Husky forward Haley Van Dyke said she and her Washington women’s basketball team would prepare for Sunday’s home matchup against Stanford like any other game.
But for fans, this isn’t any other game.
Stanford comes into the noon contest at Alaska Airlines Arena ranked No. 2 in the nation with a 22-2 record. The Cardinal lead the Pac-12 with a 10-1 mark, and the past two seasons ended with a national title in 2021 and a loss in the Final Four last year.
“Great, great team and tremendous coach,” Washington coach Tina Langley said of Stanford and its coach, Tara VanDerveer. “So we’re just excited to get on the court.”
The Huskies (12-9, 4-7) enter with confidence and on a two-game winning streak. They played one of their most complete games of the season Friday night in a 70-54 home win over California.
It was just the second time in their past 10 games that Washington, the lowest-scoring team in the Pac-12, had scored more than 58 points.
The Huskies certainly didn’t look like an offensively challenged team against the Bears, shooting 46.3% (25 of 54), 50% from three-point range (8 of 16) and 85.7% from the foul line (12 of 14).
Van Dyke played a big part in the win, with 14 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals.
“It does give us a little confidence,” she said of Friday’s win.
The Huskies will need that against a Stanford team that is allowing 56.0 points per game, second in the Pac-12. The Cardinal are allowing teams to shoot just 32.7%, the best mark in the conference.
But Washington will have the home crowd on its side, something it said was a huge boost Friday.
“They were just being loud and we were feeding off of that,” said Husky guard Trinity Oliver, who got UW off to a fast start Friday with two early three-pointers. “They keep coming back and we just love that support and their unwavering stance.”
Said Langley about Sunday’s game: “Just about every night in the Pac-12, somebody is nationally ranked. I think it’s more that you get to play in front of your fans that makes it so special.”