UW Still Too Talented Late Flurry Carries Huskies Past Gonzaga By 71-55 Margin

It’s not the same Washington women’s basketball team that had beaten Gonzaga in past seasons by an average of 28 points. And, despite being in the early stages of a rebuilding process, the Huskies still have some talent.

Washington used that talent to beat Gonzaga 71-55 at the Martin Centre on Wednesday night. Next to a six-point overtime loss to the Huskies in the 1991-92 season, the loss marked GU’s best performance against Washington. Gonzaga is winless in 11 games against UW.

The Bulldogs (1-4) had upset on their minds after leading for most of the first half before Washington tied the score at 37-37 at intermission.

Gonzaga had a 43-39 lead early in the second half, but before anyone in attendance could say “turnover, missed shot, beaten to loose balls and too many second-chance shots for Washington,” the Huskies went on a 32-12 run in the last 13 minutes. That put the game away.

“We went away from the things we did in the first half,” Gonzaga coach Kellee Barney said.

In the first half, Gonzaga turned the ball over just five times compared to 13 committed in the second.

In the first half, Gonzaga grabbed 11 offensive rebounds compared to four in the second.

In the first half, Gonzaga shot 13 for 32 from the floor compared to 6 for 20 in the second.

Gonzaga was led by Amy Jo Silva who finished with 14 points. But just four of those points came in the second half.

As for Washington (2-4), the Huskies are without the services of six players from last year’s 25-9 team that finished second in the Pac-10 and won two games in the NCAA Tournament before losing to Texas Tech.

Five of those players graduated and one is on a personal leave of absence. They have all been replaced by freshman.

And against Gonzaga, the Huskies played their sixth-straight game away from home. They opened the season with two games at the Wake Forest Tournament before playing nationally-ranked Colorado and Notre Dame at the Kona Classic at Honolulu, Hawaii.

Washington has been on the road for so long that in order to help the team fulfill academic requirements, each player is enrolled in the U-wire program which allows the athletes to access their coursework through the internet and work on papers via the university-supplied powerbook.

“The travel, taking the lumps against Top 25 teams - this is a part of becoming a good basketball team,” UW coach Chris Gobrecht said. “In the long run, I think we’ll be that much better for it.”

For the Huskies, Laura Savasta led Washington with 18 points.

Washington 71, Gonzaga 55

WASHINGTON (71)

Teel 0-3 0-0 0, Hills 1-7 0-0 2, Pelz 1-3 1-2 3, Hall 5-7 0-0 10, Niemela 3-6 0-0 7, Wuschnig 3-10 1-4 8, Savasta 6-15, 4-4 18, Kelly 2-7 0-0 4, Redd 5-7 0-0 13, Lynch 1-3 4-6 6, Hoffmann 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-70 10-16 71.

GONZAGA (55)

Herman 2-9 3-3 7, Andrews 0-8 2-3 2, Silva 6-9 2-2 14, Pauley 3-12 2-2 9, McCliment 3-6 1-2 7, Gere 1-3 0-2 2, Phillips 4-4 4-4 12, McCullough 0-1 0-0 0, Ledgerwood 0-0 1-2 1, Steward 0-0 1-2 1, Sherfey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-52 16-22 55.

3-Point goals-Washington 7-24 (Teel 0-1, Hills 0-3, Niemela 1-4, Wuschnig 1-2, Savasta 2-6, Kelly 0-4, Redd 3-4), Gonzaga 1-3 (Andrews 0-1, Pauley 1-2). Fouled out-Redd. Rebounds- Washington 44 (Wuschnig 10), Gonzaga 41 (Pauley 6). Assists- Washington 12 (Savasta 7), Gonzaga 6 (Herman 3). Total Fouls- Washington 22, Gonzaga 15.

, DataTimes