UW Ringing In The New Year On The Road
The Huskies (4-3, 1-3 Pac-12) return to action for the first time in 13 days with a New Year's Day contest at Colorado (3-4, 1-3) against the Buffaloes. UW has won the last three matchups against Colorado and 12 of the last 14.
The Huskies last scheduled game was supposed to be against Oregon State on Dec. 21, but COVID-19 concerns within the Beavers' program forced the indefinite postponement of the game.
Friday's game will not be televised and available only via stream. As usual, fans can listen locally to Gary Hill Jr. on the UW/IMG College Network on KKNW 1150 AM, on the TuneIn App, or GoHuskies.com.
Leading The Break...
• The Huskies' three losses have come against teams that are a combined 18-1 this season (Oregon 7-0, Stanford 7-0, Washington State 4-1).
• In what seemed like the longest year (Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2020) the Huskies were able to only get 25 games under their belts (8-17 record). Typically, they play 30-plus games over a year span. The last time they played fewer than 25 games in a yearlong span was when they played 23 games in 1980. For comparison, the Huskies played 40 games Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2016, the year they made their Final Four run.
• Darcy Rees equaled a career high with 20 points vs. Oregon. She joins Tameiya Sadler (twice) and Quay Miller (once) as the only Huskies with 20+ points in a games this season. The junior Australian also logged a career-high 32 minutes ... Miller is averaging 16 pts, 9.5 reb over the last two games ... Haley Van Dyke is nearing 100 career steals and needs one more to reach the century mark. She is also eight rebounds shy of reaching 300 for her career ... Khayla Rooks is also closing in on 100 --100 games played. She leads all current Huskies with 97 appearances in the Purple & Gold.
• The Ducks became the first team to outscore the Huskies in the fourth quarter this season on Dec. 19, but UW still has a 134-93 (+41) advantage in the final 10 minutes. Combined with the third quarter (119-107 advantage) UW has a +53 margin in the second half. Conversely, UW is -33 in the first half.
• The Huskies had only nine healthy bodies in each of their previous two games. Tameiya Sadler sat out her second-straight injured, while Alexis Whitfield has missed the last three contests. UW is without Missy Peterson (inj.), Grace Beasley (inj.) and T.T. Watkins (opt out) for the year, and have had Darcy Rees 2) and Alexis Griggsby (1) miss action at the beginning of this season.
Scouting the Buffaloes
Colorado was picked to finish 9th in the Pac-12 by the league coaches and 10th by the media. Colorado returns a wealth of experience from last season, but still remains young at the core. Senior Mya Hollingshed leads the team in both scoring (14.3 ppg) and rebounding (9.1 rpg). Sophomore Jaylyn Sherrod looks to carry over her Pac-12 All-Freshman Team success into year two. Freshman Frida Formann has also played her way into the starting rotation, cracking the starting five in the last three contests.
Colorado is 3-1 at home this season, their lone loss coming vs. No. 8 Arizona. The Buffs were 9-6 in Boulder in 2019-20 and head coach JR Payne is 43-27 all-time at home. Payne, in her fifth year at CU, is 2-5 against the Huskies.
All-Time Series vs Colorado
Washington holds a 15-10 edge in the all-time series between the two squads including a 6-4 advantage at Colorado. The Huskies have won three-straight in the series and 12 of the last 14 overall. The teams met just once in 2019-20 and the Huskies won that meeting, 61-52, on Feb. 7 at Alaska Airlines Arena behind a tenacious defensive effort. In the previous season, Washington swept the series, gutting out a tough 68-58 win at home, then using a strong defensive showing to beat the Buffs in Colorado 60-46. The Huskies' 46 points allowed was a low for the season, but not the lowest in the series history. When the teams met in Seattle on Jan. 5, 2012, the Huskies won a defensive-battle 49-36 over the Buffs. Colorado's last win in the series was Feb. 16, 2018 by 20 points in Boulder.
Last Game
Darcy Rees tied a career high with 20 points and Quay Miller recorded her second double-double of the season, but Washington could not withstand No. 7 Oregon's late offensive onslaught and smothering defense throughout the game and fell 74-49 at Alaska Airlines Arena on Saturday afternoon. Sydney Parrish scored 18 points, Nyara Sabally added 13 and seven rebounds, to help Oregon extend the nation's longest winning streak. The Huskies played without freshman standout point guard Tameiya Sadler for a second-consecutive game and kept the game close through three quarters. But 20 UW turnovers proved to be the difference as Oregon had a 34-8 margin in points off of miscues.
Up Next
The Huskies head to Salt Lake City to play Utah on Sunday, Jan. 3 with a 1:00 p.m. tip.