UW Begins Home Slate With South Dakota, Yale

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SEATTLE -- Washington opens the home schedule this week with a pair of non-conferene matchups. The Dawgs host South Dakota, an NCAA Tournament team from a year ago, on Thursday, Nov. 20, at 7 p.m. Sunday, legendary Husky coach Chris Gobrecht makes her return to Alaska Airlines Arena with her Yale Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on 1150 KKNW AM and available on webcast HERE.

Quick Hitters
• The Dawgs feel on the road in the opener, 90-80, to Oklahoma.
• Kelsey Plum set a Husky single-game school record with 45 points in the loss to Oklahoma.
• The Huskies return four starters (Jazmine Davis, Kelsey Plum, Talia Walton and Aminah Williams), while Chantel Osahor earned her first career start in the opener.
• The Dawgs welcome four incoming freshman in 2014-15; Hannah Johnson, Kelli Kingma, Khalia Lark, and Mackenzie Wieburg, along with redshirt freshman Brianna Ruiz who is returning from injury.
• Head Coach Mike Neighbors is entering his second season as head coach and has a 20-15 career record.
• Kelsey Plum was the Huskies leading scorer in 23 games last season. She now has five games of at least 30 points after her first-career game of 40+ in the opener.
• Both Jazmine Davis and Kelsey Plum earned First Team All-Conference honors in 2013-14.
• Kelsey Plum was the Pac-12 Freshman of the year in 2013-14 and was a gold medalist in the U.S.A. Basketball U-19 World Championships.
• Kelsey Plum named one of ESPN.com’s top 25 players for 2014-15, averaging 20.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists as a freshman.
• UW reached the quarterfinals of the 2013-14 WNIT (3rd straight trip to the WNIT’s), losing at UTEP.
• Washington was voted fifth in the preseason polls by both the Pac-12 coaches and Pac-12 media.
• Jazmine Davis was named to the five-player preseason All-Pac-12 Team as voted on by the Pac-12 media.
• Washington returns 91.2% of the teams rebounding returns from last year, led by 10.4 per game from Aminah Williams.

Scouting South Dakota
South Dakota is 1-1, playing two road games, including a 83-78 win over Drake 83-78 and falling to Kansas, 68-60. They will also play Portland State the night before coming to Seattle. Senior guard Raeshel Contreras leads the Coyotes in scoring averaging 20.5 points per game while junior center Margaret McCloud is averaging 11.0 rebounds. South Dakota is coming off a 19-14 record overall in the 2013-14 season with six returning players on their roster. The Coyotes won the Summit League Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament last year. They fell in the first round to Stanford, 81-62.

Scouting Yale
Yale is led by former Husky head coach Chris Gobrecht. Gobrecht is the all-time winningest coach at 243-89, leading the Huskies to nine NCAA Tournaments in her 11 years at UW. She won two Pac-10 titles, including the 1989-90 team that went 28-3 and advanced to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament. Yale fell in its season opener to St. John’s, 61-50.  The Bulldogs will play Holy Cross before heading to Seattle to take on the Huskies. Senior guard Sarah Halejian led the team with 15 points against St. John’s. In the 2013-24 season, the Bulldogs ended their season with a 13-15 record and finishing 7-7 in the Ivy League. Halejian was the leading scorer as a junior last year.

Previous Matchups
Washington is facing both South Dakota and Yale for the first time. The Dawgs do have connections with both teams, however. South Dakota assistant coach Tandem Mays was one of Husky head coach Mike Neighbors' first big recruits when he was an assistant coach at Tulsa. Mays played for Neighbors with the Golden Hurricane where she was a three-year starter and eventual team captain. Yale is coached by Chris Gobrecht who is considered a huge region for the success of women's basketball in Seattle.

Huskies Fall In Opener
Washington fell, 90-80, in the season opener at Oklahoma. The Dawgs fell behind early 11-0 and failed to ever fully come back, despite a couple runs. Trailing by as many as 18 in the second half, the Dawgs cut the lead to six in the final minute, but could get no closer. Kelsey Plum scored 45 points to lead Washington, while Talia Walton and Jazmine Davis had 12 each.

Pac-12 Player Of The Week
Husky guard Kelsey Plum was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for the first time after scoring 45 points in a 90-80 loss to Oklahoma. It was Plum's eighth all-time weekly honor from the Pac-12 after being named Freshman of the Week seven times last year.

Record Performance
Kelsey Plum scored 45 points at Oklahoma on November 14, 2014 to break the 11-year-old Husky single-game scoring record. Giuliana Mendiola scored 43 points against UCLA back in 2003 for the previous record. The 45 points also ranks tied for sixth all-time for a single game in Pac-12 history and was a facility record at Oklahoma's Lloyd Noble Center. Plum shot 15-27 from the floor, 3-7 from 3-point range and 12-12 from the foul line. She also had five assists, four rebounds, three steals, two blocks and committed only one turnover.

What To Look For
Washington has three-straight 20-win seasons and trips to the WNIT. This season, the Dawgs will be looking to take the next step to the NCAA Tournament. Washington returns four starters, including All-Pac-12 guards Jazmine Davis and Kelsey Plum, which should be one of the most dynamic backcourts in the nation. The Dawgs also return forwards Aminah Williams and Talia Walton, both two-year starters. The only loss to the starting lineup is do-everything guard Mercedes Wetmore. The Dawgs scheduled a difficult non-conference, including the opener at Oklahoma, followed by Florida State and Texas A&M later this winter. That combined with the always difficult Pac-12 season and the Dawgs feel they can build the resume to return to the NCAA Tournament.

2013-14 In Review
Washington was a bubble team down the stretch of the season after defeating then-No. 3 Stanford at home and upsetting then-No. 18 California on the road. The late season push was abruptly ended in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament when 11th-seeded Utah upset the Huskies. The loss secured Washington's fate to the WNIT where the Dawgs would advance to the quarterfinals and eventually fall at UTEP in a thrilling game that went to the final horn.

Backourt Duo
A main reason for optimism is the return of the nation's second-highest scoring backcourt from a year ago with Jazmine Davis and Kelsey Plum. Plum averaged 20.9 points per game on the way to setting UW and Pac-12 freshman scoring marks with 712 points on the season. She was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and was a Freshman All-American by several media outlets. Davis made it three-straight All-Pac-12 honors, averaging 18.8 points per game along her new running mate in the backcourt. Both guards return this season, although it will be without the third part of the three-guard offense Mercedes Wetmore. All three of Plum, Davis and Wetmore played nearly every minute of every game, meaning the Dawgs will need to replace the minutes and production of Wetmore.

Frontcourt Depth
Washington also returns both starting forwards, including leading rebounder Aminah Williams and third-leading scorer and top shot blocker Talia Walton. Williams again played well above her size, averaging 10.4 rebounds per game. Walton battled through injuries to average 11.1 points and 7.8 rebounds, while also blocking 47 shots. The Dawgs also welcome back depth in the front court as Chantel Osahor and Katie Collier both gained valuable experience as freshmen. Osahor is the Huskies top passing post, while Collier has now finally had a full offseason since illness and injury to reach her impact potential.

Newcomers
Washington welcomes four freshmen, while also seeing the return of Brianna Ruiz who redshirted her freshman season due to injury. Ruiz will play on the wing where she'll adding shooting and athleticsm. Also battling for minutes at that third guard spot will be true freshmen Kelli Kingma and Khalia Lark. Kingma is the younger sister of Kristi Kingma and provides some of long-distance shooting of her sister, but is considered a better athlete. Lark is a combo guard/forward that could also play right away. The other newcomers are post Hannah Johnson, a rebounder and worker, along with walk-on point guard Mackenzie Wieburg.