University of Washington
San Jose State
Huskies Rout Spartans To Capture Third In Great Alaska Shootout
November 24, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2010
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Huskies won't leave the Great White North with a tournament championship, but in 80 minutes of basketball the team learned a lot about itself.
And Washington did earn third place at the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout with a 49-27 win over San Jose State on Wednesday afternoon. Kristi Kingma led all scorers with 14 points, furthering her reputation as one of the more dead-eye shooters in the Pac-10 Conference. Over the course of two games, Kingma totaled 44 points and was named to the all-tournament team. Against the Spartans, Kingma hit a smorgasbord of jumpers, pull-ups and three-pointers in going 5-of-12 from the floor.
Overall, the Huskies (2-2) had no issues in dispatching the now 0-6 Spartans, never trailing against the Western Athletic Conference foe at Sullivan Arena.
What these Huskies gleaned going forward is that Kingma is not only a bonafide offensive threat, but a capable leader. They now understand that Mercedes Wetmore embraces the role of playmaker, and she put forth another solid effort against the Spartans with five assists and just one turnover.
After the game, Wetmore glanced at the stat sheet said it was the lone turnover that made her proud.
"I know as a point guard you can't make a lot of mistakes," Wetmore said. "It's about leading the team and putting them in position to win, so one turnover really reflects well about my game."
Finally, the Huskies learned that their muck-it-up brand of basketball puts a stick in the spokes of any well-intentioned offensive game plan.
The last point was reinforced by the dreadful shooting performance by SJSU, which made just 9-of-33 shots from the floor. The Huskies flipped the script from their defensive scheme against Kent State (matchup zone), going with a physical man-to-man approach against the Spartans, plan that worked as no Spartan scored in double figures.
The Huskies weren't much better themselves offensively, but also didn't press the issue on offense once the outcome was decided. The Spartans didn't help matters with a rigid 2-3 zone designed to limit the creativity of Kingma.
Best yet for Washington, the team has a week off to rest and recuperate before they return to the Beehive State to face Utah. This will help mend injuries to Regina Rogers (hamstring), Sarah Morton (ankle) and Mollie Williams (ankle), the latter who played just seven minutes as Coach Tia Jackson wanted to drastically limit her time on the court. Without core pieces, the Huskies received contributions from unexpected avenues. The highlight might have been Wetmore, who's confident style of play at the point guard position allowed Kingma to shift back to her natural position (shooting guard), which took a big weight off the junior's shoulders.
But Jackson also ticked off a few aspects the team needs to refine before heading down to Salt Lake City next week.
"They're still some areas that we truly, truly must improve upon," Jackson said. "Improving our free throws, owning the boards and lastly, we need to stay out of foul trouble."
