, the junior guard was a walking bucket against Penn State with a career high 28 points.
Stat of the Week
The Huskies have allowed career high points for an opponent in back to back home games. Indiana’s Yarden Garzon scored 35 points against the Dawgs only to be outdone by Maryland’s Kaylene Smikle’s 36 points.
Something needs to change here.
This Coming Week
Washington travels to Oregon on Wednesday, February 12th for a 6:00 pm tip (Big Ten network).
The fun local angle here is Garfield’s Katie Fiso who plays for the Ducks. Unfortunately, Fiso only plays about 10 minutes a night for Oregon as a true freshman. After four straight wins, the Ducks have dropped three in a row in Big 10 play. Oregon is led by Peyton Scott (10 points per game) and Deja Kelly (9.9 points per game).
Washington returns home to host #4 USC on Sunday, February 16th at 4:00 pm (Big Ten network).
If there is a game to attend this year at Alaska Airlines Arena, this is it. Juju Watkins is the best player in America and might be an All-Star in the WNBA if she was a professional right now. Watkins leads the Trojans at 23.9 points per game and also averages 6.7 rebounds per contest. The show doesn’t end with Juju. Likely top 5 pick Kiki Iriafen averages 18 points and 8.4 rebounds while freshmen Kennedy Smith and Avery Howell add amazing depth. (Not to mention transfer Talia von Oelhoffen who was Oregon State’s best player last year). Good luck Dawgs.
National Games to Watch
#3 Texas at #8 Kentucky
Thursday, February 13th at 4:00 pm on ESPN2
#1 UCLA at #6 USC
Thursday, February 13th at 7:00 pm on Peacock
#4 UConn at #2 South Carolina
Sunday, February 16th at 10:00 am on ABC
#10 NC State at #12 North Carolina
Sunday, February 16th at 11:00 am on ESPN
#5 LSU at #3 Texas
Sunday, February 16th at 12:00 pm on ABC
Big 10 Standings
Big 10 record and net ranking in parentheses
UCLA (11-0, #5)
USC (10-1, #6)
Ohio State (9-3, #15)
Illinois (9-4, #32)
Maryland (9-4, #23)
Michigan State (8-4, #20)
Michigan (8-5, #27)
Indiana (7-5, #39)
Minnesota (7-6, #31)
Iowa (7-6, #29)
Oregon (7-6, #36)
Nebraska (7-6, #40)
Washington (5-7, #53)
Wisconsin (2-11, #116)
Rutgers (2-11, #107)
Northwestern (1-10, #122)
Purdue (1-11, #135)
Penn State (1-12, #77)