It is so encouraging to be able to talk about a Washington Husky basketball team that is on a three-game winning streak and that’s the case as Tina Langley and her Washington Huskies managed to go on the road to Minneapolis to beat the Minnesota Golden Gophers in pretty convincing fashion.
Given that Minnesota now has an identical Big Ten record to UW’s 8-9 conference mark (and the Golden Gophers have 20 wins on the season), this sort of victory is something worth bragging about.
And there were a few interesting things that happened during the game that we need to talk about. No, I’m not just talking about the way Elle Ladine dominated the Golden Gophers and torched their defense for 26 points.
Washington Huskies women’s basketball beats Minnesota Golden Gophers: 3 thoughts on the 10-point road win in Minneapolis
Here are three thoughts on Washington’s road win:
It was such a joy to see UW’s defense clamp down on the third quarter
First and foremost, I loved the third quarter defensive dominance from the Huskies. Washington managed to hold the Golden Gophers to making just 38.5 percent of their shots from the field in the third quarter. On top of that, UW’s perimeter defense was remarkable as Minnesota missed on all four of their shots from deep.
The Huskies also happened to force three turnovers and avoided committing any in the frame that they outscored the Golden Gophers by a margin of 24 to 11.
That’s good.
Washington struggled early on, but quickly corrected things and I’m here for it
While the Huskies couldn’t really get anything going on the offensive side of things in the first quarter, Washington managed to very quickly turn things around. And honestly, it kind of gives you a little bit of whiplash.
Washington shot a measly 25 percent from the field in the first quarter and then hit on 83.3 percent of its shots in the second quarter. That’s an absurd sort of turn around and the Huskies needed that sort of improvement to be able to get this 10-point road win. The Huskies made 71.4 percent of their shots in the third quarter and then 62.5 percent in the fourth.
That’s also good.
Washington wasn’t perfect, but the Huskies still came out on top
There were a few interesting areas that Minnesota actually managed to have a bit of an advantage over the Huskies. Washington only had two second chance points while the Golden Gophers had 10. The Huskies also had zero blocks in this game.
Minnesota managed to get 13 points off of turnovers while the Huskies were held to just six points off of turnovers. The Golden Gophers had a 10-point bench scoring advantage.
And yet, Washington won by 10 points. So, that’s great. The Huskies needed this sort of win and they’re building some fun momentum. That, my friends, is also good.