Huskies Roll In Pac-12 Opener, 80-53, Over Cal

BERKELEY, Calif. – Washington outscored Cal 30-13 in the fourth quarter spurred by 21 points from freshman sensation Tameiya Sadler and rolled to an 80-53 win over the Bears in the Pac-12 opener for both teams Friday night at Haas Pavilion.
 
The 27-point margin of victory was the largest in Pac-12 play during fourth-year coach Jody Wynn's tenure, but more importantly the blow-out win moved the Huskies to 3-0 in the young season, including 1-0 in Pac-12 play.
 
"It was fun," Wynn said after her Huskies led the entire final 33-minutes, 47-seconds of the game. "We dictated a lot of offense through our defense and that's what we're most proud of. I think we turned the ball over way too much in the first half and only had four turnovers in the second half. We put much more value on the basketball, and we were able to play out in transition through defensive rebounds and force some turnovers in the second half."
 
The Huskies forced the Bears into 27 turnovers that led to 32 UW points.
 
"Our goal is over 20 every game," Wynn said. "We weren't quite there last week, but we just did a really nice job of mixing things up defensively. I thought a lot of people got hands on different balls. It really got us going in transition."
 
Washington took a 38-29 advantage into the locker room, thanks to an outstanding effort from beyond the arc and Sadler's 11 first-half points. By intermission, the Huskies were 7 of 15 from three-point range and just 6 of 14 from inside the line. Five different Huskies buried bombs, led by two each from Darcy Rees and Callie Lind.
 
The Huskies struggled early in the second half to find a rhythm on the offensive end and Cal took advantage. The Bears went on a 6-0 run to cut the Huskies' lead to four points, 44-40, with 2:12 left in the third quarter.
 
But Sadler would spark a 14-0 run that ended the third quarter and extended into the fourth to put Cal away. Sadler sliced through the Bears' defense to score six-straight points at the glass and give the Huskies a 50-40 advantage heading into the final quarter.
 
"Tameiya did a fantastic job of playing downhill when we needed her to," Wynn said. "She's just so tough. She doesn't force anything.
 
"In high school you kind of had to beg her to shoot the ball."
 
So far, Sadler has been anything but timid in her college career. She tallied 17 points in her debut, 23 in the Huskies' second game and 21 in her first foray into Pac-12 action.
 
"We want her to be aggressive, we want her to play downhill," Wynn added. "I'm excited about her toughness and just not having any fear out there."
 
Sadler had plenty of help from her teammates as nine different Huskies scored. Junior Haley Van Dyke and senior Khayla Rooks chipped in 11 points. Nine of Van Dyke's points came in the second half as did three of her team-high eight rebounds. Rooks had another stat-stuffing game, grabbing six rebounds, dishing out a team-high tying five assists and picking up a blocked shot and steal to go along with her 11 points.
 
Lind added nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. Senior Alexis Griggsby was inserted into the starting lineup and scored eight points.
 
The Huskies will pack up their bags and hop on a flight to Las Vegas where No. 2 Stanford waits for them. The Cardinal will host the Huskies at UNLV's Thomas & Mack Arena on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.