12 points: Washington’s bench was functionally nonexistent when it came to scoring against Montana
There just weren’t a lot of scorers playing actively on Sunday afternoon. At least not for the Huskies. It’s worth remembering that Montana scored 82 points against Washington. It’s also probably worth remembering that 82 points is literally the most than Montana has scored this season. And their bench! Montana’s bench was active and put 29 points on the scoreboard.
Meanwhile, if you haven’t already gleaned the info from the heading of this section, Washington’s bench delivered a grand total of 12 points against Montana. Just a dozen points against a Big Sky team. That’s worrisome stuff if you’re a Washington women’s basketball fan.
The Huskies can’t just rely on their starters if this season is going to be one that is full of wins. The Huskies will need their bench to be active, especially against Big Ten teams. Otherwise, things could get ugly and spiral a bit should the UW starters ever get worn down in any specific game.
This is a personnel thing, so it’s not like the Huskies can just change their roster overnight. But, Washington will need to consider its lineup and the minutes distribution to maximize scoring opportunities. And there’s no way that’s not an overwhelmingly fun task for a coach to have to handle.