Huskies Drop Pac-12 Opener to Washington State, 79-76

Sunday, December 30

Seattle, WA

2:00 PM

University of Washington

7-6, 0-1Pac-12

Washington State

6-6, 1-0Pac-12

Washington State

Washington

December 30, 2018 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

SEATTLE – Washington rallied from a 16-point, first-half deficit and pulled within one late in the game, but a three-point attempt to tie the game in the final seconds rattled off as the Huskies lost their Pac-12 opener 79-76 on Sunday afternoon at Alaska Airlines Arena.

The Huskies suffer their third-straight loss, falling to 7-6 on the season and to 0-1 in the conference while the Cougars improve to 6-6. The game was the first of two between the two in-state rivals in the Boeing Apple Cup series.

Amber Melgoza rebounded from a tough night against Mississippi State with a 27-point performance while freshman Darcy Rees had the best game of her young UW career with 15 points and eight rebounds. Jenna Moser added 15 points for the Huskies on her 23rd birthday.

Borislava Hristova scored a career-high 38 points on 16-of-24 shooting to lead Washington State, which shot 50 percent in the game overall.

The Cougars owned much of the first half, using a 12-2 run to take a 16-point lead at 41-25 with 2:49 to go before the half. The Huskies responded with a long 14-2 run of their won to pull back within four and closed to within one early in the fourth quarter. The Cougars answered every UW bucket and held a six-point edge with 36 seconds left. Melgoza hit a pair of jumpers after that while the Cougars hit just 1-of-4 from the free throw line and the Huskies had a shot to tie the game with under nine seconds left. But Melgoza's three-point attempt in the closing seconds rattled off.

The Huskies would score on 9-of-12 shot attempts down the stretch but struggled to stop a hot-shooting Cougars' side which hit 8-of-11 over the same stretch. UW would score a season-best 27 points in the fourth quarter, shooting 58.8% from the floor over the final 10 minutes. However, they gave up 27 to Washington State in the frame--one shy of the high for a quarter set in the Huskies' last game vs Mississippi State.

Washington held a 41-38 edge on the glass including a 17-10 on the offensive glass and forced 16 turnovers by the Cougars. The defense was especially solid in the third quarter when the Huskies outscored WSU 18-11 to pull back into the game.

Neither team was able to find the basket early in the contest as the first points of the game weren't scored until a Jenna Moser 3-pointer got the Huskies on the board at the 7:03 mark. After a stop, Amber Melgoza made a circus shot on the next possession to make it 5-0 early on. Washington State answered with back-to-back buckets, but Moser drained another three to make it 8-5 at the 5:36 mark. The Cougars answered back with a quick 7-0 run to take a 12-8 lead as the teams went to the media timeout with 3:01 left. Melgoza hit a pair of free throws coming out of the timeout, but the Cougars would outscore the Huskies 8-4 the rest of the way and held an 18-14 lead through 10 minutes.

Washington State opened the second half on a 9-2 run to take a 27-18 lead at the 7:42 mark but the Huskies closed back to within six on a jumper by Johnson in the paint. The Cougars would break away with a long 12-2 run over a four-minute stretch to and took a 41-25 lead on a three-pointer at the 2:49 mark. The Huskies would get a pair of free throws from Moser followed by two buckets from Rees, using a 6-0 run to pull it back to a 41-31 game at halftime.

Melgoza kept the Huskies' run going to start the second half as the Huskies cut the lead to eight at 41-33 just under one minute in. The Cougars hit a jumper to end the run, but Washington rattled off six-straight, making it a four-point game at 43-39 on a cutting layup by Haley Van Dyke with 6:28 to go. But Washington State responded with four quick points to make it 47-39 at the midway point of the quarter. Out of the media timeout, Rooks knocked down a three-pointer make it a five-point game, then after a steal on the other end, Melgoza hit a pullup jumper to make it 47-44 at the 3:14 mark.

Still down four with under two minutes left, the Husky defense forced a turnover and Melgoza hit a pull-up jumper in transition to make it 49-47 with 1:53. On the next possession, the Huskies got a double blow as Melgoza had her leg rolled up on and WSU hit a three-pointer on an offensive rebound off two missed free throws. But Washington would get a layup from Peterson and trailed by just three at 52-49 after three periods.

The Cougars opened the fourth quarter with an old fashioned three-point play. But Melgoza responded immediately with a three-pointer of her own, then hit a pair of free throws a minute later to cut the WSU lead to one at 55-54 with 7:30 to go. But the Cougars would again answer back, using a quick 8-0 run to take a 63-54 lead at the 5:51 mark. Rees helped the Huskies convert a four-point possession, hitting the bucket and getting fouled, missing the free throw but getting the rebound and scoring.

After the media timeout, Rees would again come through with a three-point play to make it a four-point game with 4:47 left. The teams would exchange three-pointers but after a defensive stop, Peterson hit a running bank in transition to make it 68-66 with 3:26 left. Again, the Cougars had the answer, hitting a deep three-pointer to stretch the lead back to five.

The teams went back and forth with the Cougars holding a 73-30 lead with 1:30 to go when Peterson pulled down a tough rebound and was fouled on the layup attempt with 1:15 left. She would convert both free throws to make it a one-point game but the Cougars would hit a three-pointer with 52 seconds left, then got a rebound off a missed shot by the Huskies on the other end. Washington State would hit both free throws with 36.9 seconds left to make it a six-point game. Melgoza hit a jumper with 27.3 left, then after a pair of missed free throws by the Cougars, she converted a tough runner, but missed the and-one free throw to make it 78-76 with 10.7 left. On the other end, Hristova would convert one of two free throws giving the Huskies one final chance. However, Melgoza's contested three-pointer missed the mark and WSU secured the rebound.

Washington returns to action on Friday, hitting the road for the first time since November, traveling to face #3 Oregon at 6:00 p.m. in Eugene.