5 Takeaways from Hot Huskies Rout, 80-53, of Too Cold Bears

1. Huskies Showed Focus and Maturity In Predictable Blowout

As we noted in our game preview, UW’s matchup with California “is one of those trap games that seems like a predictable blowout by the Huskies. However, it will still require effort and hard work to win.”

The Huskies did not take the bait of expecting an easy win against a California team that was winless in non-conference and missing two projected starting guards (sophomore guard Jazlen Green and freshman guard Alma Elsnitz – both out for season due to injury).

The Huskies played hungry and with intensity that eventually wore California down on offense and defense.

Washington earned their 80 -56 blowout, it was not handed to them by California.

 2. High Scoring Huskies is a Trend

The Huskies’ offense keeps trending upward, which is welcome news for a program that has been offensively challenged in the past.

The Dawgs are athletic and interchangeable enough that multiple players can push the ball up the court for a fastbreak and/or run and fill the lanes.

Entering the matchup with California, Washington was averaging 69 points per game.

After routing CAL, the Huskies are now averaging 72.7 points per game.

This places Washington in the Top 35% of all Division One offenses.

3. Transition Offense Plus Transition Defense is a Winning Combo

California attempted to run with the Dawgs and managed to score 17 points from their fastbreak offense.

However, the Huskies scored 30 points on 63.6% shooting overall from their fastbreak offense.

Washington’s efficient transition offense is evidenced by the high shooting percentage of multiple Huskies with fastbreak opportunities, as follows:

Khayla Rooks (100% shooting overall); Tameiya Sadler (75% shooting overall); Haley Van Dyke (66.6%); Quay Miller (50%); and Lexi Griggsby (50%).

(The only other Husky to score in transition was Alexis Whitfield with a 33.3% shooting percentage in transition.)

In our game preview we noted that:

The Huskies’ defense is allowing 1.086 points per transition possession which ranks in the Bottom 18% of all Division One teams. A possibly more alarming fact is that the Huskies are allowing opponents’ transition offenses to shoot 52% overall.

Against California, the Huskies’ transition defense held the Bears to 0.62 points per possession — a dramatic reduction in average points allowed.

The Huskies shutdown California’s transition game when it counted, while continuing to run and score in transition themselves — not an easy feat.

 4. Huskies Rebound Like They Mean It

We were concerned that the taller California team could cause a problem on the boards, if the Huskies didn’t limit their offensive rebounds and second chance points.

California managed to pull down 9 offensive rebounds against the Huskies but Washington pulled down 18 defensive rebounds — doubling CAL’s efforts.

This significantly neutralized California’s height advantage and ability to stay in the game over the long haul.

 5. Sadler Still Scratching Surface of What She Can Do

Tameiya Sadler jetting coast-to-coast for a layup is a potent weapon that Huskies fans should get used to seeing from her.

Against California, Sadler scored 12 fastbreak points on 6 of 8 shooting (75%), all of which were scored in the lane within 5 feet or less from the basket.In high school, Sadler literally was a one-woman fastbreak, so it is good to see her re-introducing that aspect of her game against California.

Sadler’s ability to weave through an opponent’s transition defense for an easy score is a special talent that will put immense pressure on Huskies’ opponents.

If all these improvements continue to trend upward, it should be a heated matchup when the Huskies face the #2 ranked Stanford Cardinal on Sunday, December 6th.

GO DAWGS!!