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Seattle, WA -- It’s been a great start to the season for the Washington Huskies. Despite losing the programs all-time leading scorer in Jazmine Davis and its all-time leading rebound in Aminah Williams, the Dawgs have opened with back to back dominating performances. Winning the season opener Saturday against Santa Clara 100-55, and defeating cross-town rival Seattle U 96-55 Wednesday. Both games saw individual records set for several players.
In the season opener Against Santa Clara the Dawgs jumped out to an early double digit lead. The Broncos would counter. Switching to a full court press that forced the Huskies into several turnovers and wllowed Santa Clara to tie the game at 16 half way through the first quarter. From then on, led by Talia Walton, it was all UW.
With Sue Bird and Storm owner Lisa Brummel watching from court-side, the redshirt senior forward played the best game of her life, finishing with a career high 33 points on 10-14 shooting including 8-9 from beyond the arc. Walton also set a personal best with six steals to go along with nine rebounds and four assists.
In addition to Walton’s performance, the Dawgs got great production from their trio of Mcdonald’s All American’s. Kelsey Plum, in her knew role as point guard, added 25 points and dished out eight assists, while redshirt junior Katie Collier scored 12 points in just 16 minutes in her debut as the starting center. Deja Strother, the much touted freshman center made her NCAA debut finishing with nine points and five rebounds in 21 minutes.
As a team Washington was lights out offensively. From beyond the arc knocking down 11-21 shots. Overall from the field they hit 51% of their attempts and sank 31-42 of their free throws. All while holding the Broncos to just 30% from the floor and 3-20 from deep. It all added up to a 100-55 Husky victory.
The second game of the season would play out similar to the first. Cross-town rival Seattle University came into Hec-Ed Wednesday and were just as quickly run out of the building. By halftime Washington had doubled up on the Redhawks 46-23 and didn’t let up in the second half. The Huskies cruising to the 96-55 victory.
The player of the game was junior forward Chantel Osahor. Adjusting quickly to her new role as full-time starter, Osahor scored 12 points, dished out four assist and became the first Washington player to grab 20 rebounds in a game in the 21st century. Making her performance even more impressive was that she managed it in just 26 minutes of action.
The Huskies would again get a stellar night from Plum, who surpassed the 1,500 career point mark and finished the night with 26 points to go with six assists. Walton remained red-hot from the field, connecting on 7-10 from the floor to finish with 18 points.
Collier also impressed scoring eight points, pulling down eight rebounds and blocking three shots in 22 minutes. Also of note was the play of Kahlia Lark. The sophomore forward finished with nine points and added five rebounds in 18 minutes of play.
Washington now stands at 2-0 on the year. They next play Friday (Nov. 20th) at Fresno State (1-1). The game will mark the first time the two schools have played each other since 1986.