UW nabbed a victory over the South Dakota State Jackrabbits in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament this morning.
The first quarter SDSU came out swinging and got UW on their heels. It was rough to watch UW make turnovers and not pay attention to the defense. After a timeout, UW started to gather their composure and slowly but surely clawed back into the game, tying the score at 15 just as the 1st quarter ended.
The second quarter UW went on a 21-4 run, led by Avery Howell. Howell played a lot
of minutes in the NCAA Tournament last year for USC and carried herself with confidence and led the Huskies to turn the game around. During the third quarter, Howell had 20 points off of 5 3 pointers, the first Huskie to do that since Kelsey Plum in 2017. She ended the game leading all scorers with 30 points. She also had 9 rebounds, just one short of another double double.
The third quarter the Huskies built their lead and never looked back, winning the game easily 72-54.
Sayvia Sellers somehow had 10 assists, WAY above her average. She also only had 2 TO, also very below her average. She only contributed 4 points, but contributed to the win in other ways.
Brynn McGaughy, true Freshman, went up against the Jackrabbits’ talented post player and held her own. She ended the game with 14 points and 4 rebounds. Ladine, Grabovskaia, Stines, and Coppinger all contributed points to the win as well.
Next up:
UW faces a very talented TCU team on Sunday. They picked up Hannah Hidalgo from Notre Dame in the off-season.
TCU just beat UC San Diego 86-40 and will be playing on their home court. UW has a challenge in front of them, but if they keep up this confidence, they do stand a chance to win.
