The Washington Huskies played down to the level of their competition but pulled out a 62 – 60 victory over UC-Irvine in a double overtime thriller.
The UC-Irvine Anteaters succeeded in slowing the pace of the game down — primarily with a 3/4 court press that the Dawgs struggled with all night.
The Huskies played a very sloppy game, as UC-Irvine forced 28 UW turnovers.
Fortunately, the Dawgs’ defense only allowed UCI to score 16 points off of UW’s turnovers.
Even more fortunate, Dalayah Daniels came to play and put the Huskies on her back to lead them to victory (and avoid an ignominious upset).
Simply put, Dalayah Daniels was a Force to be reckoned with.
In 42 minutes, Daniels had 23 points on 56.3% shooting (9 for 16); 60% shooting on two-pointers; 83.3% from the free throw line; 14 rebounds (10 defensive and 4 offensive); 3 blocks; 2 assists; and 1 steal.
As we predicted, the Dawgs won the game by dominating inside on offense and defense.
Indeed, 67% of UW’s shot attempts were inside the lane — 43.8% of shot attempts were within 4.5 feet of the basket and another 23.4% in the lane farther than 4.5 feet.
Chart courtesy of CBBAnalytics.
Overall, the Huskies scored 44 points in the paint on 55% shooting; nowhere else on the court did they shoot better than 14.3% (on mid-range shots); and they shot a mere 7.1% from three-point range.
Chart courtesy of CBBAnalytics.
A Sloppy Victory
At the end of the first quarter, the Huskies led 14-7 point over the Anteaters, which was strange because it seemed they dominated the first period.
However, despite Washington’s 54.5% shooting overall and 50% three-point shooting, the Huskies only managed 11 shot attempts in the first quarter – – three less than UCI’s 14 attempts.
No doubt, UW’s seven turnovers in the opening period prevented them from distancing themselves, as the Huskies struggled against the Anteaters’ scrambling defensive pressure.
Dalayah Daniels did not struggle, however, as she tallied 8 points on 80% shooting (4 for 5) and two rebounds in the first period.
In the second quarter, UC-Irvine turned up their intensity on defense and Washington wilted as UCI outscored the Dawgs 16 – 8 to take the lead at halftime, 23 -22.
UW’s second period efforts were dreadful as their 26.7 shooting overall (4 for 15), 0% shooting from three-point range (0 for 5) and four turnovers.
Again, Daniels was the lone bright spot as she scored 4 points on 66% shooting (2 for 3) with one rebound in the second period.
The fact that the Huskies only managed to get Daniels three shots, when she was clearly on a roll, is a major offensive problem that resulted in UW losing all momentum in the second quarter.
In the third quarter, UCI continued to outplay the Huskies as the Dawgs continued their bad shooting night, shooting only 33% overall (3 for 9) — the good news is they didn’t miss any three-pointers because they didn’t take any. At the end of the third, UCI lead 38-33/
Again, Daniels was under-utilized by the Huskies offense. Daniels scored 4 points on 50% shooting ( 1 for 2) and two free throws (100% from the free throw line); as well as, four rebounds.
The fourth quarter was do-or-die and the Huskies finally answered the bell, rallying from a 43-35 deficit with eight unanswered points to get back in the game with a 48-47 lead. However, at the end of regulation, the game was tied at 50-50.
The Dawgs fourth quarter shooting was their best effort of the night, 43.8% shooting overall (7 for 16)— albeit with 0% three-point shooting (0 for 4) and 5 turnovers.
Although Daniels only scored two points, but had a team-leading two assists in the fourth, along with three rebounds – which demonstrates the benefit of running the Huskies offense through an excellent passing big like Daniels.
The first overtime ended tied at 54-54, as both teams only managed to score four points each – neither team scoring in the final minute and ten seconds (1:10) resulting in a second overtime.
The second overtime was hotly contested, as there were three lead changes.
Ultimately, the Dawgs outscored UCI 8-6 in the final period as Jayda Noble leaped high for a game-winning floater with nine
seconds left.
In the two overtime periods, Daniels totaled five points and four rebounds to cap an excellent night’s performance of leadership for the Dawgs.
JAYDA NOBLE!!!
???? Pac-12 Washington
???? https://t.co/1VrV9VAOKv pic.twitter.com/XBqtGCOiBD— Washington Women’s Basketball (@UW_WBB) November 18, 2022
