On March 3rd, the Washington Huskies won their first round Pac-12 tournament game against the Colorado Buffaloes, 68-54.
After tallying a very concerning seven (7) turnovers in the first quarter, the Dawgs improved their ball management considerably by finishing the game with 16 turnovers — less than their 21 turnovers in a prior home contest against Colorado; and their 22 turnovers in a prior road game versus the Buffaloes.
The Huskies offense was very efficient, as the Huskies shot 55% from three-point range and 53.8% from two-point range.
Alexis Griggby was a perfect 4-for-4 shooting overall, including 3-of-3 from three-point range.
Although Colorado shot 44.1% on two-point shots and 42.9% on three-pointers, the Huskies had multiple impressive defensive performances by individual Husky defenders.
One UW player, Quay Miller, held Colorado offensive players scoreless in her four individual defensive matchups — particularly, impressive because three of the possessions defended were against Colorado All-PAC-12 big Mya Hollingshed.
Clearly the defensive player of the game for the Huskies, Miller also added an incredible five (5) steals plus one block to her defensive statistics.
Including Miller, a total of five Huskies held Colorado offensive players below 40% shooting overall in individual defensive matchups.
Making a strong case for co-defensive player of the game, Alexis (Lexi) Griggsby individually defended seven (7) possessions and limited Colorado offensive players to 16.7% shooting — the lowest percentage by a Husky defender– and added four (4) steals.
Griggsby also guarded Colorado’s freshman sharpshooter Frida Forman and held her scoreless on three shot attempts.
Junior center Darcy Rees individually defended five (5) possessions and held Colorado players to 25% shooting from the field — the third most possessions defended and second lowest shooting percentage allowed by individual Washington defenders.
Tameiya Sadler also impacted the game defensively for the Huskies. Sadler defended three (3) individual possessions and held Colorado players to 33.3% shooting. Sadler also added 3 steals for the Dawgs.
Haley Van Dyke rounds out the notable defensive performances by individually defending seven (7) possessions and holding Colorado players to 37.5% shooting overall.
Finally, Khayla Rooks added one steal for the Dawgs.
The Washington Huskies face the UCLA Bruins in a second round contest on Thursday, March 4th (8pm).
