Like an avalanche rumbling downhill, the Washington women’s basketball team slammed into North Carolina Central in the second quarter Thursday night with an awe-inspiring blitzkrieg that turned a relatively close nonconference contest into a historic 113-39 rout.
At both ends of floor, the Huskies were all-encompassing and dominant while rendering the hapless Eagles seemingly helpless in front of 1,481 at Alaska Airlines Arena.
“We have high expectations and high standards,” sophomore guard Elle Ladine said. “We’re still getting better each day. … We always expect to be great. That’s our goal.”
Washington began the first quarter ahead 23-14 before unleashing an unrelenting onslaught that surprisingly began after North Carolina Central drained a three-pointer in the opening minute.
That’s when the Huskies outscored the Eagles 30-2 over the next 8 minutes and 12 seconds. Hannah Stines drained a three-pointer with 1:44 left in the second quarter to put UW up 53-19 and capped 19 straight points from the Huskies.
During the rampaging run, Washington held North Carolina Central to 1-for-11 shooting and forced six turnovers.
“I looked at the score and it was close, and then like all of a sudden, it was a far gap,” said fifth-year guard Lauren Schwartz, who scored seven of her 15 points in the second quarter. “I thought we did really well sharing the ball. … We hit our shots and just played defense like we know how to play.”
The Huskies connected on 13 of 21 field goals in the second quarter while outscoring the Eagles 34-7 and taking a 57-21 lead into halftime.
Ladine tallied 17 points, five assists and four rebounds in 24 minutes, while junior forward Dalayah Daniels — who connected on her first three-pointer since her freshman season — had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Washington was unyielding in the second half, and for a second straight game, UW’s starters sat out the fourth quarter while coach Tina Langley emptied the bench.
“We still wanted to play the way we play,” Langley said. “We did want to try something else defensively, so we did change our defense, and they did a great job with that. … So, I love the way we stay locked in and continued to adjust so that we could just have some great game experience doing things just a little bit differently at times.”
Freshmen guards Ari Long and Sayvia Sellers each finished with 18 points in mop-up duty.
Washington scored its second-most points and missed tying the record, which was set in 1985, by a point. UW’s 74-point win is the largest margin of victory in Husky history.
“We’re here to play,” Schwartz said. “We’re here to score and play defense. … On both ends of the floor, I thought we were really great.”
UW outscored North Carolins Central 29-7 in the fourth quarter, and the Huskies’ defensive dominance was reminiscent of their destruction in Monday’s season opener when they limited Sacramento State to just 28 points in a blowout win.
Washington (2-0) continues its four-game homestand next Wednesday against Pacific.
Note
The Huskies signed Devin Coppinger, a 5-10 guard from Everson, Wash., and Annika Soltau, a 6-4 forward from Freiburg, Germany.
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