Sunday, December 8
Seattle, WA
7:30 PM
University of Washington
vs
Hawai'i
Washington Hosts Hawaii Riding Five-Game Winning Streak
December 05, 2019 | Women's Basketball
Washington (6-1) returns home for a quick home game before heading back on the road, hosting Hawaii (4-4) on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 7:30 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena. The game will be available via live stream on GoHuskies.com. Fans can also listen to Gary Hill Jr. and Elise Woodward call the action on KKNW 1150 AM, on the TuneIn App and on GoHuskies.com.
LEADING THE BREAK…
Scouting the Rainbow Wahine
Hawaii enters the weekend riding high after an impressive 73-60 home victory over Texas in the final game of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown last week. Before facing Washington, Hawaii has a game in Corvallis against No. 5 Oregon State on Friday night. That will be just the Rainbow Wahine's third game off the island this season.
Redshirt-junior forward Amy Atwell leads the team with 10.4 points per game thus far, scoring at least 10 in each of Hawaii's four wins. She had a team-high 24 points in the Rainbow Wahine's win over Texas and has scored in double-figures in five of eight games so far. She is one of three Hawaii players averaging 10 points per game or better so far this season.
All-Time Series vs Hawaii
Washington leads the all-time series with Hawaii 4-3 and is a perfect 2-0 at home. The Rainbow Wahine has won three of four in Hawaii with the Huskies winning a neutral site game. The two teams have only played twice this century, splitting those two games. The last time they met was in Seattle in the first round of the 2014 WNIT when the Huskies rolled past Hawaii 67-50.
Up Next
The Huskies hit the road again next week, traveling to San Diego for a game against the Toreros on Dec. 15. Washington then returns home to wrap up non-conference play with in the Husky Classic on Dec. 20-21, facing San Francisco on Friday and Vanderbilt on Saturday.
Turnover Forcing Machine
Washington's pressure defense–which helped lead the team to a strong finish last year–has picked up right where it left of this season, forcing an impressive 169 turnovers through the first seven games this season. The Huskies lead the Pac-12 and rank 14th in the NCAA in turnovers forced at 23.71 per game.
The Huskies also rank 28th in the NCAA in turnover margin at +6.71 and have recorded the 18th-most steals per game at 12.4. Earlier this season, the Huskies forced 38 turnovers against Weber State, the most by a UW team since turning over Gonzaga 38 times in 1998. It is also the most by a Pac-12 team in nearly six years.
Van Dyke Opens Strong
Sophomore Haley Van Dyke has been impressive through the early part of the season, leading the team with 3.7 steals and 7.0 rebounds per game and second in scoring at 11.0 points per game. She currently ranks 10th in the NCAA in steals per game (3.7) and 12th in overall steals (26), leading the Pac-12 in both categories. She already has three more steals than she did over her entire freshman season.
Van Dyke recorded her first collegiate double-double against Seattle University with 14 points and 12 rebounds, adding three steals and two assists. She has missed two more double-doubles by one rebound in one game and one point in another. Van Dyke opened the season with a career-high 15 points, adding nine rebounds to lead the Huskies against CSUB. Two games later, she recorded seven steals vs Weber State, the most in a game since 2015. Last season, Van Dyke averaged 4.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per game as a freshman.
Put 'em in The 49er Club
Head Coach Jody Wynn has a defensive goal for each game: put the opponent in the "49er Club" by holding them to 49 points or less in a game. So far, the Huskies have done that four times this season including allowing just 34 points to Iona on Nov. 28. That was the fewest points allowed by the Huskies since holding San Jose State to 27 points in 2010.
Washington entered the season having put just two other teams in the 49er club: one in each of the past two seasons. Overall, Washington is holding opponents to 50.7 ppg game this year–the ninth-best scoring defense in the NCAA. The Huskies are also limiting opposing teams to the 16th-lowest shooting percentage at 32.2%.
Spread the Scoring Around
The Huskies have six different players averaging better than 7.0 points per game this year and eight players scoring 6.1 ppg or more. Up until Amber Melgoza led the team in scoring over the last two games, Washington had a different player lead the team in scoring in each game this year with Van Dyke, Peterson, Rees, Melgoza and Henson each leading the team in one game.
Huskies in The National Rankings
Washington finds itself in the Top 30 in the NCAA in a number of categories through seven games: 9th in scoring defense (50.7 ppg), 14th in turnovers forced (23.71/game) and assists per game (19.0), 16th in field goal percentage defense (32.2%) and in scoring margin (+24.1), 18th in steals per game (12.4), and 28th in turnover margin (+6.71).
Individually, Missy Peterson ranks 17th in the NCAA in assist to turnover ratio (3.25) with Haley Van Dyke ranking 10th in steals per game (3.71 spg) and 12th in total steals (26).
Melgoza Moving On Up
Senior Amber Melgoza moved up to 18th on the UW scoring list against Iowa and currently has 1,275 career points. She needs 35 points to reach Amber Hall for 17th.
Last year, Melgoza became the 28th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points with her first basket against Oregon on Jan. 27. She has amassed 1,149 points over the last two years, averaging 18.5 ppg over that stretch. (Melgoza didn't play much as a freshman, scoring just 53 total points in 25 games.)
Melgoza scored 579 points in 2018-19, the eighth-most points scored in a season in program history. She now has the 8th and 12th (2017-18) best single-season point totals in UW history. She has scored 30+ points in a game four times (third-most in program history) and also has 31 career 20+ point games. She had one of each to close out the season, scoring 21 in Washington's Pac-12 Tournament upset win over No. 11 Oregon State, then closed out the year with 32 points on 12-of-24 shooting against No. 5 Stanford.
Block Party!
Thanks in large part to added height this season, the Huskies have already recorded 30 blocks this season, an average of 4.3 per game. That ranks 60th in the NCAA at this point and especially solid considering UW had just 64 in total last year.
Double-Double Your Pleasure
The Huskies had a pair of players record a double-double against Seattle, something which hadn't been done in three seasons. Mai-Loni Henson picked up her third career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, adding two steals, a block and an assist. Haley Van Dyke recorded her first double-double with 14 points and a career-best 12 rebounds, adding three steals and two assists.
Overall, Washington players have recorded three double-doubles this year after recording just two all of last season.
Home, Non-Conference Success
Washington has had success in non-conference home games over the last few years, posting a 22-4 record in such games since the start of the 2016-17 season. Going back a bit further, the Huskies are 37-6 in non-conference home games since the 2013-14 season. UW was 5-2 in non-conference home contests last year and is 3-1 so far this year with three non-conference homes games left to go on the slate this season.
Huskies Add to Active Roster
Washington added a player to its active roster on Nov. 20, elevating Callie Lind from the practice squad. Lind, from nearby Sammamish, Wash., was the starting point guard on the Eastlake HS team which won the WIAA 4A State Championship last year. She averaged 10.0 points 4.0 assists and 2.6 steals on the season and scored 12 points with five rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks in the championship game. Lind made her Husky debut against Seattle U on Nov. 23.
Melgoza Again on Meyers-Drysdale Watch List
Senior guard Amber Melgoza has once again been named as one of 20 candidates on the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Preseason Watch List awarded annually to the best shooting guard in NCAA DI women's basketball. The winner of the 2020 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award will be presented at The College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy's in LA on Friday, April 10, 2020, along with the other four members of the Women's Starting Five.
Peterson Power
Junior Missy Peterson has opened the 2019-20 season shooting well from the field, connecting on 43.8% of her shots from the field including going 12-of-31 (38.7%) from three-point range. Peterson already ranks seventh in program history in three-point shooting at 37.6%.
Peterson suffered a pair of small fractures in her nose early in the year and had to wear a mask beginning in mid-December. Peterson has been struggling with injuries throughout her UW career: entering UW recovering from a lingering foot injury, suffering a season-ending knee injury midway through her freshman year and dealing with a broken nose through much of this season.
Huskies Nearing 850 Program Victories
Washington's win over Iowa was the 842nd win in program history with the Huskies averaging just over 18 wins per season over 46 seasons. All-time Washington is 842-515, a .620 winning percentage.
Rees Among Pac-12's Best Freshmen
Last season, Darcy Rees proved she is among the top post players in the best conference in the NCAA as a freshman. A surprising omission from the Pac-12 All-Freshmen team, Rees averaged 7.3 points and 4.1 rebounds in her first season at UW, but those numbers moved up to 9.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game over the final 20 games of the season–all against Pac-12 competition.
So far this year, Rees is averaging 8.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.1 assists per game. She has scored in double-figures in four games including posting a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double against Howard in Puerto Rico last week.
Radio Show
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. every Monday beginning December 9 through March 16. It can also be heard at GoHuskies.com or via the TuneIn App, available in the App Stores.
2018-19 Recap
After a bit of an up-and-down season, the Huskies really came together and made some noise at the end of last year. Washington finished the season with a 3-3 record, picking up their first Pac-12 road win, beating a nationally-ranked team for the first time in two years and making an impressive run through the Pac-12 Tournament to reach the semifinals for the second time in program history.
The key to the run was the defense. After starting the conference schedule by allowing 78.4 ppg in its first 14 Pac-12 games, UW allowed just 63.6 points over its last six games (all vs Pac-12 teams). The Huskies also took care of the ball, committing just five turnovers in the upset win over Oregon State in the Pac-12 Tournament Quarterfinals. Washington looks to ride that end-of-season momentum into the 2019-20 season.
LEADING THE BREAK…
- Washington has held four of its first seven opponents under 50 points and ranks ninth in the NCAA in scoring defense (50.7 ppg). The Huskies also are limiting opponents to just 32.2% shooting from the field, which ranks 16th-best in the NCAA.
- Washington ranks 14th in the NCAA in turnovers forced, turning teams over 23.7 times a game on average.
- UW has four players averaging 8.0 ppg or better led by Amber Melogza, who is averaging 12.2 ppg after scoring at least 20 points in her last two games in Puerto Rico.
- Sophomore Haley Van Dyke is second in scoring at 11.0 ppg and leads the team with 7.0 rebounds and 3.2 steals per game. Her steals per game numbers are the best in the Pac-12 and 20th-best in the NCAA.
- Washington ranks 34th in the NCAA with 4.4 blocked shots per game and 31 overall one year after recording a total of 64 over 32 games.
- Melgoza currently sits in 18th place on the UW all-time leading scorer's list with 1,275 career points. She needs just 55 points to pass Amber Hall for the 17th spot.
- Junior Missy Peterson ranks 17th nationally in Assist to Turnover Ratio (3.25) with 26 assists and 8 TOs.
- Washington is 22-4 in non-conference home games since 2016-17 and 37-6 since 2013-14.
Scouting the Rainbow Wahine
Hawaii enters the weekend riding high after an impressive 73-60 home victory over Texas in the final game of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown last week. Before facing Washington, Hawaii has a game in Corvallis against No. 5 Oregon State on Friday night. That will be just the Rainbow Wahine's third game off the island this season.
Redshirt-junior forward Amy Atwell leads the team with 10.4 points per game thus far, scoring at least 10 in each of Hawaii's four wins. She had a team-high 24 points in the Rainbow Wahine's win over Texas and has scored in double-figures in five of eight games so far. She is one of three Hawaii players averaging 10 points per game or better so far this season.
All-Time Series vs Hawaii
Washington leads the all-time series with Hawaii 4-3 and is a perfect 2-0 at home. The Rainbow Wahine has won three of four in Hawaii with the Huskies winning a neutral site game. The two teams have only played twice this century, splitting those two games. The last time they met was in Seattle in the first round of the 2014 WNIT when the Huskies rolled past Hawaii 67-50.
Up Next
The Huskies hit the road again next week, traveling to San Diego for a game against the Toreros on Dec. 15. Washington then returns home to wrap up non-conference play with in the Husky Classic on Dec. 20-21, facing San Francisco on Friday and Vanderbilt on Saturday.
Turnover Forcing Machine
Washington's pressure defense–which helped lead the team to a strong finish last year–has picked up right where it left of this season, forcing an impressive 169 turnovers through the first seven games this season. The Huskies lead the Pac-12 and rank 14th in the NCAA in turnovers forced at 23.71 per game.
The Huskies also rank 28th in the NCAA in turnover margin at +6.71 and have recorded the 18th-most steals per game at 12.4. Earlier this season, the Huskies forced 38 turnovers against Weber State, the most by a UW team since turning over Gonzaga 38 times in 1998. It is also the most by a Pac-12 team in nearly six years.
Van Dyke Opens Strong
Sophomore Haley Van Dyke has been impressive through the early part of the season, leading the team with 3.7 steals and 7.0 rebounds per game and second in scoring at 11.0 points per game. She currently ranks 10th in the NCAA in steals per game (3.7) and 12th in overall steals (26), leading the Pac-12 in both categories. She already has three more steals than she did over her entire freshman season.
Van Dyke recorded her first collegiate double-double against Seattle University with 14 points and 12 rebounds, adding three steals and two assists. She has missed two more double-doubles by one rebound in one game and one point in another. Van Dyke opened the season with a career-high 15 points, adding nine rebounds to lead the Huskies against CSUB. Two games later, she recorded seven steals vs Weber State, the most in a game since 2015. Last season, Van Dyke averaged 4.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per game as a freshman.
Put 'em in The 49er Club
Head Coach Jody Wynn has a defensive goal for each game: put the opponent in the "49er Club" by holding them to 49 points or less in a game. So far, the Huskies have done that four times this season including allowing just 34 points to Iona on Nov. 28. That was the fewest points allowed by the Huskies since holding San Jose State to 27 points in 2010.
Washington entered the season having put just two other teams in the 49er club: one in each of the past two seasons. Overall, Washington is holding opponents to 50.7 ppg game this year–the ninth-best scoring defense in the NCAA. The Huskies are also limiting opposing teams to the 16th-lowest shooting percentage at 32.2%.
Spread the Scoring Around
The Huskies have six different players averaging better than 7.0 points per game this year and eight players scoring 6.1 ppg or more. Up until Amber Melgoza led the team in scoring over the last two games, Washington had a different player lead the team in scoring in each game this year with Van Dyke, Peterson, Rees, Melgoza and Henson each leading the team in one game.
Huskies in The National Rankings
Washington finds itself in the Top 30 in the NCAA in a number of categories through seven games: 9th in scoring defense (50.7 ppg), 14th in turnovers forced (23.71/game) and assists per game (19.0), 16th in field goal percentage defense (32.2%) and in scoring margin (+24.1), 18th in steals per game (12.4), and 28th in turnover margin (+6.71).
Individually, Missy Peterson ranks 17th in the NCAA in assist to turnover ratio (3.25) with Haley Van Dyke ranking 10th in steals per game (3.71 spg) and 12th in total steals (26).
Melgoza Moving On Up
Senior Amber Melgoza moved up to 18th on the UW scoring list against Iowa and currently has 1,275 career points. She needs 35 points to reach Amber Hall for 17th.
Last year, Melgoza became the 28th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points with her first basket against Oregon on Jan. 27. She has amassed 1,149 points over the last two years, averaging 18.5 ppg over that stretch. (Melgoza didn't play much as a freshman, scoring just 53 total points in 25 games.)
Melgoza scored 579 points in 2018-19, the eighth-most points scored in a season in program history. She now has the 8th and 12th (2017-18) best single-season point totals in UW history. She has scored 30+ points in a game four times (third-most in program history) and also has 31 career 20+ point games. She had one of each to close out the season, scoring 21 in Washington's Pac-12 Tournament upset win over No. 11 Oregon State, then closed out the year with 32 points on 12-of-24 shooting against No. 5 Stanford.
Block Party!
Thanks in large part to added height this season, the Huskies have already recorded 30 blocks this season, an average of 4.3 per game. That ranks 60th in the NCAA at this point and especially solid considering UW had just 64 in total last year.
Double-Double Your Pleasure
The Huskies had a pair of players record a double-double against Seattle, something which hadn't been done in three seasons. Mai-Loni Henson picked up her third career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, adding two steals, a block and an assist. Haley Van Dyke recorded her first double-double with 14 points and a career-best 12 rebounds, adding three steals and two assists.
Overall, Washington players have recorded three double-doubles this year after recording just two all of last season.
Home, Non-Conference Success
Washington has had success in non-conference home games over the last few years, posting a 22-4 record in such games since the start of the 2016-17 season. Going back a bit further, the Huskies are 37-6 in non-conference home games since the 2013-14 season. UW was 5-2 in non-conference home contests last year and is 3-1 so far this year with three non-conference homes games left to go on the slate this season.
Huskies Add to Active Roster
Washington added a player to its active roster on Nov. 20, elevating Callie Lind from the practice squad. Lind, from nearby Sammamish, Wash., was the starting point guard on the Eastlake HS team which won the WIAA 4A State Championship last year. She averaged 10.0 points 4.0 assists and 2.6 steals on the season and scored 12 points with five rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks in the championship game. Lind made her Husky debut against Seattle U on Nov. 23.
Melgoza Again on Meyers-Drysdale Watch List
Senior guard Amber Melgoza has once again been named as one of 20 candidates on the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Preseason Watch List awarded annually to the best shooting guard in NCAA DI women's basketball. The winner of the 2020 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award will be presented at The College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy's in LA on Friday, April 10, 2020, along with the other four members of the Women's Starting Five.
Peterson Power
Junior Missy Peterson has opened the 2019-20 season shooting well from the field, connecting on 43.8% of her shots from the field including going 12-of-31 (38.7%) from three-point range. Peterson already ranks seventh in program history in three-point shooting at 37.6%.
Peterson suffered a pair of small fractures in her nose early in the year and had to wear a mask beginning in mid-December. Peterson has been struggling with injuries throughout her UW career: entering UW recovering from a lingering foot injury, suffering a season-ending knee injury midway through her freshman year and dealing with a broken nose through much of this season.
Huskies Nearing 850 Program Victories
Washington's win over Iowa was the 842nd win in program history with the Huskies averaging just over 18 wins per season over 46 seasons. All-time Washington is 842-515, a .620 winning percentage.
Rees Among Pac-12's Best Freshmen
Last season, Darcy Rees proved she is among the top post players in the best conference in the NCAA as a freshman. A surprising omission from the Pac-12 All-Freshmen team, Rees averaged 7.3 points and 4.1 rebounds in her first season at UW, but those numbers moved up to 9.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game over the final 20 games of the season–all against Pac-12 competition.
So far this year, Rees is averaging 8.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.1 assists per game. She has scored in double-figures in four games including posting a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double against Howard in Puerto Rico last week.
Radio Show
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. every Monday beginning December 9 through March 16. It can also be heard at GoHuskies.com or via the TuneIn App, available in the App Stores.
2018-19 Recap
After a bit of an up-and-down season, the Huskies really came together and made some noise at the end of last year. Washington finished the season with a 3-3 record, picking up their first Pac-12 road win, beating a nationally-ranked team for the first time in two years and making an impressive run through the Pac-12 Tournament to reach the semifinals for the second time in program history.
The key to the run was the defense. After starting the conference schedule by allowing 78.4 ppg in its first 14 Pac-12 games, UW allowed just 63.6 points over its last six games (all vs Pac-12 teams). The Huskies also took care of the ball, committing just five turnovers in the upset win over Oregon State in the Pac-12 Tournament Quarterfinals. Washington looks to ride that end-of-season momentum into the 2019-20 season.
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