Washington Heads Back To Idaho; Faces Boise State on Thursday

SEATTLE --- The Washington women's basketball team heads back on the road this week, traveling to Boise State on Thursday, Dec. 7 for a 6:00 p.m. PT (7:00 p.m. MT) tip at Taco Bell Arena in Boise. The game can be heard in Seattle on 1150 AM KKNW with Gary Hill Jr. on the call.

The Huskies returned home on Sunday, putting together their best all-around performance of the year in a 93-67 victory over Portland. UW had a school-record seven players score in double-figures against the Pilots. Mai-Loni Henson led the way with the first double-double of the season, scoring 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting, adding 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals all in just 25 minutes.

After playing their first two games at home, the Huskies play just four home games out of their next 11. Washington does close out the season with seven of its final 11 games at home.

Scouting the Broncos
Boise State enters that game with a 3-3 overall record including a 2-1 mark in home games. The Broncos picked up a 61-57 win at Eastern Washington on Sunday to level their record. That game was the third game decided by four or fewer points in Boise State's last four games with the Broncos 1-2 in those games.

Last season, BSU posted an impressive 25-8 overall record and reached the first round of the NCAA Tournament after winning the Mountain West Tournament with a 66-53 victory over Fresno State. The Broncos wound up winning 10-straight entering the NCAA tourney before falling 83-56 to No. 4 UCLA in the opening round.

Boise State had four players averaging better than 10 points per game led by junior guard Marta Hermida who is scoring 12.3 points and adding nearly five assists per game. Redshirt junior Marijke Vanderschaaf–a grad of Sammamish's Eastlake HS–is averaging 11.0 ppg and 6.7 rpg.

All-Time Series Record
Washington holds a 20-3 edge in the all-time series including winning the last two games in the series and 11 of the last 12. Two of the three Husky losses in the series have come at Boise State including an 88-66 defeat when the teams last met in Boise in 2007-08. Last year, Washington cruised to a 92-66 victory which snapped Boise State's eight-game season-opening winning streak.

Boise State (20-3)
           (H: 12-1, A: 7-2, N: 1-0)
               12/11/16             W           92-66     (h)
               11/23/08             W           74-51     (h)
               12/7/07               L             66-88     (a)
               11/22/02             W           73-55     (a)
               11/27/01             W           99-50     (h)
               11/27/00             W           82-62     (a)
               12/3/99               W           81-73     (h)
               12/29/98             W           75-53     (h)
               11/26/97             W           51-37     (a)
               12/21/95             W           68-59     (h)
               12/31/94             W           62-40     (a)
               3/16/94               W           89-61     (n)
               12/2/92               L             78-82     (a)
               12/7/90               W           108-43 (h)
               12/5/87               W           57-47     (a)
               12/21/85             W           70-45     (h)
               11/18/83             W           74-49     (h)
               1/9/82                  W           103-67 (h)
               2/6/81                  W           87-73     (a)
               1/26/80               W           74-48     (h)
               2/2/79                  W           75-72     (h)
               3/3/78                  L             67-69     (h)
               12/16/76             W           60-58     (a)

Up Next
Washington returns to Alaska Airlines Arena for to host Grand Canyon University on Sunday, Dec. 10 at noon in its penultimate home game of the calendar year.

Last Time Out
Washington played its best all-around game of the season, dispatching of Portland 93-67 at Alaska Airlines Arena. A program-record seven players scored in double-figures led by Mai-Loni Henson, who recorded UW's first double-double of the year with a 14-point, 10-rebound performance. Amber Melgoza also had 14 points on the night as the Huskies posted a season-high 93 points shooting just under 50% from the field.

Seven in Double Figures
Washington saw a program-best seven players score in double-figures in the 93-67 victory against Portland on Dec. 3. Mai-Loni Henson and Amber Melgoza led the way with 14 points each while freshmen Kierra Collier, Alexis Griggsby and Missy Peterson each contributed 12 points in the game with Griggsby and Peterson scoring all of their points in the second half. Senior Jenna Moser was the seventh player to reach double-figures in the game, hitting a tough jumper in the lane with 1:23 left to give her 11 while freshman Khayla Rooks scored 10 in the game on 4-of-5 shooting.

Strength of Schedule
The Huskies are not shying away from playing tough teams in the 2017-18 as UW faces seven teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25 and two others receiving votes. In fact, the Huskies' schedule ranks as the 31st most difficult among the 349 NCAA Division I WBB programs.

The Pac-12 conference is one of the reason's the Huskies' schedule is so tough as the conference boasts five teams in the AP top 25 and two others receiving votes: (#7 UCLA, #9 Oregon, #18 Stanford, #19 Oregon State, #25 California with Arizona State and USC receiving votes). Besides its Pac-12 opponents, the Huskies have also squared off against #2 Texas and #8 Ohio St. in pre-conference games.

Freshman Power
The Huskies have received solid contributions from the five freshmen on the squad. Kierra Collier, who has scored 30 points in the last two games, ranks fourth on the team with 9.9 points per game. Khayla Rooks has been battling injury but is still averaging 7.9 points, shooting 51.4% from the field. Meanwhile, Fapou Semebene is averaging a team-best 5.6 rebounds per contest with over half of those coming on the offensive end. Alexis Griggsby has added 7.3 ppg while Missy Peterson is contributing 4.7 ppg. The pair each tallied season-highs with 12 points vs. Portland on Sunday.

Viva Las Vegas
Mai-Loni Henson had an impressive trip to Vegas, scoring 23 points in two games, earning her all-tournament honors. Henson scored a career-high 17 points, adding nine rebounds, three assists and three steals. Overall, she averaged 11.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game in Vegas.

No Overtime, Please
Washington has an odd streak going, having played 130-straight games without overtime. The Huskies last overtime game came during the 2013-14 season when UW downed Utah 53-52 on Jan. 17, 2014. What's more impressive is that the Huskies have not lost an overtime game since Feb. 5, 2012–an incredible streak of 192 games. UW is 19-18 all-time in overtime games.

Road Warriors
After opening the season with a pair of home games, the Huskies play just five of their next 13 games at Alaska Airlines Arena. The Huskies open conference play on the road at the Oregon schools on Dec. 29 and 31st before hosting Utah and Colorado at home in early January. After making its Bay area trip and facing Washington State in Pullman, the Huskies play seven of their final 11 games at home.

Impressive Debuts
Washington had a solid showing from its core of freshman making their collegiate debuts against Idaho State. The Huskies were led in scoring by Kierra Collier, who scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting in 19 minutes off the bench. Alexis Griggsby added nine points, four rebounds and two steals in 15 minutes with Missy Peterson contributing eight points and two assists. Two freshman cracked the starting lineup for the Huskies with Fapou Semebene and Khayla Rooks each scoring five points and pulling down a team-high five rebounds.

Huskies Ink Talented Duo to NLIs
UW coach Jody Wynn announced the signing Haley Van Dyke (Moraga, Calif./Campolindo High School) and Tyiona "TT" Watkins (Walnut, Calif./Walnut HS) to National Letters of Intent during the November early signing period.

Van Dyke, a 6-0 forward, scored the fifth-most points in the state of California last season, pouring in 765 points in 32 games for a 23.9 points per game average. She ranks 21st among '18 forwards according to ESPN and as the No. 82 player overall according to Prospects Nation.

Watkins is a 5-11 wing who will wrap up her high school career at Walnut High School in Walnut, Calif., after three seasons at Brea Olinda High School. She is currently ranked as the No. 14 wing player in the class of 2018 by ESPN and No. 20 by Prospects Nation.

Versus The State of Idaho
The Huskies play all three DI programs in Idaho this season. Washington dropped its season opener to Idaho State but defeated Idaho in Moscow on Friday. The Huskies close up the Gem State trifecta with a trip to Boise State next week. Overall Washington is 30-6 against the three Idaho schools including this year's games and are 19-2 at home.

First Game Struggles
After the Huskies loss against Idaho State, only three of 11 Washington WBB coaches have won their first game as the Huskies' head coach. The last time a coach won their first game at UW came in 1985-86 when Chris Gobrecht defeated UCLA 68-50 when the Huskies were members of the NorPac Conference. Since UW joined the Pac-10/12, Husky coaches are now 0-5 in their first games at the helm.

Huskies Ranked in the Preseason Polls
Washington opened the season tied for No. 25 along with fellow Pac-12 foe California with 79 votes in the USA Today Coaches Preseason Poll and received four votes in the AP Poll.

2016-17 Recap
The Huskies posted a 29-6 record and made their second-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2016-17. Washington went 18-1 at home and earned a pair of home games to open the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. The Huskies downed Montana State and Oklahoma before falling to Mississippi State in the Sweet Sixteen. UW's Kelsey Plum earned numerous honors including the Naismith Trophy and the Wooden Award as the NCAA Player of the Year before being selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft by the San Antonio Stars.

Season/Home Openers
With the loss to Idaho State, Washington is now 26-18 in season openers all-time, snapping a two-game winning streak in such games. Over the last 12 seasons, Washington is 4-8 in season openers. The Huskies have posted an impressive 33-11 overall record in home openers despite losing to Idaho State this season.

Radio Show
Washington Women's Basketball Head Coach Jody Wynn joins Elise Woodward for the UW Coaches Show throughout the season at Chinook's at Fisherman's Terminal. The show is carried live on KOMO AM 1000 in Seattle at 6:00 p.m. on the following dates: Dec. 4, Dec. 11, Dec. 18, Dec. 26, Jan. 2, Jan. 9, Jan. 16, Jan. 23, Jan. 30, Feb. 6, Feb. 13, Feb. 20, Feb. 27 and March 5. The show can be streamed online at gohuskies.com or by using the TuneIn Mobile App, available in the Apple and Google App Stores.

Huskies in USA Basketball
Five former Washington athletes have competed internationally for USA Basketball. Karen Deden, who was named to the 1995 USA Pan American Games Team, but was denied a shot at a medal after the women's basketball competition was cancelled due to too few team entries, played on the 1989 USA Junior World Cup (U19) Team that placed seventh and the 1988 USA Junior World Cup Qualifying Team that won gold. Loree Payne won gold on the 2000 USA R. William Jones Cup Team and competed in an exhibition game as a member of the 2000 USA Select Team against the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team; Jamie Redd was a member of the 1998 USA Select Team that posted a 7-1 slate against international teams in exhibition games; while Rhonda Smith won a silver medal at the 1997 Tournament of the Americas and a bronze medal at the 1993 R. William Jones Cup. Most recently, Kelsey Plum earned a gold medal at the 2013 FIBA U19 World Cup, silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games and participated in the 2017 USA Basketball Women's National Team training camp Sept. 30-Oct. 2 in Santa Barbara, California.

Schedule

Washington Heads Back To Idaho; Faces Boise State on Thursday

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Players Mentioned

Kierra Collier

Lexi Griggsby

Mai-Loni Henson

Amber Melgoza

Jenna Moser

Missy Peterson

Kelsey Plum

Khayla Rooks

Fapou Semebene

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