A noticeably active and aggressive Nancy Mulkey got off to a fast start against the USC Trojans.
Nancy Mulkey made 4 of 5 of her shot attempts in the 1st period, including opening the game with a three-pointer.
In the first period, Mulkey scored 9 points in 6 minutes demonstrating mind-boggling efficiency.
Offensively, Mulkey was playing at a level yet to be seen from her in a Husky uniform.
In the second quarter, Mulkey’s offense cooled somewhat as she only scored four points (in five minutes) — but this could also be attributed to her early foul trouble with three (3) fouls in the first half.
Huskies Slowly Implode in 2nd Half
At the half, the Huskies held a promising 10-point lead over USC, 39 – 29.
In what is starting to look like a pattern, the Huskies did not come out of the halftime break ready to seize control of the game.
In the third quarter, the Huskies shot 31% overall, as well as 14% from three-point range.
Mulkey managed only four points and no other Husky led a third quarter offensive campaign.
Washington’s fourth quarter offensive perfomance was not qualitatively better.
In the final period, the Dawgs shot 42% overall (5 for 12), but shot 0% from behind the arc, missing all four (4) three-point attempts.
Ultimately, USC outscored Washington 44 to 27 in the second half and controlled the game for the win.
Mulkey finished with 26 points (on 11-15 shooting), however, the only other Husky that scored in double figures was Missy Peterson(10 points).
Still a Block Party of One
Defensively, Mulkey made a small impact with one block for the game — matching Huskies guard Trinity Oliver.
As a result, the USC Trojans had their way inside in the second half — scoring 24 points in the paint.
Fastbreak Without Results
And, similar to the UCLA matchup, the Huskies obvious attempts to run and increase their offensive pace were unsuccessful against USC — with only 4 fastbreak points scored all in the third quarter.
Where’s the Threes?
Finally, in a three-point centric PAC-12 conference, the Huskies are struggling from three-point range — they made only 22.7% of their three-point attempts (on 5 for 22 shooting).
The three-point shooting of Darcy Rees is sorely missed (zero three-point attempts).
Darcy shot 35.8% from three-point range her last full healthy season with the Dawgs(2019-20); as well as, 33.3% on her three-pointers last season(2020-21).
[Also, there are still three freshmen on the bench with 3-point shooting capabilities — Olivia Pollerd, Jess Finney, and Marisa Davis.]
The Huskies look to get their first PAC-12 victory this weekend when they host Oregon and Oregon State at Hec Ed this weekend.
