Defense Shines As Huskies Beat Colorado, 61-52

Sunday, February 9

Seattle, WA

12:00 PM

University of Washington

Colorado

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

February 09, 2020 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

SEATTLE --- Washington used a balanced scoring attack and suffocating defense to snap its losing streak with a 61-52 win over Colorado on Sunday afternoon at Alaska Airlines Arena.

The Huskies improve to 11-12 and to 3-9 in Pac-12 play with the victory, holding the Buffaloes to their second-lowest point total of the year while dropping them to 14-9 and 3-9.

Washington saw 10 players score in the contest, led by its two seniors with Amber Melgoza scoring 12 while Mai-Loni Henson added 10. Henson also had five rebounds, four steals and three assists in the contest.

Darcy Rees contributed nine points, five rebounds and two blocks while Haley Van Dyke scored eight points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. Sophomore T.T. Watkins made her first start of the season and scored seven points while adding a career-best eight rebounds.

"I'm so happy for our ladies who have been working so hard to finally get rewarded with a 'W'," said UW Head Coach Jody Wynn. "Sometimes it's discouraging when they work really hard like they have and playing with the kind of effort they have been playing but the performance isn't always matching the effort. It feels good to finish to give them the reward that they worked hard for."

Overall, the Washington defense put together a solid effort, forcing Colorado into 20 turnovers and limiting the Buffaloes to 37% shooting including just 4-of-15 from beyond the arc. The Huskies also held a 41-31 rebounding edge including an 18-8 edge on the offensive glass.

Washington opened the game strong, scoring on its first four shot attempts—the last two of which were three-pointers by Watkins and Henson—to build a 15-4 lead midway through the first quarter. The teams would exchange buckets the rest of the way with the Huskies holding a 20-11 lead after one.

Watkins hit another three to open the second quarter and stretch the Washington lead back to 12. The Buffaloes would cut into the lead with four quick fastbreak points to make it 25-17 two minutes later. Washington still led 29-22 at the 3:16 mark before turning it on to end the quarter. The Huskies would get a big three-point play from Missy Peterson to help start a run which ended with a putback by Van Dyke at the buzzer as Washington held a 37-24 lead at the break.

The Huskies opened the second half with a great steal and layup by Melgoza to extend the lead to 15, but Colorado responded with an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to make it 39-32 at the 7:43 mark. Khayla Rooks ended the run with a give-and-go with Ali Bamberger and Melgoza added a pair of free throws to put Washington back up 11 with 6:02 to go.

But the Buffaloes would make a big charge over the next three minutes, outscoring the Huskies 9-0 to pull within two on a steal and layup at the 3:07 mark. Darcy Rees hit a long two to snap the run and after a free throw by Colorado, Melgoza would hit a layup on Washington's final possession of the quarter to take a 47-42 lead after three.

Colorado would close to within three with a bucket to open the fourth, but the Huskies got back-to-back buckets from Rita Pleskevich and Melgoza to quickly stretch the lead back to seven. After the Buffs answered with a three-pointer to make it a four-point game, they got a defensive rebound off a missed three by the Huskies and looked to pull to within one possession. But Henson came through with a big steal, then drained a three from the corner to put UW back up seven. She had the answer again after a Colorado bucket on the other end, draining a triple to make it a 57-49 game with 4:33 left.

Neither team would score over the next three minutes until the Buffaloes hit a three-pointer with 1:16 left, but the Huskies would score four times from the free throw line, hold Colorado to 0-of-3 shooting while forcing two turnovers the rest of the way.

Washington improves to 9-1 when holding teams to fewer than 60 points and record its first home victory in conference play this season.

The Huskies head back on the road this week, traveling to the desert for a pair of big Pac-12 matchups beginning with a game against No. 12 Arizona on Friday.