Huskies Catch Fire In The Second Half To Storm Past EWU, 62-59
SEATTLE – Washington went on a 20-0 scoring run that spanned the third and fourth quarters to overcome a 13-point deficit and beat visiting Eastern Washington, 62-59, on Saturday in the first game of the Husky Classic at Alaska Airlines Arena.
Lauren Schwartz had a season and team-high 18 points and T.T. Watkins came of the bench to tie a career high with 12 points to lead the Huskies. Trinity Oliver chipped in with seven points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals in 19 minutes off the bench.
"I think we had really good growth during this game," Schwartz said after her team made 12 of their last 17 shots to close the game. "We executed really well and that's what we worked hard on it in practice."
The Huskies (4-3) trailed 22-19 at halftime and quickly fell behind by nine when Eastern Washington (2-6) hit back-to-back three-pointers to open the third quarter. The Eagles would build their lead to as much as 13 points, before the Huskies caught fire late in the quarter.
Schwartz buried a three-pointer with 2:26 remaining in the third quarter to cut the Eagles lead to nine and seemingly wake the Huskies' offense. After a three by EWU's Jaydia Martin, Watkins and Alexis Whitfield each scored five points to spur on a 10-0 run in the final 1:20 of the third to erase a 12-point deficit and make it 44-42 for EWU entering the final quarter.
The Huskies continued their run with the first 10 points of the fourth quarter to build an eight-point lead. But the Eagles would not go away, eventually drawing even, 54-54, with 1:38 remaining.
Whitfield hit a layup and Watkins a short jumper to give the Huskies a four-point lead with under a minute to go, but Jacinta Buckley buried a three-pointer for EWU to make it a one-point game with 49 seconds remaining.
Schwartz made a nifty reverse layup to give the Huskies a three-point lead and Oliver sealed the game with a steal and breakaway layup to give the Huskies an insurmountable five-point lead with 10 seconds remaining.
"I'm really proud of them," Langley said of her team. "It's one of the things we work tremendously on, how to have poise, how to make sure we get the right shot in the possession. I felt like everyone was very unselfish and had the confidence to take it when it was their time. I thought we did a nice job of sharing the basketball and stepping up and making big shots."
The Huskies wrap up the Husky Classic on Monday against Nevada with a 2:00 p.m. tip. Nevada and Eastern Washington play Sunday at 2:00 p.m. in game two of the tournament at Alaska Airlines Arena.