Battle in Seattle Reaction: A win is a win...?

After the University of Washington's 58-53 "road" win against Seattle University, UW_WBB tweeted, "We escaped with a W and that's all that matters", consistent with the cliche "a win is a win" that one might have expected Washington head coach Jackson to give us.

However, I don't think it's far-fetched or unfair to say that the mood in the media room after a very competitive game in a packed Connolly Center spoke volumes about the significance of the outcome to the two teams.

So before doing any sort of recap or analysis, I'll start with this...

UW was first up for questions and Sami Whitcomb walked over to a fan sitting in the corner to cool down an unusually warm media room before preparing for questions. After settling in, a visibly disappointed Jackson asked if we wanted an opening comment or to start with questions and opened by saying she was "unhappy" with the outcome.

Next, SeattleU players Ashley Brown and Cassidy Murillo walked in exhausted, but loose joking that it felt so good to sit down after playing 38 minutes each. Coach Joan Bonvicini sat down with them -- trying to hide her satisfaction with the outcome -- and opened by saying that she was "very proud of her team".

It seems reasonable to infer that there was something about this outcome that mattered beyond the win...