UW Women's Basketball
Depth buoys Huskies in win over Wisconsin

By Matt Massey
Special to The Seattle Times

ROD MAR / THE SEATTLE TIMES Washington's Emily Florence, right, knocks the ball from Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Teri Huff in the Huskies' 86-75 win in the Seattle Times Husky Classic.

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With no seniors on its roster and three juniors, two of whom redshirted last season, the Washington women's basketball team searches for its new identity.

And, opponents search for a star to guard. Waves of productivity from different sources just keep coming.

Washington proved that depth and hard work on the offensive glass can overcome shooting deficiencies as the Huskies repelled a late surge for an 86-75 win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee yesterday in the 18th Seattle Times Husky Classic at Edmundson Pavilion.

Junior Kristen O'Neill, who missed last season and redshirted with a stress fracture in her left foot, led the Huskies with 14 points. Sophomore reserve Cheri Craddock had a career-high 14 points in just 19 minutes.

"They're a very good basketball team, but we got worn out," Wisconsin-Milwaukee coach Sandy Botham said after her team shot almost 71 percent from the field in the second half and still lost. "You know (UW coach June Daugherty) plays a lot of people, and we don't have a ton of depth. And, I think that was the difference, too.

"They hit their shots when they needed to and they have a lot of different weapons. They're balanced. They had a lot of different people stepping up and hitting shots."

Washington (3-1) plays Alabama (3-0) in the championship game at 3 p.m. today. UW goes for its 12th title, and third in a row, in the event that started in 1986.

The Huskies got to the title game with constant effort. The result came despite unlucky second-half bounces that allowed Wisconsin-Milwaukee to come back and UW's modest 40 percent shooting from the field.

"I saw three times where we were on the floor going for the ball and it didn't bounce our way and they kicked it out for a three," Daugherty said. "Maybe they have good karma. I don't know. I don't think it was lack of hustle.
 
"It wasn't a structural breakdown. Sometimes the ball bounces funny ways. I thought we got great things out of a lot of players. A lot of kids off the bench fired us up."

The Huskies appeared in control when O'Neill followed in Emily Florence's missed free throw for a 65-47 advantage with 9:20 left, but needed a strong finish to prevail. After Wisconsin-Milwaukee crept to 71-66 on a 10-0 run with 4:56 left, UW sank 8 of 10 free throws.

The lack of a genuine star worked to the Huskies' benefit. UW got contributions from all 12 players, with 11 scoring, but the big factors were the offensive rebounding edge (23-8) and forcing 22 turnovers, 15 before intermission.

"I can see that we are improving," Daugherty said. "I am really pleased that we can force the turnovers. I am really excited to see us climbing on the glass like we did."

Wisconsin-Milwaukee (0-3) meets Columbia (2-1) in the third-place consolation game today at 12:30 p.m. The Panthers' Teri Huff led all scorers with 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting and teammate Aubrey Hampton scored 16.

Craddock, who walked on after coming to UW for track and field, matched her career high of 11 points in 11 first-half minutes.

Other game

Alabama 81, Columbia 45

The Crimson Tide, picked to finish ninth out of 12 teams in the Southeastern Conference in a preseason media poll, opened the second half on a 13-2 run and cruised to victory in the opening game of the Seattle Times Husky Classic.

Sophomore guard-forward Navonda Moore came off the bench to lead Alabama with 16 points, including 12 in the second half. Chanel Johnson, a 6-foot-3 freshman center, had 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting and nine rebounds off the bench in just 19 minutes.

Sophomore guard Megan Griffith led Columbia with 10 points. The Lions made only 17 of 51 field goals for 33 percent and committed 21 turnovers.

Huskies box score

WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Huff	35	9-14	2-4	1-2	2	0	21
Drummond	12	3-4	0-0	1-1	2	5	6
O'Brien	39	3-8	2-4	0-5	3	3	9
Becker	30	3-8	3-5	5-8	0	5	9
Hampton	38	4-5	4-4	1-5	3	3	16
Cook	3	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Reckelberg	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Witte	16	1-1	2-2	0-2	1	1	4
Johnson	9	1-5	1-2	0-1	1	0	4
Huss	0	0-0	0-0	0-1	0	0	0
Rogers	17	2-4	0-1	0-1	0	1	6
	200	26-50	14-22	8-28	12	18	75

Percentages: FG: .520, FT: .636. Three-point goals: 9-22 (Hampton 4-4, Rogers 2-3, Huff 1-2, Johnson 1-4, O'Brien 1-5, Becker 0-3, Cook 0-1). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 4 (Becker 2, O'Brien, Rogers). Turnovers: 22 (Hampton 5, Becker 5, O'Brien 4, Witte 3, Rogers 2, Reckelberg, Huff, Drummond). Steals: 7 (O'Brien 2, Rogers 2, Huff, Drummond, Hampton). Technical fouls: None.

WASHINGTON
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Bell	22	4-10	2-2	1-6	1	4	10
Watson	17	4-8	0-0	5-7	1	3	10
Florence	21	2-3	1-3	1-2	4	3	5
Burt	23	1-5	6-7	1-2	4	2	8
O'Neill	21	5-14	1-2	2-3	2	2	14
Craddock	19	5-8	0-0	2-4	0	1	14
Hicks	15	3-11	2-2	3-5	2	1	8
Banks	9	1-5	3-4	1-1	1	1	5
Schelly	13	0-1	0-0	0-1	0	0	0
Castro	13	2-2	0-0	2-2	0	2	4
Clark	9	1-2	0-0	0-1	0	1	2
O'Hara	18	2-6	2-2	4-5	2	1	6
	200	3-75	17-22	23-43	17	21	86

Percentages: FG: .400, FT: .773. Three-point goals: 9-20 (Craddock 4-7, O'Neill 3-6, Watson 2-3, Burt 0-2, Banks 0-1, Schelly 0-1). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: None. Turnovers: 15 (Watson 4, Florence 2, Clark 2, Burt, O'Neill, Craddock, Hicks, Banks, O'Hara, Schelly). Steals: 17 (O'Hara 4, Burt 3, Bell 2, Castro 2, Hicks 2, Clark, Schelly, Florence, O'Neill). Technical fouls: None.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee	26	49	—	75
Washington	43	43	—	86

Attendance: 2,977. Officials: Melissa Barlow, Bill Jump, Joann Sather.