SEATTLE — The No. 22 Washington Huskies women's basketball team entered Tuesday slated for the third of five-straight home games.

The Huskies will play the Southern University Jaguars at 6 p.m. PT on Tuesday at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.

Washington is 5-0 on the season despite being without all-conference guard Ellle Ladine and the defense the Huskies have exhibited this season has been solid.

In Washington's last two games, it's beat Fresno State 61-43 and Vermont 71-39. In both games, the Huskies defense was aggressive and forced the opposition into uncomfortable situations.

Washington had six blocks and 13 steals against the Bulldogs and four blocks and seven steals against the Catamounts.

Because of the Huskies' style of defense, the guards have been tasked often with having to defend in the post. And they've been able to hold their own.

Junior guard Sayvia Sellers, had three blocks and three steals against Fresno State.

"Our guards are tough," Washington head coach Tina Langley said after the win against Vermont on Nov. 23. "We're playing an aggressive defense that will put them on some mismatches at times. And I really like how they're handling it. They're flying around, they're being physical, they're helping one another. It does speed up the tempo defensively and give us an opportunity to get some steals. Sometimes we're playing more 'Protect the paint.' Sometimes we're playing more aggressively to get steals and they can help us change that style of play."

The Dawgs are tied for third in the conference in blocks per game (5.4) and 10th in steals per game (9.6).

Often times in college basketball, teams use games against lower mid-major as a way to get healthy or iron out their game before going into conference games.

Despite it being lower-level competition, Washington is sharpening its skills on the defensive end, especially the guards. The longer the season grows and the more tests the Huskies see, the more prepared they'll be for Big Ten play.

The Huskies first Big Ten game of the season will be against USC at 5 p.m. PT on Dec. 7 in Los Angeles.

After the game against USC, Washington will have three more non-conference games before launching into consistent conference play, starting with a showdown against Northwestern at 5 p.m. PT on Dec. 29 at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.

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