The Huskies led from start to finish in a Monday matinee at Alaska Airlines Arena to beat Nevada, 58-42, in the final game of the Husky Classic. Washington enters the holiday break on a three-game win streak and improved to 5-3 overall on the season.
Haley Van Dyke had a dominant performance to lead the Huskies in their final non-conference game of the regular season, scoring a season-high 20 points and grabbing nine rebounds, both team highs.
But it was the Huskies’ team defense which was the star of the game. UW used a swarming effort to hound Nevada (8-4) all game and snap their seven-game win streak. The Wolfpack managed just 42 points, a season-low by a UW opponent, and were held to 27.9% shooting.
“We put a game plan today to try and stifle their offensive performance,” UW assistant Dan Tacheny said following the Huskies’ fourth win over Nevada in four all-time meetings. “The kids did such a terrific job of understanding what we wanted and giving great effort and understanding what we wanted. It was the best defensive performance we’ve had all season and it was a credit to them.”
Van Dyke had 16 points by halftime, equaling the Wolfpacks’ total as UW had a 32-16 advantage at the break.
The Huskies came out clicking on all cylinders offensively, shooting 56.7% (13 of 23) from the field and sharing the ball with eight assists during the opening 20 minutes. The Wolfpack were held to 20.7% shooting (6 of 29) in the first half.
UW would build the lead to as much as 21 points in the third quarter, and Coach Tina Langley was able to get 13 players into the game – 10 of which scored.
Nevada made a fourth-quarter run, getting the game to within 11 points at the 5:41 mark, but Van Dyke hit a pull up jumper for her 20th points and Mulkey took a nice feed from Van Dyke at the rim to quell the Wolfpacks’ run and build the lead back to 15 points with 3:41 remaining.
Mulkey was the only other Husky in double digits with 10 points. Alexis Whitfield came off the bench to chip in eight points.
The Huskies are off until New Year’s Eve and will face Stanford at Alaska Airlines Arena.
