Washington Huskies Women's Basketball Freshman Will Continue to Play Major Role

SEATTLE — The No. 16 Washington Huskies women's basketball team was able to start its season 1-0 after a 79-63 victory against the UC San Diego Tritons on Monday at Alaska Airlines Arena.

The Huskies got many contributions from their returning players: the first career triple-double for senior guard Sayvia Sellers, a 20-plus-point performance from junior guard Avery Howell and a 13-point, 15-rebound double-double from forward Brynn McGaughy.

Monday also saw the debut of the Huskies' lone recruit from the Class of 2026: four-star guard Amayah "Sunshine" Garcia.

The 5-foot-11 guard played 22 minutes in her debut. She didn't need to put up a monster performance with the outputs of Sellers, Howell and McGaughy, respectively, but still managed to get on the board. She scored two points, pulled in two rebounds and dished one assist. She scored her first college points in front of her family, who were in attendance at Alaska Airlines Arena.

Garcia came off the bench in her college debut. And based on postgame comments from head coach Tina Langley, the freshman announced by the PA announcer as "Sunshine" will continue to be a significant part in the team's plans this season.

"So proud of Sunshine," Langley said after the game Monday. "She's done an incredible job. We can put her at multiple positions, really high IQ, knows every (playset) we have in, she even offered to play the "four" for us tonight. ... I thought 'wow you just don't normally see that.' She has incredible humility and just really talented. That's fun to work with every day, and then gifted on the defensive end of the floor. Also can switch and play physical and strong. As a freshman, (she's) really come in and attacked the type of strength and endurance that we want to have in games. ... You think of Brynn through the year last year and the way she continued to evolve, just being on the floor, (Garcia's) getting an opportunity and continuing to work like that."

With so many established veterans on the team, there will be very few nights (if any) where Garcia will be tasked with leading UW to victory. However, she has a luxury of playing behind, learning under and learning from example from multiple all-conference-caliber players. That could provide the perfect scenario for Garcia to continue to develop while being a meaningful contributor to UW.

Garcia and Washington will be back action against the Pacific Tigers at 7 p.m. PT on Thursday at Alaska Airlines Arena.