The sixth-seeded Washington Huskies women's basketball team earned the first NCAA tournament win in nine years in a dominant 72-54 win against the 11th-seeded South Dakota State Jackrabbits on Friday at Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

Sophomore guard Avery Howell led the Huskies to victory with a game-high 30 points on 9-for-16 shooting from the floor, including a career-high seven makes on 13 attempts from 3-point range. She also had nine rebounds, two steals and an assist.

"Obviously, my 3s were falling so that's obviously a great feeling. Especially in a first-round game," Howell said Friday in a postgame interview with NCAA reporter Autumn Johnson. "But I was just trying to do whatever the team needed from me and my 3s were falling so I just kept shooting. Had a lot of good passing. People were finding me and making sure that if I had the hot hand, people were finding me. Just doing whatever the team needed."

Howell's dominant performance helped the Dawgs pull away from the Summit League champion-Jackrabbits after a close first 10 minutes.

Washington and South Dakota State were tied 15-15 going into the second quarter.

The Huskies defense locked down the Jackrabbits in the second quarter. SDSU scored just nine points while Washington put up 23 and UW went into halftime leading 38-24.

The Huskies bolstered their lead even further in the second half. The Dawgs outscored the Jackrabbits 23-19 in the third frame and carried a 61-43 advantage into the final 10 minutes.

South Dakota State was able to keep pace with Washington in the fourth quarter. Both teams scored 11 points but the Jackrabbits had too steep a hill to climb and the Huskies held on for the 18-point final.

Washington freshman forward Brynn McGaughy put up 14 points on 5-for-11 shooting and added four rebounds, two steals and an assist.

Junior guard Sayvia Sellers, who led the Huskies in scoring this season, stepped into a facilitating role against South Dakota State. She scored four points on five shot attempts. She dished a career-high 10 assists, pulled in five rebounds, had three steals and blocked a shot.

Friday marked the first win in three NCAA tournament appearances for Washington head coach Tina Langley.

The Huskies will look to take down the "home" team, the third-seeded TCU Horned Frogs, in their next NCAA Tournament game at a to-be-determined time on Sunday at Schollmaier Arena.

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