Huskies Bunch Of Young Pups But Gobrecht Likes Potential, Personality Of The Newcomers

Ten winning seasons. Nine NCAA Tournaments. Eight 20-plus-win seasons.

In Chris Gobrecht’s first 10 seasons as coach of the University of Washington women’s basketball team, the Huskies won 75 percent (227-76) of their games.

Her 11th season has started out differently.

“It’s a real young team,” Gobrecht said.

Minus their all-time scoring leader, Rhonda Smith, the Huskies lost both their games in the Wake Forest Tournament last weekend. They lost to Northwestern 84-74 and Wake Forest 68-57, only the second time in Gobrecht’s tenure one of her teams lost its first two games of a season.

Washington will play the U.S. National Team at Hec Edmundson Pavilion tonight before flying to Hawaii for a tournament.

Gobrecht, 40, started freshman Jamie Redd in last weekend’s tournament in Winston-Salem, N.C., and gave considerable minutes to three other freshmen: Amber Hall, 6-foot-2 Malinda Lynch and Molly Hills.

The Huskies may struggle early in the season, but Gobrecht is confident they’re going to get better as her strong recruiting class gets some experience.

“I like what I believe they’re capable of being,” she said. “I like what their personality is, what their makeup is. They’re a real serious, a real focused group. They’ll get some lessons early on, but they’re going to be quick studies.”

How much better can they get?

“I have no idea,” Gobrecht said. “I have to see this team get out there and react in certain situations before I can tell you that.”

Led by the 6-3 Smith, who averaged 18.4 points for the second season in a row, Washington went 25-9 and advanced to the NCAA Regionals with wins over Ohio and Arkansas last season. The Huskies’ season ended with a tournament loss against Texas Tech, a team they had beaten earlier in the season.

This season’s Washington team will rely heavily on the scoring of Redd, a highly recruited 5-9 guard from San Francisco, and another guard, 5-7 junior Laure Savasta, from France.

However, 5-8 senior Shannon Kelly is expected to replace Redd at point guard. Kelly did not start during the weekend, but played some after sustaining a shoulder injury in practice.

Washington’s backcourt has to score in order for the Huskies to win in the Pac-10.

Their front line of 6-1 senior forward Melissa Wuschnig, 6-foot senior forward Heidi Hoffmann and 6-1 sophomore center Gene Pelz will be hard pressed to replace Smith’s lost scoring punch.

During the weekend, Redd scored 28 points against Northwestern and 14 against Wake Forest. She was dazzling with an assortment of offensive moves and she’s only going to get better, Gobrecht said.

Redd may turn out to be the most physically gifted player ever recruited by Gobrecht.

“She represents a completely different dimension for this team,” Gobrecht said. “Between her and Laure Savasta, those are two of the better guards you’re going to find in the Pac-10, that’s for sure.”

Along with Smith, Washington lost point guard Katia Foucade, a starter for three seasons.

“Everybody else in the league has everybody returning,” Gobrecht said. “If you were to rank us on who’s returning, we’d be No. 10.”