UW Women’s Basketball Open Season With 76-28 Smackdown of Sacramento State

The UW Women’s Basketball season kicked off Tuesday night at home against Sacramento State. The Huskies are coming off a deep run in the NIT tournament last season and Sacramento State made it to the NCAA Tournament as a 13-seed. Washington had no problems though with Sac State as the Huskies pulled away early in the first quarter and coasted to a 76-28 romp. Elle Ladine led the way for the Dawgs with 20 points as UW starts out the season 1-0.

The Huskies came out strong with Dalayah Daniels winning the tip for UW and then getting the first lay-up and the foul for a 3-point play. Sacramento State answered with a lay-up and then the Huskies clamped down on defense, forcing turnovers and not allowing points. UW was led early on by Daniels who had 6 of the first 9 Husky points. From there the shooting was slow for UW as they shot 31% taking the lead to only 16-7.

Sacramento State switched to a zone defense in an attempt to stop the Huskies, but the Huskies switched to a zone too and forced several turnovers and scored points off those turnovers. Sac State then switched back to man defense but so did the Huskies and the Huskies sprinted to the end of the quarter on an 11-0 run.

UW did not let off the pressure either on offense or defense as the second quarter began. All active players, including all four new freshmen, got into the game, and Chloe Briggs shot and made two threes. Dalayah Daniels rested on the bench for a few minutes while Elle Ladine picked up the pace, adding points, getting steals, and assists.

Both teams slowed as the quarter ended, with neither team scoring in the last few minutes of the quarter until Jayda Noble got the ball with two seconds left in the half and drained a three from downtown. As the half wound down, the Huskies committed 5 turnovers, but UW still outscored Sac State 17 – 6 in the second quarter.

Going into the half, the Huskies led 40-13 as well as led 26-10 in rebounds. The Huskies also led 9-2 in assists and 6-3 in steals. UW’s defense force 11 turnovers for 15 points off those turnovers.

Quarter 3 began with Elle Ladine pulling up and making a 3 pointer uncontested and the Huskies didn’t let up from there. They made quick work of the Hornets, shooting 50% from the floor and 50% from 3 ending the quarter 69-25. The 4^th quarter was more of the same, with all players scoring and Ladine the only player in double figures. The Huskies put Sacramento State away with a convincing final score of 76-28.

Two takeaways:

- The Huskies came out strong with an offense that appears to match their defensive prowess from last year. The freshmen were incorporated seamlessly and the team looks integrated already, not like they are looking to figure out who plays which role.

- While not a travesty or even egregious (11) in this game, some of the unforced turnovers might catch up to them against better teams and for sure during Pac-12 play.

The Huskies continue their defense of their undefeated season this Thursday at 5pm vs North Carolina Central at home. It’s another Dawg Doubleheader, so buy your tickets and get two games for the price of one.