The Huskies took down the No. 6 Michigan Wolverines to ring in the new year
SEATTLE — The Washington Huskies women's basketball team had their most impressive win of the season on the first day of 2026 — a potential good omen for the program this year.
The victory improved Washington's record to 12-2 on the season and 2-1 in Big Ten competition. The win was the Huskies' first ranked triumph of the season.
With the win against Michigan, Washington has almost guaranteed a placement on the next Associated Press Top 25 poll.
The Huskies fell out of the Top 25 after a loss against the unranked Stanford Cardinal, but received votes in the most recent poll.
Jan. 1 also represented a big milestone in the current history of the Washington women's basketball program.
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Thursday was the Huskies' first win against a team ranked in the top 10 since a 61-51 result against Oregon State on Feb. 25, 2024. The Beavers finished eighth in the country in the final AP poll that season.
At the time of the game, both teams were still in the old format of the Pac-12. It was the last season for Washington before it transitioned to the Big Ten.
The Huskies finished that season 16-15 overall and 6-12 in the conference and made it to the first round of the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT).
By extension, that makes Thursday the first time Washington has come on the winning end in a game against a top-10 ranked Big Ten opponent since joining the conference last season.
A signature win seemed to be one of the last hurdles head coach Tina Langley's squad needed to accomplish in its infant years as a Big Ten program.
Last season, the Huskies were able to play multiple conference opponents close but were on the losing end of most of the hard-fought games.
Those results include an 81-73 loss against No. 12 Maryland on Feb. 9, 2025; a 68-67 loss against Oregon on Feb. 12, 2025 and a 69-64 loss against No. 5 Southern California (USC) on Feb. 16, 2025.
Last season, Washington made its first NCAA Tournament since 2017 with a 19-16 overall record and a 9-9 mark in Big Ten action.
Now that the Huskies have a signature Big Ten win under their belt, their national tournament resume is already en route to being stronger than it was last season.
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