Van Dyke-Led Huskies Win War of Attrition Over Cal, 61-60

On Thursday, in a matchup of the bottom two programs in the PAC-12 standings, the Washington Huskies zoomed to a big lead, but then proceeded to play their worst half of the conference season.

Haley Van Dyke started the game blistering hot in the first half, shooting 75% from the three-point line (3 for 4); as well as, five for eight from the field overall for 13 first half points.

🔥 @haleyvandykee is 3-3 from 3⃣ and it's only the first quarter!

📺 Pac-12 Washington
📱 https://t.co/MOYVBLyqzF pic.twitter.com/Ta4ZZBixr8

— Washington Women’s Basketball (@UW_WBB) February 25, 2022

Fortunately, Washington’s 60% (6 of 10) three-point shooting in the first half gave the Huskies just enough of a winning edge, because, in the second half, Washington played their worst half of PAC-12 basketball this season.

At halftime, Washington led California 39 – 27.

In the second half, Washington shot 21.7% (5 for 23) with 10 turnovers.

2ND HALF SHOOTING CHART

Adding insult to injury, UW shot 0% from three-point range (0 for 4) in the third and fourth quarters.

The Huskies were outscored by CAL the rest of the game, as the Huskies clung desperately to their lead the rest of the way.

NO PRESS BREAK AT CALIFORNIA

California was down by 14 points to the Dawgs with 7:52 remaining in the third quarter.

The Bears began pressing the Huskies and Washington showed that they still do not have a press break after playing 21 games this season.

California forced five UW turnovers in the third quarter and another five Washington turnovers in the fourth.

Eventually, California tied the game with 40.4 seconds left to play, but committed two back-to-back fouls sending the Dawgs to the free throw line.

First, Missy Peterson missed two free throws but Haley Van Dyke made the play of the game by grabbing the offensive rebound and getting fouled.

Van Dyke made the second of two free throw attempts to give the Huskies the lead, 61-60, with just two seconds remaining.

The Bears botched their final offensive play and the Huskies held on for the victory.

Ultimately, California played worse than the Huskies.

NO BENCH AT CALIFORNIA

Coach Tina Langley returned to old habits by only playing six players 10 minutes or more for the Huskies:

Haley Van Dyke played 38 minutes and 18 seconds;

Lauren Schwartz played 36 minutes and 43 seconds;

Missy Peterson played 35 minutes and 01 seconds;

Nancy Mulkey played 32 minutes and 09 seconds;

Jayda Noble played 23 minutes and 34 seconds; and

Trinity Oliver played 18 minutes and 10 seconds.

Notably, Alexis Whitfield only played one minute.

DAWGS OF THE GAME

Haley Van Dyke finished with a team-leading 20 points and 11 rebounds, as well, as a clutch rebound and free throw to clinch the game in the final seconds.

Nancy Mulkey contributed 17 points, 7 rebounds, four blocks and four assists.

UP NEXT

The Washington Huskies (7-14, 2-11 PAC) stay on the road to face Stanford on February 26th at 12PM.