Projected by many to win PAC-12 Tournament, the University of Washington Women’s Basketball Team Falls in their PAC-12 Opener to Oregon 70-69
This team is better than many in the nation. The University of Washington Husky Women’s basketball team has been propelled by record breaking performances of Kelsey Plum
In tonight's game, Kelsey Plum became the third player in NCAA history to score 1,000 points in a single season. #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/2m2QxEtgJk
— Washington Women’s Basketball (@UW_WBB) March 4, 2017
and Chantel Osahor.
Chantel Osahor has set a new Pac-12 Tournament record with 23 rebounds tonight. #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/RA7iLY6XYS
— Washington Women’s Basketball (@UW_WBB) March 4, 2017
But in the end, it was the Oregon Ducks, and not the Washington Huskies, who advance in the PAC 12 tournament.
Washington falls to Oregon in Pac-12 Tournament 70-69
— Washington Women’s Basketball (@UW_WBB) March 4, 2017
>> https://t.co/HM33XtOsDT pic.twitter.com/lKd4GXjUHA
The game was a see-saw battle, with the Oregon Ducks jumping out to a 22-17 lead after the first quarter. But the Washington Huskies came roaring back, closing to within one point at halftime 32-31, and retaking the lead by the end of the third quarter 57-51.
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No Autopilot Victory
By this point in time, many expected the Huskies to cruise to the victory. The Seattle based crowd was overwhelmingly supporting the home town Huskies. When Kelsey Plum hit a three pointer with just nine minutes remaining in the game to extend the lead to 60-51, many expected the Ducks to accept defeat.

Go Joe Bruin
But they did not.
Instead, the Ducks went on a 19-9 run beginning with a Lexi Bando three-pointer to close the gap to six points at 8:17 remaining. Bando would finish the game as the Ducks’ leading scorer with 23 points. Plum would finish the game as the leading scorer for both sides, adding 34 points in the losing cause.
Crushing the Huskies efforts in the contest was a sub-par performance from three point range. While the Ducks rained in threes at a 47.8 percent clip, the Huskies could only manage a 20.8 percent shooting from the arc.
Future outlook
With the loss, the Husky Women’s basketball team must now await the invitation from the NCAA tournament. Sixth-seed Oregon now advances to the semi-finals to face second-seed Stanford.
Last season, the fifth-seeded UW WBB team fell to top-seeded Oregon State in the semifinals. Oregon State went on to win the PAC-12 tournament last year.
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Despite the loss, the team’s ultimate goal is the NCAA women’s college basketball tournament. The team was the seventh seed but won four games before falling to Syracuse in the semifinals. This year, the team hopes to better last year’s showing.