UW Basketball | SPU women stun Huskies
The Seattle Pacific men gave Washington a scare in an exhibition game Monday. The SPU women went one step beyond in their exhibition Tuesday, giving the UW women a major headache.
One night after the Washington men had to battle to secure a nine-point win over their Division II neighbors from Fremont, the Seattle Pacific women broke open a back-and-forth game with a late 13-0 run that lifted the Falcons to an unexpected 75-67 win over the Washington women’s basketball team in front of 1,119 at Edmundson Pavilion.
The exhibition loss to SPU, a Division II team with three starters back from a 20-9 team that won its conference title and reached the NCAA Division II tournament for an 11th straight year, serves as a dispiriting final tuneup before Washington’s season opener Saturday night at Kansas State.
“It is a lesson learned,” said first-year coach Tia Jackson. “It is a wake-up call for us. We definitely got knocked upside our head with a big brick, and it’s time to open our eyes and see what is in front of us and get ready for it.”
Does the team have sufficient time to make adjustments for its opener two time zones away?
Jackson and two players flanking her at a table during postgame interviews, senior point guard Emily Florence and freshman Katelan Redmon, all spontaneously nodded their heads. “Plenty of time,” Jackson said crisply.
The contest included 13 lead changes and seven ties, and Washington appeared to have claimed momentum when, with less than five minutes left, Florence broke up a 3-on-1 SPU fast break, stole the ball and dashed downcourt for a crowd-pleasing layup that tied the score at 58.
Her follow-up free throw, plus two more free throws by Redmon, put UW ahead 63-60 with 3:36 to play.
But a three-pointer by SPU’s Libby Magnuson put the Falcons ahead for good with 2:26 left to play.
Magnuson led SPU with a game-high 17 points. Jackie Holland, who played her freshman season at UW before transferring to Seattle Pacific, made four three-pointers and finished with 14.
Heidi McNeill led UW scorers with 15. Redmon had 14. Sami Whitcomb recorded 12 and finished with a team-high nine rebounds. Jess McCormack, UW’s 6-foot-5 freshman who is a member of the New Zealand National Team, finished with nine points (3-of-7 shooting) and three rebounds.