With a sweep of ranked foes Arizona and Arizona State last weekend, Washington (15-6 overall, 8-3 Pacific-10 Conference) has moved into a three-way tie for first place and is nationally ranked for the first time in head coach June Daugherty’s five years.
The 79-60 victory against Arizona State placed the Huskies in a tie with the Sun Devils (16-7, 8-3) and Stanford (14-7, 8-3). It’s also the first time under Daugherty that Washington has been at the top of the conference standings this late in the season.
“It’s a great feeling to be up there in first place,” Daugherty told The Seattle Times. “The players respond to positivity. They are about having fun and working hard.
“No doubt about it, this is the best team I’ve had.”
As the best rebounding team in the conference, the Huskies have won four straight after snapping the Sun Devils’ seven-game winning streak.
“I think we’ve known, especially after the first round of the Pac-10, that we can play with all of these teams,” said Husky guard Megan Franza, the Pac-10 Player of the Week. “We definitely needed a sweep.”
In the 98-88 win over Arizona last Thursday, the Huskies set a Pac-10 record with 16 three-pointers.
“This is an amazing team to play for,” senior center Carli Halpenny said. “There are no chemistry problems. The group is so close-knit. After last season, we all just decided ‘we can’t have any of that anymore.’ This group has been totally unselfish.”
Washington comes to Eugene Saturday for a 1 p.m. matchup at McArthur Court.
Fallin’ Cats
After beginning conference play 4-0 and winning 13 of 14, Arizona (16-7, 6-5) has dropped five of seven and has fallen from first to fourth in the standings.
Sound familiar?
“A lot of it is mental with us right now,” Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini told the Arizona Daily Star. “Our players are frustrated because they know we have a better team than what we’re showing.”
The Wildcats were swept by the Washington schools last weekend, capped by a 93-86 loss in Pullman.
“We just don’t have any solutions,” forward Krista Warren said. “We don’t know why. Everyone’s looking around at each other saying, ‘I don’t know.’”
Arizona’s only wins in the last month came against Oregon and Oregon State, both in Tucson.
LeAnn Sheets and the Huskies will bring their conference-leading 8-3 record into McArthur Court Saturday to face the Oregon Ducks.
Stanford’s rise
Stanford was projected to finish atop the Pac-10 this season, and despite a 1-3 start in the conference, it has proved the projectors right — so far.
The Cardinal backcourt has provided a consistent boost for the team; in particular, junior Lauren St. Clair has come up huge lately. She hit a crucial three-pointer against the Ducks in last Thursday’s 63-54 victory at Maples Pavilion, and tallied 24 points against Oregon State, shooting 6-for-11 from behind the three-point line.
Freshman guard Nicole Powell — a shoo-in for freshman of the year — has six double-doubles this season, tied for the best in the conference.