The Huskies had four players score in double-figures and several reach impressive career marks against the Wildcats.
SEATTLE — The Washington Huskies women's basketball team earned its first Big Ten win of the season in dominant fashion.
The Dawgs had four players score in double-figures and never trailed in a 94-73 win over the Northwestern Wildcats on Dec. 29 at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle. The win improved UW's record to 11-2 overall and 1-1 in the Big Ten this season.
The four players to hit double-digit points were senior guards Elle Ladine (23 points) and Hannah Stines (10 points), junior guard Sayvia Sellers (19 points) and sophomore guard Avery Howell (23 points). Howell's 23 points set a new single-game career-high.
"We had a bunch of milestones for our whole team today," Howell said after the game. "Obviously, Elle had a game. Sayvia had a game. We had everybody doing what we need them to do. Obviously it's exciting — career-high — but everyone did what we needed to do. It's a good team win."
Stines and Ladine got their nights going with a 3-pointer each with 9:35 and 8:34 to go in the first quarter, respectively.
The pair of seniors, along with Sellers and Howell, accounted for 15 of Washington's 16 3-point makes on the night. The Huskies reached that mark on 36 attempts from beyond the arc.
"I think we did a really good job being ready to shoot and getting off the ball early," Howell said. "That was a big emphasis all week — playing fast in transition and getting off the ball at the right time. I think we executed that at a pretty high level tonight."
Sellers' first points of the game came via a 3-pointer with 2:30 left in the first quarter. That bucket gave her over 1,000 career points.
"We were talking about that in the locker room," Head coach Tina Langley said after the game. "That's a big milestone. It's a big deal and (Sellers has) done it kind of quietly. She does such a beautiful job of sharing the basketball. ... She's gotten more and more aggressive (scoring) ... it's awesome to get to celebrate her."
Amidst Washington's barrage of triples, Northwestern was able to hang in with its conference rivals through the first half.
The Wildcats got the Huskies' advantage down to single-digits several times in the first 20 minutes, but went into halftime trailing 46-33.
A layup from Howell bolstered Washington's lead to 20 points (62-42) with 5:35 to go in the third.
Northwestern was able to find some life with an offensive adjustment that took the Huskies some time to figure out.
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The Wildcats ran a condensed triple at the top of the key, with senior forward Grace Sullivan and sophomore forward Tayla Thomas positioned at each side of the free-throw line.
This congestion at the top of the key allowed Northwestern to clear open looks from 3-point range on the perimeter.
The compacted triangle set-up also opened lanes to the bucket for Sullivan, who finished with a game-high 30 points on 11-for-18 shooting, including an 8-for-10 clip from the free-throw line.
"We were dropped off our five a little too much," Langley said. "So, our guard would see it and they would pull in and it just gave open 3s. As we put better ball pressure on, I felt like I could let the guards kind of get back out there and be more ready for (Sullivan) to skip passes. We still had some breakdowns on that but it (got better)."
The Wildcats cut down Washington's lead to 14 and Northwestern trailed 71-57 going into the final quarter.
The Huskies ultimately figured out the unorthodox offense and outscored the Wildcats 23-16 in the final 10 minutes for the eventual 21-point victory.
Stines registered an assist in the final quarter, which gave her 250 career dishes.
Stines finished with three rebounds and four assists to go with her 10 points; Ladine had five rebounds, two assists and a block; Howell added five boards and three steals and Sellers dished four assists while swiping two steals.
Washington will next be in action against No. 6 Michigan at 3 p.m. PT on Jan. 1 at Alaska Airlines Arena.
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