Washington defeats Cal in blowout victory

Members of the Washington women's basketball team huddle during a timeout in Washington’s game against Cal State on February 3, 2023 at Alaska Airlines Arena. The Huskies won 70-54 on Friday night. Sage Zipeto.

After a tough win against Arizona State and four days of recovery, the Washington women’s basketball team was looking to keep the ball rolling and protect its home court.

That's exactly what the Huskies did on Friday night in the Alaska Airlines Arena, with one of their best performances of the season resulting in a wire-to-wire 70-54 win.

“I think our entire week of practice leading up to today is really what I think we’ll look back on and say prepared us [for] today,” head coach Tina Langley said. “Everyone was locked in. We did some new things offensively.”

The story of Friday’s game was 3-point shooting. Early in the first quarter, senior Trinity Oliver drained a pair of threes to give the Huskies an early 8-2 lead. 

It was only the beginning of UW’s three-point barrage. The Huskies went on to (12-9, 4-7 Pac-12) make a whopping five shots from beyond the arc in just the first quarter alone, and they weren’t finished. 

By the end of the first half, UW was shooting a red-hot 67% from three, and took an emphatic 36-23 lead into the locker room.

Not only did UW turn in one of its best offensive performances of the night, it dug in on the defensive side of the ball as well, holding Cal to just 35% field goal shooting. 

“Team defense was … the number one goal of the game,” Langley said. “It’s a great team, everybody on the floor for them can score.”

Cal was hard-pressed to stop UW in the first half, but enjoyed slightly more success in slowing down the Huskies in the second half, switching up their defensive scheme with a full-court press of Washington’s inbounders. Unfortunately for the Golden Bears (11-11, 2-9 Pac-12), it was too little, too late, and the Huskies’ comfortable lead never faced a legitimate threat.

Sophomore forward Dalayah Daniels prepares to shoot a free throw during Washington’s game against Cal State on February 3, 2023 at Alaska Airlines Arena. Daniels led the Huskies' scoring Friday night with 20 points. Sage Zipeto.

Washington went on to finish the game with a 70-54 win, shooting 46% from the field, and a season high 50% from three. Sophomore Dalayah Daniels carried a large portion of the offensive load and led the team with 20 points. Sophomore Jayda Noble ended the game with 10 rebounds.

After a slow start to the season, a convincing showing like this one will certainly do wonders for their confidence going into one of their biggest games of the season as No. 2 Stanford comes to town this weekend.

“Great team, tremendous coach. You know, so we’re just excited to take the court and play,” Langley said.

UW hosts Stanford on Sunday, Feb. 5, at 3 p.m.