University of Washington - Home

Nov. 22, 2000

This Week -
Game 3
Washington Huskies (1-1-0)
vs.
No. 1 Connecticut Huskies (2-0)
9 p.m., Friday, Nov. 24
Bank of America Arena (10,000)
Seattle, Wash.
Doors open at 7:30 p.m.

Game 4
at Boise State Broncos
7 p.m., Monday, Nov. 27
BSU Pavilion (12,500)
Boise, Idaho

This Week: The Washington women's basketball team (1-1) makes its 2000-01 home debut in the newly renovated Bank of America Arena when it hosts top-ranked and defending national champion Connecticut (1-0) at 9 p.m., Fri., Nov. 24. The game will be televised live on Fox Sports Northwest with numerous Fox affiliates around the country also picking up the broadcast.
Washington returns to Seattle after a season-opening road trip through Big Ten country, where the Huskies came away with a split. They lost a heartbreaker, 77-74, at the buzzer in overtime against Indiana and then followed with a resounding 73-60 victory over Michigan in Ann Arbor. Next week, Washington hits the road again for a Nov. 27 game at Boise State, where Husky coach June Daugherty spent seven years prior to her arrival at Washington.
Connecticut travels up the coast to Washington after a Tuesday night game in which they defeated Pepperdine, 98-63. The Huskies, ranked No. 1 in every preseason poll, opened their season against third-ranked Georgia in the Tip-Off Classic and thoroughly buried the Bulldogs, 99-70, in front of a crowd of 16,294 in Hartford, Conn.

Opening Game: The following activities will take place Friday and Saturday to celebrate the opening of Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion: Ribbon cutting, 90 minutes prior to tip-off at northwest and southwest entrances.
Bank of America $25,000 Jackpot Shot: Two fans will have a chance to win $25,000 at halftime.
Commerative photos: A chance to purchase commerative photos from the evening with a backdrop of the new court.
Time capsule suggestions: A chance to make suggestions as to what should go in the new time capsule that will be placed back in the original cornerstone of the building.
Free Giveaways: including commerative tickets, schedule magnets, antenna balls, cake and more.
Special tip-off ceremony and halftime entertainment.
Husky Kids Corner: games and activities for kids
Husky Locker Room: Fans have a chance to try on Husky uniforms.
Former player and coach autographs.

Washington record last year:
8-22 overall, 4-14 (9th) Pac-10
UConn record last year: br> 36-1 overall, 16-0 Big East
NCAA National Champions
Boise State record last year:
14-14 overall

The Coaches
Washington
June Daugherty (Ohio St. `78)
Record at UW: 60-57 (5th yr.)
Career record: 183-1 (12th yr.)
Connecticut
Geno Auriemma (West Chester `81)
Record at UConn: 395-95 (16th yr.)
Career: same

Series Notes UW and UConn have met just once before with UConn winning, 101-81, on Nov. 28, 1998 in Storrs, Conn. ... UW owns a 15-2 lead in the series with Boise State and has won six in a row.

Huskies on Radio
All UW games air live on KKOL 1300 AM radio. Steve Sandmeyer calls the action. Games can also be heard live on the internet at: http:/www.audionet.com/schools/washington/

June Daugherty Radio Show
KOMO am 1000
Mondays, 6:30-7 p.m.

Probable Washington Starters

Name	Pos.	Ht.	Yr.	99-00 stats

24 - Kellie O'Neill	F	6-1	So.	6.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg

23 - Emily Autrey	F	6-0	So.	5.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg

42 - LeAnn Sheets	C	6-2	Sr.	8.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg	

14 - Megan Franza	G	5-11	Sr.	17.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg

32 - Jill Pimley	G	5-6	Sr.	2.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg

Probable Connecticut Starters

Name	Pos.	Ht.	Yr.	99-00 stats

10      Sue Bird        	G	5-9	Jr.	10.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg

33      Shea Ralph      	G/F     6-0	Sr.	14.3 ppg. 3.7 rpg

15      Asjha Jones     	F/C     6-2	Jr.	8.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg.

25      Svetlana Abrosimova     	F       	6-2	Sr.	13.4 ppg, 6.2 prg.

32      Swin Cash       	F      	6-2	Jr.	9.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg

UW Against the Big East: Washington owns a 3-3 record against teams from the Big East Conference. UConn was the most recent opponent, hosting the UW Huskies during the 1998-99 season in Storrs. The Uconn Huskies won that game, 101-81, on Nov. 28, 1998.

Home Openers: Washington has a record of 21-5 in home opening games since the 1974-75 season. The Huskies lost their home opener to BYU (85-62) last year, but it can't be qualified as a true home opener as UW was playing off campus for a year while their home court was being renovated. UW played downtown in Mercer and KeyArena in 1999-00. The loss at Indiana last week gave UW a record of 17-10 in season-opening games.

UW Against Top-Ranked Teams: The last time Washington faced a No. 1-ranked team was Nov. 28, 1998 when it played at Connecticut, a game the UConn Huskies won, 101-81. Prior to that, the most recent meeting against a top-ranked team was Nov. 26, 1988 when Washington played Tennessee in the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Hawaii. The Lady Vols won, 70-48.

Dawgbite: With the win at Michigan Nov. 19, fifth year Husky coach June Daugherty reached 60 wins in her tenure at Washington ... her win total is third among seven Husky coaches over the years. She is 60-47 at Washington and 183-131 in her 12th season as a head coach.

A Look at the New Arena The Washington women's basketball team has anxiously awaited its return to their home court and has the honor of opening their newly renovated arena against the top ranked team in the country Friday night against Connecticut.
Over the last year and a half, Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion has undergone an extensive renovation. Friday night, the Huskies move back into their on-campus arena - a venue that provides the charm of its original 1920s style along with all the modern conveniences of today. Over $40 million dollars in improvements have been made and the new transformation ensures that every person in the building has a great seat with no obstructed views.
The Huskies have enjoyed remarkable success in Hec Edmundson Pavilion, now called Bank of America Arena, building a long-standing tradition of top-notch women's basketball on the west coast and across the country.
This season marks the 72nd year of service for the historical building that will have an entirely new look on the inside. The renovation gives Washington a much-needed new competition and practice facility for several of its teams. The seating capacity has been increased from 7,900 to 10,000 and gone are the supports pillars that have obstructed views from the upper level seats since the buildings inception. The renovation design of Hec Edmundson Pavilion began in the summer of 1997. Construction began in March, 1999 with completion in the fall of 2000.
Built in 1927, the Pavilion was dedicated on December 27 of that year, with 882 for the Husky men's basketball team defeating Illinois, 34-23, in the inaugural game. The UW women, who played in the Pavilion Addition (600-seat capacity) outgrew that setting 12 seasons ago and moved to the main pavilion. Once there, they established a women's school attendance record of 3,832 in its NCAA first-round game against UCLA in 1985. That record was eclipsed in 1988 when the Huskies posted their first sellout of 7,882 for the NCAA second-round game against New Mexico State, March 19, 1988. Washington established a new women's record when 8,170 filled the building for the Huskies' NCAA Tournament game against DePaul March 17, 1990.
Originally known as the University of Washington Pavilion, the building was dedicated to the Huskies' long-time basketball and track mentor, Clarence S. "Hec" Edmundson, on Jan., 16, 1948. It will now be called Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

Dawg Bite: The five-player senior class has a combined 132 game-day starts between them.

Megan on the Move: Senior guard Megan Franza needs just 89 points to move on to UW's career Top 10 scoring chart. After two games this season (23 at Indiana, 15 at Michigan), she has 1,135 career points in 89 games. Franza averaged 17.2 points per game last season and has a career average of 12.7 ppg. She became the 16th Husky to top the 1,000-point barrier and only the eighth player to pass the mark as a junior last year. Dating back to last season, Franza has scored in double figures in 29 of the last 32 games. She has been in the starting lineup for 87 of UW's last 89 games.

More Megan: Franza entered the year at No. 2 on UW's career three point field goals made list, with 139. She added eight more over the weekend, for a total of 147, including five at Indiana. Franza is chasing former standout Jamie Redd (1995-99), who tops the list with 192 treys. She is also No. 2 on the three point attempts list with 486, again chasing Redd who attempted 675 long range bombs during her career. Franza, at 17.2 ppg, led the Pac-10 in scoring until the final two weeks of the season, while teammate Loree Payne finished fourth with 17.4 points per game. Together they formed the highest scoring duo from the same school in Pac-10 history. With the graduation of Maylana Martin (UCLA) and the impending redshirt season for Oregon's injured Shaquala Williams, Payne and Franza enter the 2000-01 season as the leading returning scorers in the Pac-10.

Husky Coaching Staff: Washington head coach June Daugherty and her staff enter their fifth year with the Huskies, with one newcomer on list. Former Michigan Wolverine Yeshimbra "Shimmy" Gray joins the Huskies this season, replacing Hulett Brooks who left coaching to pursue private business. Daugherty, who was inducted into the Ohio State Athletic Hall of Fame in September, and her assistants, Sunny Smallwood and Mike Daugherty, have been together since the 1996-97 season.

A Healthy Front Line: Fifth year coach June Daugherty relishes the opportunity to open the season, even open practice, with a healthy front line. The group was straddled with injuries during the majority of last season, causing Daugherty to constantly alter her starting lineup and rotation. This year, senior LeAnn Sheets, the leading returning rebounder (6.8 rpg) in the Pac-10, enters her final campaign with no lingering effects from her foot surgery. In addition, sophomore Cheryl Sorenson, a guard/forward whom Daugherty calls the most critical missing piece last season - because of her versatility - is recovered from ACL surgery last November. Kellie O'Neill, who had an immediate impact last season, particularly in rebounding, but missed the tail end of the year with a severely sprained ankle, is stronger and faster as she enters her second season. The addition of two freshmen post players, Andrea Lalum (6-4) and Sarah Keeler (6-3) further bolsters the Husky interior game.

The Schedule: As is tradition, the Washington women's basketball team faces a challenging schedule as it enters the 2000-2001 season. The Huskies face 11 teams that played in the postseason last year, seven in the NCAA Tournament, including none other than defending national champion Connecticut in the home opener Nov. 24. Four Pac-10 teams advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2000 and four opponents played in the WNIT, including national semi-finalist Colorado State.

Gold Medal Count: Sophomore Loree Payne capped a stellar freshman campaign with her selection to the USA Basketball R.William Jones Cup team that annually plays in Taiwan. The youngest player on the squad and the lone representative from the Pac-10, Payne helped lead the team to a gold medal in the four-game tournament. She finished with 16 points, three rebounds and four assists in three games played. Payne tallied 11 points in the gold medal game.

Huskies Among Returning Pac-10 Leaders
Pac-10 Conference 1999-2000 Final Individual Statistics
(returning players in bold)

SCORING		G	FG	3FG	FT	PTS	AVG.

	**1.	Williams, Shaquala, ORE	31	189	53	118	549	17.7

	2.	Martin, Maylana, UCLA	29	193	0	120	506	17.4

	3.	Payne, Loree, WASH	30	183	60	95	521	17.4

	4.	Franza, Megan, WASH	30	192	62	69	515	17.2

	5.	Dietel, Alke, WSU	27	142	35	47	366	13.6

	6.	Ragland, Felicia, OSU	30	146	28	68	388	12.9

	7.	Pierce, Sissel, OSU	29	166	0	43	375	12.9

	8.	Lackey, Angela, ARIZ	31	137	1	119	394	12.7

	9.	Brown, Tatum, ARIZ	32	154	0	88	396	12.4

10.	Moos, Carolyn, STAN	30	128	15	100	371	12.4

Payne Among Sharp Shooters
The Women's Basketball Journal surveyed Division I women's basketball coaches to name the two best pure shooters in the nation. A No. 1 vote was worth two points, and a No. 2 vote gave the player one point. Here is a look at the results that were released in the Sept. 30 issue of Women's Basketball Journal:

Player		School	Pts.

1. Jackie Stiles	SW Missouri St.	53

2. Sue Bird	Connecticut	36

3. Alicia Ratay	Notre Dame	35

4. Kelly Miller	Georgia	21

5. Loree Payne	Washington	14

6. Jamie Carey	Stanford	9

	Alisha Sare	Texas	9

	Georgia Schweitzer	Duke	9

	Lisa Shepard	Penn State	9

	Wendi Willits	Arkansas	9

Team Captains: The Huskies will be led by tri-captains this season. They are senior guard Megan Franza, senior point guard Jill Pimley and sophomore guard/forward Loree Payne. Pimley was a captain for the 1999-00 season.

Recapping 1999-2000: Faced with a spate of injuries to its front line and a young squad with no seniors, Washington suffered through its first losing season in school history with a record of 8-22 overall and 4-14th for a ninth place finish in the Pac-10. The season was not without its highlights though, the biggest coming back on Jan. 27 when the Huskies upset No. 24 Stanford and captured the 500th win for the women's basketball program. It was the second victory in a row over Stanford and career win No. 180 for coach June Daugherty. Washington was led by the scoring duo of Loree Payne (17.4 ppg) and Megan Franza (17.2 ppg), who combined to form the highest scoring duo from the same school in Pac-10 history. Franza was named to the All-Pac-10 First Team, continuing a tradition which has seen Washington have a player on the first team every year but two since the league began play in the 1986-87 season. Payne finished the year as one of the most prolific freshman players in UW history. She broke eight freshman records, highlighted by her scoring mark of 521 points.

Departures: Although Washington did not lose anyone to graduation, two players did not return to the team this season. Starting point guard Julia Gray transferred to UNLV and reserve center Tiffiany Diggins left the program. Washington returns four of its starters from a year ago.