Thursday, November 8
Seattle, WA
7:00 PM
University of Washington
vs
Cal State Fullerton
Photo by: Red Box Pictures
Huskies Tips Off 2018-19 Season Against Cal State Fullerton Thursday
November 07, 2018 | Women's Basketball
OPENING TIP
• Washington kicks off the 2018-19 season this week, hosting a pair of games beginning with a clash against Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 7:00 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena. The game will be live-streamed on GoHuskies.com. Fans can also listen to Gary Hill Jr. and Elise Woodward call the game on KKNW 1150 AM, the TuneIn App, or online at GoHuskies.com
• Washington returns seven of its 10 players from last year's squad including four players who started 23 or more games and 85% of its overall scoring. That includes senior Jenna Moser, who returns as a graduate student for the 2018-19 season.
• Junior Amber Melgoza–a 2017-18 All-Pac-12 pick–looks to build on a breakout sophomore season in which she had the second-highest scoring average in the Pac-12 at 19.0 ppg, finishing the year with 120 points over her final four games.
Scouting the Titans
Cal State Fullerton opened the 2018-19 season on Tuesday with a big 57-54 come-from-behind win over Seattle U. The Titans closed out the game on an 11-0 run to claim the three-point victory in their season-opener.
Fullerton is coming off a rough first season under new Head Coach Jeff Harada, posting an 8-21 overall record and a finished ninth in the Big West with a 3-13 record. Harada, who spent three seasons at Central Washington before heading to Fullerton, immediately helped improve the Titans' offense and helped them win eight games for the first time in three seasons.
Leading the Fullerton offense is senior center Deaja Smith, who was selected as one of 20 players on the 2019 Lisa Leslie Award watch list. The 6-3 redshirt senior was a second-team All-Big West pick last season and named to the preseason team this year. She opened the 2018-19 season with an impressive 18-point, 12-rebound double-double at Seattle U.
All-Time Series Record
Thursday's game will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Cal State Fullerton will be the fifth Big West school Washington has played against with the Huskies holding an 8-11 record in those games. Washington has played Long Beach State nine times with the Beach winning eight of nine. Washington has also played Big West teams Hawaii (4-3), UC Riverside (2-0) and CSUN (1-0).
Season Openers
Washington is 26-17 in season openers all-time and has won two of their last three. Last season, the Huskies lost 79-59 to Idaho State, but won the previous two, beating Eastern Washington 100-52 in 2016-17 and Santa Clara 100-55 the year before.
Home Openers
The Huskies have posted an impressive 33-11 overall record in home openers and have won three of their last four overall. Last season's 79-59 loss to Idaho State snapped a three-game winning streak in home openers as the Huskies are now 4-5 in such games since the start of the 2008-09 season.
Well That's A First
Thursday's game is the earliest home opener in program history and tied for the earliest season opener. The last time the Huskies opened the season on Nov. 8 was in 2013 when UW faced Saint Mary's. The previous year, the two opened the season in Seattle on Nov. 9, which had been the earliest home opener in program history.
Up Next
Washington has little time after its home-opener on Thursday, hosting Northern Arizona in a non-conference game on Sunday afternoon. The game will be the third all-time contest between the two schools with the Huskies prevailing in each of the previous two. The game will also serve as a homecoming for former Husky standout Loree Payne, who is in her third year as head coach of the Lumberjacks.
2017-18 Recap
Washington's first season under new head coach Jody Wynn proved to be a tough one with the Huskies' new coach inheriting a team with just five returning players and one who had started a college game. Despite the inexperience and the fact that no Husky on the active roster stood taller than 6-1, Washington proved to be a gritty, gutty team which gave many of its opponents as much as they could handle. The Huskies finished the 2017-18 season with a 7-23 overall record.
Magical Melgoza
Washington junior Amber Melgoza had an impressive sophomore campaign. After appearing sparingly as a freshman playing behind Kelsey Plum, Melgoza stormed onto the scene last year, earning All-Pac-12 honors after finishing second in the conference in scoring at 19.0 points per game. But she did her real damage in Pac-12 play, leading the conference with 20.6 ppg in Pac-12 games. She finished the season with 570 points–11th most in program history and just five points shy of the Top 10. In addition, Melgoza closed out the season with 120 points over her final four games including pouring in 40 against Stanford–the most by a Pac-12 player on the season–to become one of just three players in program history to score 40 or more points in a game (Kelsey Plum 6x, Giuliana Mendiola).
Melgoza on Ann Meyers Drysdale Watch List
Amber Melgoza was one of 20 players from across the country to be named to the 2019 Ann Meyers Drysdale Watch List as announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association on Oct. 23. The winner will be revealed on an ESPN platform during the 2019 Women's Final Four in Tampa, Florida.
Strength of Schedule
The Huskies once again are not shying away from playing tough teams in the 2018-19 season as UW plays a total of 12 games against seven teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25 or receiving votes. The Pac-12 conference is the main reason the Huskies' schedule is so tough as the conference boasts five teams in the AP top 25 including three in the top 10 (#3 Oregon, #7 Stanford, #8 Oregon State, #23 Arizona State and #24 California with UCLA receiving votes). Besides their Pac-12 foes, the Huskies are slated to face #4 Mississippi State and #21 Duke over the course of the season.
Last season, the Huskies played the 35th most difficult overall schedule among the 349 NCAA DI WBB programs with UW's opponents posting an overall winning percentage of .595. Eleven of the Huskies' 22 opponents in 2017-18 reached the NCAA Tournament with UW recording wins against two: Seattle U and Creighton.
Huskies in the Rankings
Washington finished the season ranked among the top teams in the conference in a number of categories. Key among them was turnovers forced where the Huskies' high-pressure defense led the Pac-12 by forcing 17.9 turnovers per game. Washington was fourth in the conference in turnover margin at +3.07.
The Huskies also finished second in the conference and 29th in the country in three-point field goals made per game with 8.5 and was also second in the Pac-12 in three-pointers made at 254.
Home Bodies
After spending a bulk of the 2017-18 pre-conference schedule on the road, the Huskies will spend the majority of the non-conference slate at home. Washington plays seven of its 12 non-conference games at home this year with one LONG road trip breaking up two home stands. The Huskies first road game comes in two weeks at Tulane followed by a tournament in Florida after Thanksgiving. Washington then returns to the Evergreen State for its closest possible road game, battling cross-town rival Seattle U on Nov. 30. The Huskies don't play another road game after that until heading to Oregon to open its Pac-12 road slate on Jan. 4.
One Bad Quarter
The story of the 2017-18 Washington season may have been "One Bad Quarter." The Huskies were plagued by one bad quarter in 10 of their 15 Pac-12 losses; a quarter which turned a close game into a big loss. In those bad quarters (which quarter differs in each game), UW was outscored by an average of 16.0 points. However, in the other three quarters of those games, the Huskies outscored their opponents by an average of 3.6 points.
Medical Retirements
Jody Wynn announced a pair of roster changes heading into the 2018-19 season, as Deja Strother and Natalie Romeo will be medically retired, ending their UW careers. Strother, a redshirt-junior center, suffered a leg injury prior to the start of the 2017-18 season. Despite rehabbing over the last season, she has not been able to return from the injury. Romeo, a senior guard, has battled an undisclosed medical issue which kept her off the court last season. She attempted to make a comeback this season, joining the team for summer workouts, but the condition kept her from returning.
Everybody Starts, Everybody Plays
During the previous season, all 10 of UW's active players at the beginning of the season made at least one start and each averaged at least 14 minutes per game. Jenna Moser was the lone Husky to start all 30 games with Amber Melgoza making 25 starts, Hannah Johnson starting 24 games and Mai-Loni Henson starting 23. Moser also lead the team in minutes played, averaging 30.9 mpg with Melgoza playing 27.5, Henson playing 26.5 and Johnson checking in at 24.3 minutes. The Huskies used 15 different lineup combinations in 30 games last season.
Moser's Incredible Journey Continues
Senior Jenna Moser announced last spring that she would return to the team for the 2018-19 season, using her fourth year of eligibility while pursuing a master's degree in Intercollegiate Athletic Administration. (She is in the same program as fellow senior Hannah Johnson.) Moser started as a practice player, not earning a roster spot until her second year at UW. Over the next two years she appeared in just 14 games, playing 30 total minutes and scoring four points. But last season, she was awarded a scholarship and has provided leadership to the young team both on and off the court, starting all 30 games and averaging 8.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 2.6 assists per game.
Huskies in USA Basketball
Five former UW 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 canceled 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 gold medals at the 2018 FIBA World Cup and 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.
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. 3, Dec. 10, Dec. 17, Jan. 2, Jan. 8, Jan. 14, Jan. 21, Jan. 28, Feb. 4, Feb. 11, Feb. 18, Feb. 25, March 4 and March 11. The show can be streamed online at gohuskies.com or by using the TuneIn Mobile App.
• Washington kicks off the 2018-19 season this week, hosting a pair of games beginning with a clash against Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 7:00 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena. The game will be live-streamed on GoHuskies.com. Fans can also listen to Gary Hill Jr. and Elise Woodward call the game on KKNW 1150 AM, the TuneIn App, or online at GoHuskies.com
• Washington returns seven of its 10 players from last year's squad including four players who started 23 or more games and 85% of its overall scoring. That includes senior Jenna Moser, who returns as a graduate student for the 2018-19 season.
• Junior Amber Melgoza–a 2017-18 All-Pac-12 pick–looks to build on a breakout sophomore season in which she had the second-highest scoring average in the Pac-12 at 19.0 ppg, finishing the year with 120 points over her final four games.
Scouting the Titans
Cal State Fullerton opened the 2018-19 season on Tuesday with a big 57-54 come-from-behind win over Seattle U. The Titans closed out the game on an 11-0 run to claim the three-point victory in their season-opener.
Fullerton is coming off a rough first season under new Head Coach Jeff Harada, posting an 8-21 overall record and a finished ninth in the Big West with a 3-13 record. Harada, who spent three seasons at Central Washington before heading to Fullerton, immediately helped improve the Titans' offense and helped them win eight games for the first time in three seasons.
Leading the Fullerton offense is senior center Deaja Smith, who was selected as one of 20 players on the 2019 Lisa Leslie Award watch list. The 6-3 redshirt senior was a second-team All-Big West pick last season and named to the preseason team this year. She opened the 2018-19 season with an impressive 18-point, 12-rebound double-double at Seattle U.
All-Time Series Record
Thursday's game will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Cal State Fullerton will be the fifth Big West school Washington has played against with the Huskies holding an 8-11 record in those games. Washington has played Long Beach State nine times with the Beach winning eight of nine. Washington has also played Big West teams Hawaii (4-3), UC Riverside (2-0) and CSUN (1-0).
Season Openers
Washington is 26-17 in season openers all-time and has won two of their last three. Last season, the Huskies lost 79-59 to Idaho State, but won the previous two, beating Eastern Washington 100-52 in 2016-17 and Santa Clara 100-55 the year before.
Home Openers
The Huskies have posted an impressive 33-11 overall record in home openers and have won three of their last four overall. Last season's 79-59 loss to Idaho State snapped a three-game winning streak in home openers as the Huskies are now 4-5 in such games since the start of the 2008-09 season.
Well That's A First
Thursday's game is the earliest home opener in program history and tied for the earliest season opener. The last time the Huskies opened the season on Nov. 8 was in 2013 when UW faced Saint Mary's. The previous year, the two opened the season in Seattle on Nov. 9, which had been the earliest home opener in program history.
Up Next
Washington has little time after its home-opener on Thursday, hosting Northern Arizona in a non-conference game on Sunday afternoon. The game will be the third all-time contest between the two schools with the Huskies prevailing in each of the previous two. The game will also serve as a homecoming for former Husky standout Loree Payne, who is in her third year as head coach of the Lumberjacks.
2017-18 Recap
Washington's first season under new head coach Jody Wynn proved to be a tough one with the Huskies' new coach inheriting a team with just five returning players and one who had started a college game. Despite the inexperience and the fact that no Husky on the active roster stood taller than 6-1, Washington proved to be a gritty, gutty team which gave many of its opponents as much as they could handle. The Huskies finished the 2017-18 season with a 7-23 overall record.
Magical Melgoza
Washington junior Amber Melgoza had an impressive sophomore campaign. After appearing sparingly as a freshman playing behind Kelsey Plum, Melgoza stormed onto the scene last year, earning All-Pac-12 honors after finishing second in the conference in scoring at 19.0 points per game. But she did her real damage in Pac-12 play, leading the conference with 20.6 ppg in Pac-12 games. She finished the season with 570 points–11th most in program history and just five points shy of the Top 10. In addition, Melgoza closed out the season with 120 points over her final four games including pouring in 40 against Stanford–the most by a Pac-12 player on the season–to become one of just three players in program history to score 40 or more points in a game (Kelsey Plum 6x, Giuliana Mendiola).
Melgoza on Ann Meyers Drysdale Watch List
Amber Melgoza was one of 20 players from across the country to be named to the 2019 Ann Meyers Drysdale Watch List as announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association on Oct. 23. The winner will be revealed on an ESPN platform during the 2019 Women's Final Four in Tampa, Florida.
Strength of Schedule
The Huskies once again are not shying away from playing tough teams in the 2018-19 season as UW plays a total of 12 games against seven teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25 or receiving votes. The Pac-12 conference is the main reason the Huskies' schedule is so tough as the conference boasts five teams in the AP top 25 including three in the top 10 (#3 Oregon, #7 Stanford, #8 Oregon State, #23 Arizona State and #24 California with UCLA receiving votes). Besides their Pac-12 foes, the Huskies are slated to face #4 Mississippi State and #21 Duke over the course of the season.
Last season, the Huskies played the 35th most difficult overall schedule among the 349 NCAA DI WBB programs with UW's opponents posting an overall winning percentage of .595. Eleven of the Huskies' 22 opponents in 2017-18 reached the NCAA Tournament with UW recording wins against two: Seattle U and Creighton.
Huskies in the Rankings
Washington finished the season ranked among the top teams in the conference in a number of categories. Key among them was turnovers forced where the Huskies' high-pressure defense led the Pac-12 by forcing 17.9 turnovers per game. Washington was fourth in the conference in turnover margin at +3.07.
The Huskies also finished second in the conference and 29th in the country in three-point field goals made per game with 8.5 and was also second in the Pac-12 in three-pointers made at 254.
Home Bodies
After spending a bulk of the 2017-18 pre-conference schedule on the road, the Huskies will spend the majority of the non-conference slate at home. Washington plays seven of its 12 non-conference games at home this year with one LONG road trip breaking up two home stands. The Huskies first road game comes in two weeks at Tulane followed by a tournament in Florida after Thanksgiving. Washington then returns to the Evergreen State for its closest possible road game, battling cross-town rival Seattle U on Nov. 30. The Huskies don't play another road game after that until heading to Oregon to open its Pac-12 road slate on Jan. 4.
One Bad Quarter
The story of the 2017-18 Washington season may have been "One Bad Quarter." The Huskies were plagued by one bad quarter in 10 of their 15 Pac-12 losses; a quarter which turned a close game into a big loss. In those bad quarters (which quarter differs in each game), UW was outscored by an average of 16.0 points. However, in the other three quarters of those games, the Huskies outscored their opponents by an average of 3.6 points.
Medical Retirements
Jody Wynn announced a pair of roster changes heading into the 2018-19 season, as Deja Strother and Natalie Romeo will be medically retired, ending their UW careers. Strother, a redshirt-junior center, suffered a leg injury prior to the start of the 2017-18 season. Despite rehabbing over the last season, she has not been able to return from the injury. Romeo, a senior guard, has battled an undisclosed medical issue which kept her off the court last season. She attempted to make a comeback this season, joining the team for summer workouts, but the condition kept her from returning.
Everybody Starts, Everybody Plays
During the previous season, all 10 of UW's active players at the beginning of the season made at least one start and each averaged at least 14 minutes per game. Jenna Moser was the lone Husky to start all 30 games with Amber Melgoza making 25 starts, Hannah Johnson starting 24 games and Mai-Loni Henson starting 23. Moser also lead the team in minutes played, averaging 30.9 mpg with Melgoza playing 27.5, Henson playing 26.5 and Johnson checking in at 24.3 minutes. The Huskies used 15 different lineup combinations in 30 games last season.
Moser's Incredible Journey Continues
Senior Jenna Moser announced last spring that she would return to the team for the 2018-19 season, using her fourth year of eligibility while pursuing a master's degree in Intercollegiate Athletic Administration. (She is in the same program as fellow senior Hannah Johnson.) Moser started as a practice player, not earning a roster spot until her second year at UW. Over the next two years she appeared in just 14 games, playing 30 total minutes and scoring four points. But last season, she was awarded a scholarship and has provided leadership to the young team both on and off the court, starting all 30 games and averaging 8.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 2.6 assists per game.
Huskies in USA Basketball
Five former UW 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 canceled 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 gold medals at the 2018 FIBA World Cup and 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.
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. 3, Dec. 10, Dec. 17, Jan. 2, Jan. 8, Jan. 14, Jan. 21, Jan. 28, Feb. 4, Feb. 11, Feb. 18, Feb. 25, March 4 and March 11. The show can be streamed online at gohuskies.com or by using the TuneIn Mobile App.
Players Mentioned
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