Tina Langley and her Washington Husky basketball team are getting set to take on Columbia in the First Four game of the 2025 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. The Dawgs are in the Big Dance, folks and Washington has a chance to beat Columbia for the first time ever.
Well, it’s worth noting that Columbia hasn’t ever been an opponent for the Huskies at any point in the past. So, well, technically this is a chance for Columbia to beat UW for the first time ever.
Anyway. The Huskies have an intriguing matchup ahead of them. Washington will be taking on a defense that allows just 58.6 points per game while Washington gives up 64.4 points per game. Maybe that’s a product of the difference in the conferences and schedules that these teams have played. Maybe it’s just a function of the fact that the Lions are better on defense than UW is.
The Lions also rebound a bit better. They’re averaging 8.8 rebounds more per game than their opponents. Meanwhile, the Huskies are getting 2.9 more rebounds per game than their opponents. That’s a noteworthy margin.
But, Washington has an interesting advantage on the offensive side of things.
2025 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament preview: Washington Huskies vs. Columbia Lions
The Huskies make 47.8 percent of their shots from the field. Columbia? Well, the Lions are hitting on just 43.7 percent of their shots. From behind the three point line, Washington is making 37.3 percent of its attempts while Columbia is making just 31.4 percent of its shots. And at the free throw line, Washington is making 79 percent of its attempts and the Lions are getting just 62 percent.
That could be pretty important to consider.
It’s also worth noting that Washington is on a pretty solid run lately. The Huskies ran into problems against the Michigan Wolverines in the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament, sure, but UW has won five of its last six games and that momentum is important to have this time of the year.
So, in Washington’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since the 2017 edition of the Big Dance, the Huskies have a unique challenge in front of them as they hope to get things rolling in postseason play.
The Huskies are 21-19 all time in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament and it sure would be nice to build on that record a bit. And if the Huskies can do that, then they’ll get a crack at facing the West Virginia Mountaineers.