UW women defeat Seattle U., 58-53

You couldn't tell the winner by the postgame interviews.

In the halls of the Connolly Center, Washington Huskies players barely cracked a smile as they spoke about their 58-53 win. Seattle University's were more upbeat as senior forward Ashley Brown playfully poured herself into a seat, commenting it was the first time she sat down Wednesday night.

Was her arm sore?

"Oh it's fine, I'm used to it," she quipped. Brown zinged 14 three-point attempts at Washington, finishing with a game-high 19 points.

Yet it was a pair of threes from the same spot at the top of the arc late in the second half by Huskies sophomore guard Kristi Kingma that proved the difference.

Kingma's first three with 4:53 remaining gave her team a 51-45 lead, the largest margin of the game. The second with 3:44 left deflated the Redhawks' chances of winning.

Ragged offense late by SU and two free throws by junior guard Sarah Morton sealed the crosstown matchup.

"We'll take the win, but honestly, we lost focus quite a bit in that game," said Washington coach Tia Jackson. "Seattle U. came out ready to play and I understand why — the city rivalry. But we're not happy with the collective effort."

Washington (4-4) hardly played like an imposing Pac-10 opponent in a packed gym of 1,050. Instead the Huskies appeared equal to SU (2-9) early.

The Redhawks used an aggressive zone and bombed three-pointers to hang with the Huskies. UW sophomore center Regina Rogers, the tallest player on the court at 6 feet 3, was ineffective. Rogers missed her three shot attempts in the first half, and Whitcomb, the team's leader, was limited to 1-of-7 shooting.

"We totally take the blame for that. Regina is our biggest post player, we need to get her the ball more," said Kingma, who started in place of injured Sara Mosiman and scored all nine of her points after the break. "We weren't necessarily looking for her as much as we should have, and we weren't making very smart passes. When there's a zone, it's really tough, but there are no excuses. You still have to find your dominant post player."

The Huskies have struggled against the zone in previous games this season. But they've also played five games that were decided by three points or fewer. So, when SU senior center Tatiana Heck hit a layin to shrink the deficit to 56-53 with 59 seconds remaining, the Huskies weren't fazed.

Sophomore post Laura McLellan had a key block and Kingma grabbed a rebound to stop the Redhawks.

"As the program continues to grow, this is what it's going to be like all the time," said first-year SU coach Joan Bonvicini of the spirited atmosphere. "For the people who haven't seen us play before, I think they'll come back and watch. This was a good game, not necessarily the way we want to finish, but I think there's going to be a lot of good games here for the future."

UW leads the series 12-3, last losing to Seattle U. in January 1981.

NOTE

• SU redshirt freshman post Carley Butcher suffered a left knee injury in the first half. Bonvicini said it appears to be a torn ACL, but will know more when Butcher is evaluated. Butcher tore her right ACL last year.

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com

Percentages: FG .429, FT .500. Three-point goals: 6-14 (Whitcomb 1-5, Kingma 3-5, Morton 1-2, Rozier 1-2). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 7 (Rogers 3, Morton, McLellan, Williams 2). Turnovers: 17 (Whitcomb 3, Argens 2, Rogers 2, Kingma 3, Morton 2, Rozier 2, Barlow, Williams 2). Steals: 8 (Whitcomb, Argens, Rogers, Kingma, Morton, Rozier 3).

Attendance: 1,050. Officials: Karen Lasuik, Taryn Reynolds, Jim Morrell. Technical fouls: Washington-None. Seattle University-None.