The Washington women fell to the No. 1 Big Ten-seeded team, the UCLA Bruins. Those Bruins very well could end up as the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament, too. It was a frustrating loss as the Huskies kept it close and had some chances, but ultimately it will go down as a "quality loss" against UCLA.
Now, the attention of the Husky women turns to the NCAA Tournament. They will await where the selection committee places them on March 15. Though ESPN has released its final ladies bracket, there will be some tweaks for the auto-bids and these final games, but the Huskies will very likely remain where they are locked in.
ESPN Bracketology has Washington women's basketball as a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament
In the latest bracketology by ESPN, the Washington Huskies are the No. 7 seed of Region 2 (Sacramento) and will play their first games in Baton Rouge. If ESPN nails their prediction, this would pit the Huskies against the Colorado Buffaloes as the No. 10 seed in that region. Colorado is a familiar foe from the Pac-12 days.
The winner of that game would presumably take on No. 2 LSU unless No. 15 Navy upsets them. Once again, this is all just predictions from ESPN, but as a No. 7 seed, even in prediction models, this all but locks up the Huskies into the NCAA Tournament.
Washington has the ability to hang with and even beat any team, but have also found ways to flounder in games that were very winnable. The Huskies knocked off No. 16 Maryland but then stumbled against a very winnable Nebraska game. Part of what Washington will need to find in the NCAA Tournament to make any sort of run is consistency.
The Husky women have to stack good quarters together. The UCLA game is a great example. They had one quarter that sealed their fate. In the second quarter, Washington was outscored 21-9. That made the game feel out of reach and put Washington on their heels the rest of the game. The tournament will be decided by teams that can make runs, stack up quarters, and keep the turnovers down. The Huskies are very capable of making a run.