UW women win, above .500 for first time under coach Tia Jackson

Washington senior Sami Whitcomb says she doesn't like individual attention.

But she sure does continue to draw it.

With Washington tied 25-25 against visiting Arizona State on Thursday night, the versatile wing put on show that ended with a 25-foot three-pointer at the opening-half buzzer. The Sun Devils tried to shut out Whitcomb in the second half, but the focus didn't slow her enough and Washington (7-6, 2-1 in Pac-10) knocked off ASU, 62-56, at Edmundson Pavilion.

It's the first time under third-year coach Tia Jackson that Washington has been above .500.

It was also the Huskies' first win over Arizona State (8-6, 0-3) since December 2004.

"It's tough for anyone to expect much of us because the year we had last year just wasn't very good," said Whitcomb. The Huskies were 8-22 last season.

"We're going to continue to surprise some people," Whitcomb added. "But I'm sure a lot of people were surprised with us not only beating a team like ASU, but how we've been playing."

The Huskies, on the road the entire month of December, will host Arizona on Saturday at Edmundson Pavilion. The Wildcats (7-6, 1-2) defeated Washington State 67-60 on Thursday.

Typically Washington uses a solid inside-out scheme to work its way into games. But mainstay Mackenzie Argens picked up two quick fouls Thursday and sophomore Mollie Williams suffered a knee injury, forcing UW to look to its perimeter game.

Whitcomb attacked her defenders and scored 16 of her season-high 26 points in the opening half. The capper was the three-pointer just before the buzzer — it accounted for her 1,000th career point, making Whitcomb the 21st player in school history to reach the plateau.

She scored seven points within a 9-5 Huskies run in the final 3:50 of the opening half to give Washington a 34-30 lead at the break.

ASU started the second half shooting 2 for 11 from the field, tying the score at 34 early. But as Whitcomb adjusted to the changed defense, teammates Christina Rozier and Kristi Kingma helped the Huskies go on a 10-4 run to go up 44-38.

Whitcomb's three-pointer with 5:57 left in the game broke her dry spell and the Sun Devils never challenged again.

"They're on her all day. They're holding, grabbing — by any means necessary," Jackson said of the defense Whitcomb saw. "She answered the call pretty well. If she was pressured, she would take it to the hole and kick it if she had to, or make the basket."

ASU redshirt sophomore Kali Bennett played 16 minutes against her former team. Bennett transferred from UW after one season under Jackson. Bennett said then she was stressed out and got constant migraines because the coach overworked the team.

"Yeah, it's been awhile," Whitcomb said of the short reunion. "It was nice seeing her with a win."

Notes

• Huskies sophomore Liz Lay underwent successful knee surgery on Wednesday. She did not attend the game due to the procedure.

• No injury update was given on Williams, who did re-enter the game.

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

ARIZONA STATE (8-6, 0-3 PAC-10)
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Murphy	30	5-10	1-4	6-7	0	3	11
Tobin	28	7-8	5-5	0-2	1	0	19
Earl	31	3-9	0-0	0-1	3	3	8
Orsillo	24	2-8	0-0	1-2	4	4	4
Watson	28	3-6	0-0	1-5	3	2	6
McKinney	13	1-2	0-0	0-0	0	2	2
Mann	6	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Bennett	16	2-5	1-2	0-3	0	2	6
Fulcher	5	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	3	0
Brandon	6	0-1	0-0	0-0	1	1	0
Fage	13	0-1	0-0	0-1	2	1	0
	200	23-52	7-11	11-29	14	21	56

Percentages: FG .442, FT .636. Three-point goals: 3-16, (Earl 2-6, Orsillo 0-3, Watson 0-2, Mann 0-1, Bennett 1-3, Fage 0-1). Team rebounds: 8. Blocked shots: 2, (Tobin 2). Turnovers: 16, (Tobin, Earl 3, Orsillo 3, Watson 3, McKinney, Bennett 2, Fulcher 2, Fage). Steals: 9, (Murphy, Tobin, Earl 2, Orsillo 2, Watson 2, McKinney).

WASHINGTON (7-6, 2-1)
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Argens	18	2-4	0-0	1-2	0	2	4
Rogers	16	2-3	0-2	1-5	0	2	4
Kingma	39	3-7	4-6	2-2	2	0	11
Morton	22	1-2	2-2	0-2	2	0	4
Whitcomb	38	8-16	5-5	4-11	2	1	26
McLellan	24	2-6	0-1	0-2	2	3	4
Anderson	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Rozier	23	3-6	0-0	0-1	0	2	6
Barlow	6	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	0	0
Williams	12	1-4	1-1	2-3	1	1	3
	200	22-48	12-17	11-31	10	12	62

Percentages: FG .458, FT .706. Three-point goals: 6-9, (Kingma 1-1, Whitcomb 5-8). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 4, (Argens, Rogers, Whitcomb, McLellan). Turnovers: 19, (Argens 2, Rogers 3, Morton 2, Whitcomb 6, McLellan 2, Rozier 3). Steals: 7, (Argens, Rogers, Kingma 2, Whitcomb 2, Williams).

Arizona State	30	26	—	56
Washington	34	28	—	62

Attendance: 2,023. Officials: Lisa Jones, Scoty Hermann, Jay Schumaker. Technical fouls: Arizona State-None. Washington-None.