Melgoza, Henson Help Huskies Beat Seattle 84-76 In Overtime

Wednesday, December 20

Seattle, WA

7:00 PM

University of Washington

6-5

Seattle

6-7

OT 1

Seattle

Washington

Melgoza, Henson Help Huskies Beat Seattle 84-76 In Overtime

December 20, 2017 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

SEATTLE --- Mai-Loni Henson scored Washington's first seven points in overtime, keying a 11-1 run midway through the extra session as the Huskies pulled out an 84-76 victory over crosstown rival Seattle University on Wednesday night at Alaska Airlines Arena.

Washington closes out its non-conference schedule with a 6-5 record, entering conference play above .500 for the eighth-straight season. The Redhawks fall to 6-7 with their second-straight loss.

Amber Melgoza scored a career-high 26 points, eclipsing her previous best of 25 she established in UW's last game at North Carolina, adding nine rebounds and a career-high six assists. Henson scored 16 points including seven in overtime to go along with seven rebounds.

Alexis Montgomery scored 26 points to lead four players in double-figures for the Redhawks, recording a double-double with 10 rebounds and adding six steals. Kallin Spiller scored 15 points with 10 rebounds while Kamira Sanders added 13 points, nine rebounds for the visitors.

The overtime game was the first for Washington since Jan. 17, 2014, snapping a streak of 133-straight games without an overtime game—the fifth-longest active streak in NCAA Division I. The Huskies have kept another streak going, however as they haven't lost an overtime game since Feb. 5, 2012—a streak of 196 games.

The Huskies appeared to be cruising early in the second half, using an 11-2 run to take their largest lead of the game at 46-31 with 5:47 left in the third quarter. Washington still held a 12-point lead with 2:07 left when Seattle came alive, using a long 15-2 run over the next five minutes, taking back the lead at 56-55 on a three-point play by Sanders with 6:08 left in the game.

Washington responded with a pair of free throws, then a bucket by Collier—Washington's first field goal in seven minutes—to take a 59-56 lead at the 5:10 remaining. Seattle answered back with seven-straight points capped by a three-pointer by Jacinta Beckley to give the Redhawks their largest lead of the game at 63-59 with 3:37 left.

After the Huskies drew a charge on the defensive end, Melgoza drained a three-pointer to make it a one-point game, then hit another three after a Seattle U turnover to give the Huskies the lead with 2:35 to play. Washington still led by two thanks to a pair of free throws by Henson with1:47 left, but Montgomery hit a tough runner with 41 seconds left to tie the game back up at 67-67.

Washington missed a three on its next possession, but Henson drew a charge on the other end to negate a potential game-winner by Seattle with six seconds left and the teams headed to overtime.

Henson drained a pair of free throws to open the extra period, but the Redhawks hit a three followed by getting a three-point play by Montgomery to go back up four 1:30 in. Just under a minute later, Henson drained a big three-pointer to tie the game at 74-74 with 2:49 to go and start a 9-0 run which saw the Huskies go up 80-74 with 1:11 to go.

The Redhawks would hit a pair of free throws on its next possession, but that would be as close as they would get the rest of the way as the Huskies converted their free throws to cap the scoring.

While the Huskies struggled from the field in the second half, Melgoza helped keep them in the game. The sophomore scored 12 of UW's 14 points over a 10-minute stretch from near the 2:07 mark of the third quarter until late in the fourth quarter. Henson took over from there, scoring UW's next nine points including seven in overtime.

"Amber got on fire and made some big-time plays—not only her three's but getting to the rim and getting rebounds," said Head Coach Jody Wynn. "Mai-Loni took a huge charge late in the game, then hit a big time shot from the top of the key in overtime to help us."

Meanwhile, it was Montgomery who took the game over for Seattle, as she scored 17 points in the fourth quarter and overtime including outscoring Washington 13-12 in the fourth.

The Huskies took a lead early on thanks to a 13-2 run over a four-minute span in the first quarter as Hannah Johnson hit a three-pointer followed by a fast-break layup to take a 17-9 lead at the 2:51 mark. Seattle would close the gap in the second quarter, outscoring the Huskies 8-4 over the first five minutes to close within four. Washington answered back with a 12-3 run over the next four minutes to take a 13-point lead. The Redhawks would drain a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to make it a 10-point game at the break.

Seattle opened the second half with four quick points to close again within six, but the Huskies rattled off an 11-2 run to take a 15-point lead and set up the wild finish.

As has become the routine, nine of Washington's 10 players scored with nine also recording at least a steal. Kierra Collier, Jenna Moser and Missy Peterson each scored nine for the Huskies. Khayla Rooks had five points but added a career-best 10 rebounds. Fapou Semebene was the lone UW player to not score, but she added three blocks including a big one late in overtime and pulled down three rebounds.

Washington forced 23 Redhawk turnovers—their season-high—and converted those into 31 points. No Husky had more than two steals, but the team finished with 13—its fourth-straight game recording at least 10 steals and eighth this season. Washington leads the Pac-12 in turnovers forced at 20.0 per game and rank second in steals per game with 10.7 per game.

The game was just the second game of the season decided by eight or fewer points with the Huskies winning both. Washington saw a late-lead evaporate against Creighton in its fourth game of the season before Henson hit a bucket then secured a big defensive rebound late to give the Huskies a 67-64 win.

"This win is a great sendoff to the first part of the season," said Wynn. "We break the season in two different seasons and this was season number one. To finish 6-5 is really outstanding for our girls. We gained valuable experience playing tough teams on the road, we won a big-time game at home with players who have not had to perform under the pressure of late-game situations and overtime.

"Right now—for our young team—we are focusing on the fact that we found a way to win the game," Wynn said. "I don't know how long it took to lose that 15-point lead, but it felt like it was in a minute. This is the first time we've been in this situation and the first time where our players have had to make a clutch shot or make a big-time stop or get a huge rebound. I was really proud of our overall team effort to finish it in overtime."

Washington's victory was its 13^th-straight win over Seattle U and ninth-straight since the Redhawks returned to NCAA Division I in 2008. The Huskies improve to 18-3 in the all-time series and 9-1 at home.

Melgoza has been on fire the last two games, scoring 25 against North Carolina on Sunday, then adding a career-high 25 points against Seattle. In addition, she has 13 rebounds, 11 assists and three steals. Melgoza has scored in double-figures in five-straight games, averaging 19.7 points over that stretch, leading the team in scoring in each.

Washington struggled from the line early in the game, but converted 15-straight free throws from early in the third quarter until late in overtime and finished with a season-high 24 made on 30 attempts. The Huskies have now made 48-of-57 (84.2%) over their last three games after converting just 64.2% (86-of-134) through their first eight games.

After taking a break for Christmas, Washington opens Pac-12 play on Friday, Dec. 29, traveling to face No. 17 Oregon State in Corvallis at 2:00 p.m. After taking on No. 9 Oregon on Sunday, the Huskies return to Seattle to take on Utah on Friday, Jan. 5, at 6:00 p.m.