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The first five minutes of Washington's first-round matchup against South Dakota State were about as catastrophic as Tina Langley's squad has experienced this season.
Jackrabbits leading scorer Brooklyn Meyer started hot, with 7 points on 3-3 shooting. The Huskies couldn't make anything - at one point Washington was 1-of-13 from the field. Meyer blocked freshman Brynn McGaughy hard enough to send the former five-star recruit to the court, then Washington airballed two shots from outside.
But McGaughy got to work, getting to the line twice and making all four free throws to spark a Washington run. Meyer picked up her second foul with 1:53 remaining in the first quarter.
Then Avery Howell took over.
Howell, who made her name as a freshman for USC in last season's tournament, caught fire in the second half of the first quarter. By the time Emilee Fox hit a three to answer one of Howell's with 6:02 to go in the first half, Washington had ripped off a 21-4 run powered by 12 points from the sophomore.
Another 14-4 run to end the half immediately following that three from Fox extended Washington's lead to 14 by the time the buzzer sounded. Their 21-4 run relied on Howell's outside shooting, but this run attacked Meyer, who re-entered the game despite those 2 fouls. Apart from a Devin Coppinger layup, bigs Yulia Grabovskaia and Brynn McGaughy accounted for the entirety of the run as Washington got the ball into the paint repeatedly.
On the other end, South Dakota State tried to do the same, but the Jackrabbits struggled to get entry passes to Meyer, contributing to a first half total of 13 turnovers.
Howell once again took the game into her hands in the third quarter, pouring in 11 points with 3 more threes to match 11 from Meyer and give Washington another 4 points on their advantage. She added 7 more in the final frame for good measure as the lead held, finishing with a game-high 30 points with 7 threes. Howell also led the game with 9 total rebounds.
McGaughy had 14 points and 4 rebounds despite foul trouble in the second half to assist the Huskies as well. Sellers, Washington's leading scorer and a first-team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches, scored only 4 points on 5 shots but had 10 assists and 5 rebounds.
Meyer finished her college career with 29 points and 7 rebounds for South Dakota State, accounting for over half of the Jackrabbits' points. Fox had 14 points with 4 threes, but no other player had more than 6 for South Dakota State.
Langley shortened her rotation even further than she did in the Big Ten tournament, playing only 7 players more than 18 minutes. McGaughy got her 9th start of the season, all of which have come since February 5th, when the freshman replaced Grabovskaia in the starting lineup against Ohio State.
It's Langley's first NCAA Tournament win with the Huskies, and the first for the program overall since Kelsey Plum took Washington to the Sweet Sixteen in 2017.
Washington will play No. 3 seed TCU and highly-touted future WNBA Draft pick Olivia Miles, who had a triple-double on Friday against UC Davis, on either Sunday or Monday.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Avery Howell catches fire in UW's first NCAA win since Kelsey Plum
Continue reading...
Jackrabbits leading scorer Brooklyn Meyer started hot, with 7 points on 3-3 shooting. The Huskies couldn't make anything - at one point Washington was 1-of-13 from the field. Meyer blocked freshman Brynn McGaughy hard enough to send the former five-star recruit to the court, then Washington airballed two shots from outside.
But McGaughy got to work, getting to the line twice and making all four free throws to spark a Washington run. Meyer picked up her second foul with 1:53 remaining in the first quarter.
Then Avery Howell took over.
Howell, who made her name as a freshman for USC in last season's tournament, caught fire in the second half of the first quarter. By the time Emilee Fox hit a three to answer one of Howell's with 6:02 to go in the first half, Washington had ripped off a 21-4 run powered by 12 points from the sophomore.
Another 14-4 run to end the half immediately following that three from Fox extended Washington's lead to 14 by the time the buzzer sounded. Their 21-4 run relied on Howell's outside shooting, but this run attacked Meyer, who re-entered the game despite those 2 fouls. Apart from a Devin Coppinger layup, bigs Yulia Grabovskaia and Brynn McGaughy accounted for the entirety of the run as Washington got the ball into the paint repeatedly.
On the other end, South Dakota State tried to do the same, but the Jackrabbits struggled to get entry passes to Meyer, contributing to a first half total of 13 turnovers.
Howell once again took the game into her hands in the third quarter, pouring in 11 points with 3 more threes to match 11 from Meyer and give Washington another 4 points on their advantage. She added 7 more in the final frame for good measure as the lead held, finishing with a game-high 30 points with 7 threes. Howell also led the game with 9 total rebounds.
McGaughy had 14 points and 4 rebounds despite foul trouble in the second half to assist the Huskies as well. Sellers, Washington's leading scorer and a first-team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches, scored only 4 points on 5 shots but had 10 assists and 5 rebounds.
Meyer finished her college career with 29 points and 7 rebounds for South Dakota State, accounting for over half of the Jackrabbits' points. Fox had 14 points with 4 threes, but no other player had more than 6 for South Dakota State.
Langley shortened her rotation even further than she did in the Big Ten tournament, playing only 7 players more than 18 minutes. McGaughy got her 9th start of the season, all of which have come since February 5th, when the freshman replaced Grabovskaia in the starting lineup against Ohio State.
It's Langley's first NCAA Tournament win with the Huskies, and the first for the program overall since Kelsey Plum took Washington to the Sweet Sixteen in 2017.
Washington will play No. 3 seed TCU and highly-touted future WNBA Draft pick Olivia Miles, who had a triple-double on Friday against UC Davis, on either Sunday or Monday.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Avery Howell catches fire in UW's first NCAA win since Kelsey Plum
Continue reading...
