The Washington women’s basketball team set several defensive records for the season during Sunday’s 54-28 nonconference win against Queens University at Alaska Airlines Arena.
“We put a strong focus on that the last couple of games,” coach Tina Langley said. “It says a lot about (the players). That’s a very selfless end of the floor. The way that they’ve approached the last couple of games to get things shored up for us has been really neat to see. I’m excited for that growth.”
The Huskies, which led 28-20 at halftime, blew the game open in the second half while outscoring the Royals 26-8 in the final two quarters.
Queens University, which is located in Charlotte, N.C., and began playing Division I this year in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC), never scored more than four points in the third or fourth quarters.
After the Royals pulled within nine points (31-22) with 7:29 left, they went scoreless for 6½ minutes while Washington went on an 11-0 run to put the game away.
Trinity Oliver began the decisive spurt with a layup and TT Watkins’ fast-break layup put UW up 42-22. The Royals never got closer than 19 the rest of the way.
“The emphasis is always defense,” said Oliver, who had six points, six rebounds and four assists. “We wanted to contain their players and do what we’ve been practicing the past couple of days and execute on the defensive end. And that leads to transition offensively and we were able to run and open the game up.”
Watkins added: “We were just playing team ball and sharing the ball around with each other and that’s how we kept making the lead bigger and bigger.”
The Royals converted 3 of 25 shots (12%) in the second half while the Huskies were 33.3% from the field, including 5 of 16 on the perimeter.
Freshman guard Hannah Stines had a team-high nine points and five rebounds for UW, which improved to 7-1.
It was the fewest points this season against Washington, which allowed 39 to Idaho State and 49 against Seattle University in a pair of wins. Queens University shot 21.6%, 20% on three-pointers and didn’t have an assist, which were season lows for a UW opponent.
Offensively, the Huskies struggled once again to ignite an attack that ranks last in the Pac-12 while scoring (66.3 points per game) and three-point percentage (22%).
Washington shot 38.2%, including 5 of 21 on three-pointers.
“I don’t think any coach is where they want to be in any aspect of the game ever,” Langley said. “We’re always probably hoping we get better in everything that we’re doing, especially this time of the year. With six new players and six returning players active right now, you can see a team that’s still learning each other and how we’re going to play probably on that end.”
Since tallying 87 and 82 points respectively to start the season, the Huskies haven’t scored more than 71 and are averaging 60.1 points in the last six outings.
“I don’t really have concerns about it,” Langley said. “We’re a team that’s going to need a little bit of time to know one another and continue to jell and find our way in different times and styles of play.
“We’ve played a lot of different systems and seen a lot of things and sometimes that’s credit to them that’s impacted us offensively. And sometimes we’ve really risen to the occasion. I think we’re continuing to learn styles of play, our own strengths and the way we want to play.”
The competition and stakes increase exponentially for the Huskies who host cross-state rival Washington State (6-1) next Sunday in their Pac-12 opener.
“I’m excited for Pac-12 to start,” Watkins said. “We’ve been playing a lot and we’re ready. It’s kind of weird that it’s coming so quickly. It’s different.”
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