University of Washington
Oregon
Davis Ties Record As Huskies Advance In Pac-12 Tournament
March 07, 2012 | Women's Basketball
March 7, 2012
LOS ANGELES - The first victory in the history of the Pacific Life Pac-12 Tournament will forever be colored with purple and gold.
Jazmine Davis scored a game-high 23 points, powering the Huskies to a 72-56 win over Oregon in a matchup of the No. 8-9 seeds at USC's Galen Center. The performance validated her recent Pac-12 Freshman of the Year award, as Davis made seven three-pointers - all in the first half - against the Ducks' zone defense. That tied for the most three-pointers made by a UW player in the program's history, equaling Loree Payne's mark set against Michigan in 2001.
"They were the better team today," said Oregon coach Paul Westhead. "Our players gave a good of try as they had but Washington was the superior team this afternoon, so credit to them."
The win gave the Huskies their first tournament win since 2009, meaning the Huskies advance to the second round to face top-seeded Stanford. It's the first meeting between the two programs in the conference tournament.
Regina Rogers added 21 points, doing most of her damage in the second half as the Ducks' extended their zone to seal off the perimeter. The senior made 9 of 13 shots from the field, single-handedly staving off multiple Oregon rallies.
But Coach Kevin McGuff gave most of the credit to the Husky defense, which limited the Ducks to just 32 percent shooting. When those shots caromed off the rim, the Huskies did a good job securing rebounds, outgaining UO on the glass, 52-35. Aminah Williams led the Dawgs with a career-high 16 boards, doubling her previous best of eight.
Jasmin Holliday led Oregon with 17 points, while fellow senior Amanda Johnson scored just 10 points, despite averaging more than 18 coming into the game. The Huskies rotated different defenders at the Oregon forward, limiting her looks from the field.
With the win, the Huskies improved to 17-12, further solidifying their case for a WNIT bid, and giving them the season series over their I-5 rivals. Oregon ends its season at 15-16.
Rogers and Davis were both All-Pac-12 selections, having carried the scoring load for the Huskies all season. But this time the Huskies had some help, with Kellie McCann-Smith once again taking advantage of the perimeter gaps in the Oregon zone. McCann-Smith had 11 points, and has now scored 49 points in three games against the Ducks.
"As a team we dug down deep and really wanted it," Rogers said. "Jasmine and I talked before the game and she said to me `We are going to win this for you and the other seniors' and I am really happy that we got this win and be able to play tomorrow."
One area of concern for the Huskies is turnovers, as UW tied a season-high with 25 giveaways. The Huskies did have 19 assists, showing better ball movement in attacking the Oregon zone.
The Huskies led 41-22 at the half, thanks in large part to Davis, who rained threes from multiple spots on the perimeter. With the Oregon defense originally focused on Rogers, Davis at times had several feet of separation from her defender. That changed in the second half, as the Ducks decided to guard Rogers one-on-one.
"We made so many three's in the first half that Oregon started getting more aggressive on the perimeter that gave us a chance to get Regina (Rogers) more touches under the basket," McGuff said.
