Huskies Ride Big First Half To 65-47 Win At San Diego

Sunday, December 15

San Diego, CA

2:00 PM

University of Washington

7-2

San Diego

5-5

Washington

San Diego

Photo by: Brian Morse / Washington Athletics

December 15, 2019 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

SAN DIEGO --- Amber Melgoza poured in 17 points while Missy Peterson added 14 as Washington cruised past San Diego 65-47 in a non-conference game Sunday afternoon at Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego.

The Huskies improve to 7-2 on the season while the Toreros fall to 5-5.

Washington looked solid on both sides of the court, but it was the defense that again looked impressive. The Huskies held San Diego to just 28.6% shooting in the game and forced 25 turnovers in the contest while recording 17 steals. Eight different Washington players recorded at least one steal with Melgoza ripping away a team-high five.

Melgoza was efficient in her 24 minutes of play, hitting 6-of-8 from the field including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc to finish with 17 points. She added three rebounds, fives steals and two assists. Peterson added 14 points, six rebounds and five assists while JaQuaya Miller added a season-best nine points and had two blocks.

After San Diego drained a three to open the scoring the Huskies went off, using a long 20-2 run to take a commanding early lead. Six different Washington players scored over the stretch which included a 16-0 run over a five-minute stretch midway through the period. The defense was stifling for the Huskies, who forced eight steals on eight USD turnovers and held the Toreros to just 23.5% shooting.

The Toreros again got the first bucket in the second quarter, but the Huskies responded with a 7-0 run to stretch the lead out to 32-11 at the 8:15 mark. The teams would go back and forth over the next six minutes before the Huskies pulled away with back-to-back three pointers by Melgoza and Khayla Rooks made it 43-21 at the half.

In the third quarter, the teams went back and forth through the first four minutes until a quick six-point run stretched the Husky lead to 26 at 53-27 with 3:14 left. The two teams would exchange points the rest of the way with Miller hitting a tough putback in the lane to give Washington a 57-31 lead after three.

With the game nearly in hand, the Huskies let off the gas a bit and San Diego opened the fourth on an 8-1 run to close within 19 with 5:01 left. But Peterson drained a deep three from straight away followed by a steal and layup to make stretch the lead back to 24 and all but seal the deal.

Washington returns home this week, closing out non-conference play with a pair of games at the Husky Classic. The Huskies face the University of San Francisco on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and take on Vanderbilt at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.