Huskies Close Out Home Schedule vs #8 UCLA Sunday

Washington (12-14, 4-11 Pac-12) plays its final home game of the 2019-20 season Sunday, hosting #8 UCLA (23-3, 12-3 Pac-12) at 12:00 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena. The game is being broadcast on the Pac-12 Network with Ann Schatz and Elise Woodward on the call. Fans can also listen to Gary Hill Jr. on the UW/IMG College Network on KKNW 1150 AM, on the TuneIn App, or GoHuskies.com.

LEADING THE BREAK…

Washington honors its three seniors on Sunday afternoon, celebrating the careers of GiGi Garcia, Mai-Loni Henson and Amber Melgoza. A special ceremony for the seniors will take place after Sunday's game.
Washington's defense continues to lead the Pac-12 and ranks 40th in the NCAA in turnovers forced at 19.12 per game and ranks second in the conference and 28th nationally in steals per game at 10.4 spg. The Huskies have a defensive rating of 83.1 according to HerHoopStats.com which ranks 53rd in the NCAA.
Senior Amber Melgoza became the 12th Husky to score 1,600 career points with her 25-point performance against USC on Friday. She currently has 1,621 points and sitting in 11th place on the UW All-Time Scoring List. Melgoza is just 55 points away from moving into the Top 10 on that list.
Melgoza ranks sixth in the Pac-12 in scoring (16.1 ppg) and fifth in scoring in Pac-12 games (18.3 ppg).
Sophomore Haley Van Dyke ranks second in the Pac-12 and 47th in the NCAA with 60 steals (2.3 spg). She also leads the Huskies with 5.5 rebounds per game and is second in scoring at 8.8 points per game.
Over her last five games, Van Dyke is shooting 56.3% from the field (18-of-32) including 15-of-18 (83.3%) on two-point field goals. She has made her last 11-straight two-point shots over a four-game stretch.
UW has the NCAA's 27th-toughest overall schedule with opponents holding a combined .611 winning pct.
Washington has played four overtime games this season–the most in a single season in program history.
Melgoza has hit 27 of her last 29 free throws but saw a career-best streak of 21-straight end Friday. She is shooting 86.5% (64-74) from the line in the Pac-12 play and 81.7% (89-of-109) overall.

Scouting the Bruins
UCLA locked itself into a first-round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament with its win at Washington State on Friday and still has an outside chance of winning the conference crown–though they would need some help. The Bruins have lost just three games all season–all in conference play–and nearly lost a fourth on Friday at WSU. The Cougars led through much of the game until the Bruins closed the game on a 13-1 run including scoring the final eight points to win 70-62.

UCLA ranks second in second in Pac-12 games, averaging 73.1 ppg and is first in both field goal attempts and free throw attempts. However, that scoring average drops to 69.5 ppg away from Pauley Pavilion. Rebounding has been the Bruins strong suit as they are averaging 41.5 rebounds per game including a conference-best 16.0 offensive boards per game.

Junior forward Michaela Onyenwere ranks second in the Pac-12 with 19.4 ppg, adding 7.9 rebounds per game. Senior guard Japreece Dean is adding 13.8 ppg while adding 5.3 assists. Freshman guard Charisma Osborne has been red-hot lately, scoring 54 points in her last two games including 32 points at Washington State on Friday. She is averaging 14.6 ppg on the year.

All-Time Series vs UCLA
UCLA took back the lead in the all-time series at 33-32 with a thrilling 85-80 overtime win in Los Angeles in January. The Huskies are 19-11 against the Bruins at Alaska Airlines Arena and have won four of the last six overall. However, this will be the first trip to Seattle for UCLA since the 2017-18 season due to the quirks of the Pac-12 schedule. When the teams met earlier this year, Washington jumped out to a big lead and led by 15 near the midway point of the second quarter. UCLA came roaring back and forced OT, opening the extra period on an 8-1 run to win.

Last Time Out
Amber Melgoza poured in 25 points to lead Washington to a big Pac-12 victory on Head Coach Jody Wynn's birthday as the Huskies beat USC 75-66 on Friday night. The birthday victory for Coach Wynn was especially sweet considering it came against her former high school coach and coaching mentor Mark Trakh—the first in four tries against him. Melgoza continued her solid play in Pac-12 games, scoring 25 on 10-of-19 shooting. Melgoza had a solid supporting cast through the game. Haley Van Dyke scored 13 points for the Huskies on 6-of-9 shooting while freshmen Ali Bamberger and Quay Miller each added 10.

Up Next
The Huskies close out the regular season next week with a trip to Oregon, facing Oregon State on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and Oregon on Sunday at Noon.

Melgoza Eclipses 1,600 Point Mark
Amber Melgoza scored 25 points against USC on Friday to become just the 12th player in UW history to score at least 1,600 career points. She now has 1,621 points which ranks her 11th on UW's all-time scoring list.
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 1,568 points from her sophomore year on, averaging 17.8 ppg over that stretch. (Melgoza didn't play much as a freshman, scoring just 53 total points in 25 games.)

Melgoza Red Hot in Conference
Amber Melgoza has once again caught fire in Pac-12 play, leading the team in scoring in 14 of the Huskies' 15 conference games. Melgoza is averaging 18.3 points per game in Pac-12 contests–fifth-best in the conference–and is connecting on 43.3% from the field and 86.5% from the free throw line. She also is adding a team-best 39 assists to go along with 64 rebounds. Last season, Melgoza averaged 17.4 ppg in Pac-12 play after scoring 20.6 ppg in conference play as a sophomore.

Van Dyke's Defensive Prowess
Sophomore Haley Van Dyke has been impressive through her second season in purple and gold, leading the team with 2.3 steals and 5.5 rebounds per game. Van Dyke ranks second in the Pac-12 and 47th in the NCAA in total steals (58) and is 61st nationally in steals per game (2.3).

Van Dyke played in all 32 games last year, but averaged just 4.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.7 steals per game. She already has scored 79 more points this season than last (137) and has over twice as many steals than she did all of last year (23).

The Shots are Falling
Washington has recorded its two best shooting performances of the Pac-12 season over its last two games, shooting 50% (26-of-52) at Arizona State last week and 49.2% (30-of-61) vs USC on Friday. The Huskies' previous best in conference play came at UCLA when they hit 48.3% (28-of-58) in the upset attempt.

Van Dyke's Offensive Resurgence
Haley Van Dyke has been shooting well over her last five games, but has been especially strong inside the arc. Van Dyke has connected on 56.3% of her shots over the last five games including going 15-of-18 (83.3%) on two-point tries. She has connected on her last 11 two-point field goal attempts going back four games including going 5-of-5 inside the arc vs USC on Friday.

Home Away From Home
The Huskies have had success away from home since the end of last year, winning nine of their last 15 outside of Seattle. This season, UW is 6-5 away from home (3-5 in true road games, 3-0 at neutral sites) with two of those five losses coming in overtime at UCLA and USC.

The Huskies closed out last year with an impressive run, winning at Colorado in their final road game, then winning two of three in the Pac-12 Tournament in Vegas. Prior to the Colorado game, UW had won just four games away from home over the last two years–a stretch of 29 games.

Close Games
Despite a 4-11 Pac-12 record, the Huskies have been in nearly every game. Eleven of the 15 games have been decided by fewer than 10 points with the Huskies holding a 4-7 mark in those games. In addition, three of those were decided in OT.

Working Overtime
After a long stretch which saw Washington play just two overtime games over a 5-1/2 year stretch including a run of 133-straight regulation contests, the Huskies have now played a program-record four overtime games this season. The worst part is that Washington is still looking for its first win in overtime and has now lost five-straight dating back to the 2017-18 season. On its last road trip, the Huskies played back-to-back OT games against the LA schools, marking just the second time UW played back-to-back overtime games.

Melgoza From The Line
Melgoza has upped her percentage from the free throw line this year to a career-best 81.7% (89-of-109), which ranks third in the conference among those averaging at least three FTs per game. In Pac-12 play, she has missed just 10 free throws, shooting 86.5% (61-of-70)–the third-highest pct among those with at least 50 free throw attempts.

Missing Darcy
The Huskies received a tough blow this week as sophomore center Darcy Rees suffered a foot injury which will keep her sidelined the rest of the season. Her replacements in the low post are a pair of talented freshmen in Ali Bamberger and Quay Miller. Against USC, the duo each had 10 points with Bamberger pulling down a career-high eight rebounds while Miller matched her career-best with six boards. The two freshmen helped the Huskies hold an impressive 39-21 edge on the glass against USC. Five of Bamberger's rebounds were offensive as the Huskies held a 14-5 advantage on the o-boards.

Melgoza vs Cal
Melgoza may be a bit disappointed to not see Cal on the schedule again this season. The senior scored 35 points against the Golden Bears on Sunday, to give her a total of 66 points in two games against Cal this season. Over the last three seasons which Melgoza has been a starter, she has averaged 26.3 ppg against Cal–her highest against any Pac-12 team by five points per game (vs Ore., 21.3 ppg).

Lucky #60!
The number 60 has been a key one for the Huskies this season, especially on defense. Washington is 9-1 when allowing 60 or fewer points to opponents this season and is 2-1 when doing so in Pac-12 games. The lone loss came against Stanford at home when the Huskies limited the high-scoring Cardinal to just 58 points but couldn't find the offense to pull off the upset. It was just the second time this season Stanford scored less than 60 points. The number has been relatively lucky when the offense scores 60 or more points, posting a 12-6 record in those games.

Feeling Defensive
Washington leads the Pac-12 and is among the top teams in the NCAA by forcing 19.12 turnovers per game. That's tops in the conference and 40th among 351 DI teams The Huskies are also second in the conference and 28th nationally in steals per game at 10.4 spg and 23rd overall with 271 steals.

Looking at analytics from HerHoopStats.com, the Huskies rank 53rd overall with an 83.1 defensive rating and have limited teams to just 85.0 points per 100 possessions: 59th-best overall. UW also has the 42nd-best turnover rate (22.5%), turning over teams more than once every five possessions.

Washington has forced at least 20 turnovers in 11 games this year and has at least 15 turnovers forced in 22 of 26. The Huskies have recorded double-digit steals in 16 games including 15 or more in three games.

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 was the second time in the first three games the Huskies forced 30+ turnovers after forcing 31 against Cal State Bakersfield to open the year.

Can I Assist You With That?
Washington has been moving the ball well on offense, recording 391 assists on 645 field goals this season, an assisted shot rate of 60.2%. According to HerHoopStats.com, that ranks as the 58th best rate in the NCAA and third-best in the Pac-12. Overall, UW ranks 59th in the NCAA with 15.0 assists per game and 46th with 391 total assists. Last season, the Huskies were 187th in assisted shot rate at 54.9%.

Washington has at least 20 assists in five games this year including recording 25 assists on 29 made field goals against San Francisco–the most in a game by the Huskies since recording 25 against Portland in 2017. This past week, Washington recorded 17 assists at UCLA, then followed it up with 19 at USC–its two highest totals in Pac-12 play.

Huskies Nearing 850 Program Victories
Washington's win over USC was the 848th win in program history. The Huskies are averaging 18.4 wins per year over 46 seasons. All-time Washington is 848-528, a .616 winning percentage.

Huskies in The National Rankings
Entering the weekend, Washington finds itself in the Top 60 in the NCAA in numerous categories through 25 games (updated through games 2/18/20):

               •             20th - Steals (264)
               •             26th - Steals Per Game (10.6)
               •             40th - Turnovers Forced (19.24/game)
               •             53rd - Assists (376)
               •             58th - Assists Per Game (15.0)

Block Party!
Thanks in large part to added height this season, the Huskies have recorded 90 blocks this season: an average of 3.5 per game. That is especially impressive considering UW had just 64 in 32 games last year. Darcy Rees recorded 35 total blocks before suffering a foot injury which will sideline her the rest of the year after recording 29 all of last year. Sophomore T.T. Watkins–a 5-11 guard–has added 11 blocks which is third-best on the team.

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, UW players have recorded three double-doubles this year after recording just two last year.

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 through March 16. It can also be heard at GoHuskies.com or via the TuneIn App, available in the App Stores.

Schedule

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Players Mentioned

Ali Bamberger

GiGi Garcia

Mai-Loni Henson

Amber Melgoza

Quay Miller

Darcy Rees

Haley Van Dyke

TT Watkins

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