1. HUSKIES CONTINUE TO PICK UP THE PACE
It was encouraging to see the Huskies score in transition but also just play faster than they did against San Diego State, even in half-court offense.
Against BYU, the Huskies scored 77 total points ⬆️ which was an increase from Washington’s 61 points against SDSU.
Washington’s average points per possession (ppp) went up as well — 1.07 points per possession ⬆️ against BYU — versus the Huskies’ 0.70 ppp against San Diego State.
The Dawgs increased their pace against BYU, as measured by 106.2 points per 100 possessions (Top 20% among all Division One teams) ⬆️ — an increase from their 88.4 points per 100 possessions against SDSU.
The Huskies had 12 assists and 10 turnovers for a 1.20 Assists/Turnovers ratio ⬆️ — versus the Huskies 11 assists and 13 turnovers against SDSU for an A/T ratio of 0.85.
Against BYU, Washington had 26 defensive rebounds ⬆️ (which lead to fastbreak opportunities) which was an increase from their 23 defensive rebounds against San Diego State.
Overall, the Washington Huskies scored 22 points from their transition offense, while shooting 80%.
In transition, the Huskies made 75% of their shots from two-point range and 83.3% from three-point range; while BYU managed a total of 7 points from their transition offense on 3 of 9 shooting (33.3%).
Washington clearly dominated BYU in transition.
2. TAMEIYA IS GETTING BETTER ALREADY
In 29 minutes against BYU, Tameiya Sadler had 23 points on an extremely efficient 1.92 points per offensive possession; 7 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 assist versus 1 turnover for a respectable 1.0 Assist/Turnover ratio.
In 25 minutes against SDSU, Sadler had 12 points with an average of 0.80 points per possession; 3 rebounds, 0 steals, 2 assists versus 2 turnovers for a 1.0 Assist/Turnover ratio.
Furthermore, a closer look at the numbers shows Sadler’s offensive efficiency was incredible in both Washington’s transition and half-court offense.
In transition offense against BYU, Tameiya Sadler shot 66.6% overall (2 for 3), including 100% from three-point range ( 1 for 1) and 50% from two-point range (1 for 2); and Sadler assisted on 50% of the transition (fastbreak) possessions that took place when she was in the game.
Meanwhile, Sadler’s performance in the Washington’s half-court offense was also remarkable.
In half-court offense, Tameiya Sadler scored 12 points on 5 for 5 shooting overall (100%), i.e., a perfect 3 for 3 from two-point range and a perfect 2 for 2 from three-point range.
Sadler assisted on 40% of the half-court possessions when she was in the game.
Defensively, Tameiya Sadler defended 11 ball possessions during the game, nine shots were taken against her and BYU only made three shots against her (33.3%).
Overall, a nice progression from game one to game two in the young freshman’s career.
3. NEW QUAY IS HERE TO STAY
Quay Miller scored nine points against BYU — on 3 for 5 shooting overall — and had three rebounds.
Based on bare stats alone, a casual observer might think that Quay took a step back from her 19-points and 10-rebounds performance against San Diego State.
However, Miller’s contributions were much more than statistics showed against a much bigger test, literally and figuratively.
As we noted in our game preview,
BYU’s senior center,Sara Hamson, is a 6’7″ defensive force that the Huskies will have to reckon with.
Samson was the 2019-20 West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year; and she led the nation in blocks per game (4.7) and total blocked shots (137). And, as a team, BYU was ranked third nationally in blocked shots per game (6.7) and in total blocked shots (195).
Against the Huskies, BYU had one block overall, and Hamson had zero blocks and one rebound.
Furthermore, on defense Quay Miller spent a lot time defending the high post as BYU repeatedly moved Hamson up to the free throw line extended.
As a result, Quay expended a lot of energy covering the high post early in BYU’s offensive possession and then crashing down to the protect the baseline — a less athletic big would have struggled, but Quay had an objectively good job performance defensively.
In addition, Quay shot 100% from three-point range (1 for 1); and Miller shot 50% from two-point range (2 for 4). Quay displayed a high level of offensive efficiency by refraining from forcing many shots which is a sign of her growth and maturity as a sophomore.
4. WASHINGTON’S COMPLEX DEFENSE CONFUSED BYU
BYU had a woeful performance against the Huskies half-court defense, shooting 26.1% (12 of 46) overall. The Cougars only managed 27.3% from two-point range and 25% from three-point range.
The complexity of the Huskies defenders presenting a player-to-player defensive look while constantly moving to switch or help-and-recover for each other clearly confused even BYU’s experienced guards, literally from the beginning of the game. (see video above.)
The Huskies’ ability to play player-to-player defense with zone principles is a significant sign of progress for Head Coach Jody Wynn’s program — such defensive principles played a significant role in her prior success at Long Beach State.
Notably, this is the first season that Wynn has a roster made up entirely of players she recruited, so expect the complexity to increase and present a problem for UW’s future opponents.
5. BALANCED SCORING PRODUCED A SOLID OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCE
With junior big Darcy Rees still missing games due to injury, Washington relied on balanced scoring to overpower the BYU Cougars.
For the Huskies, nine players scored⬆️ which is an increase from six Huskies players scoring against San Diego State (SDSU).
Against BYU, the Dawgs had 12 team assists ⬆️ — an increase from Washington’s 11 team assists against SDSU.
UW shot a 48.1% shooting percentage overall⬆️ which was an increase from the Huskies 38% shooting overall against SDSU.
The Dawgs made 42.9% from 3-point range⬆️ — an increase from the 13% made threes against SDSU.
Washington made 54.2% from 2-point range⬆️ — and increase from 50% from three-point range against SDSU.
UW were 68.2% free throw shooting on 22 free throw attempts ⬆️ which was an increase over the six free throw attempts and 66.7% free throw shooting against SDSU.
The Huskies ability to spread their offensive production among several players bodes well for when “the unicorn” Darcy Rees, an offensive impact player from three-point range and in the paint, returns to the court.
Hopefully, there are more Washington offensive fireworks to come.
GO DAWGS!!
* All Stats powered by Synergy