Barely clinging to their postseason lives, the Huskies needed something — or rather someone — to give them a spark.
Then, Elle Ladine arrived in the fourth quarter and delivered a spine-tingling performance that led Washington’s thrilling 67-56 comeback victory over New Mexico in the second round of the Postseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament on Sunday night.
Ladine canned all five of her fourth-quarter shots, with the crescendo from the Alaska Airlines Arena crowd rising before and after each basket.
The UW freshman drained an assortment of pullup jumpers, a midrange floater and a three-pointer for 11 of her 15 points in the period.
Lauren Schwartz scored 15 points, Haley Van Dyke added 10 points and five assists for the Huskies, which outscored New Mexico 26-8 in the fourth quarter.
Washington (17-14) advances to the third round to face the winner of Tuesday’s game between Wyoming (23-10) and Kansas State (18-16).
The Huskies scored the first five points and took control early with an 8-1 run for an 20-9 at the end of the first period.
New Mexico outscored Washington 22-9 in the second quarter thanks in large part to a blistering perimeter attack that converted six of 11 three-pointers in the period. Lobos Vian Cumber drilled a shot from downtown just before halftime that put UNM up 31-29 heading into the break.
Down 47-37 late in the third quarter, the Huskies reversed momentum with a full-court press that forced two turnovers and UW trailed 48-41 at the start of the fourth.
That’s when Ladine and UW’s defense took over.
New Mexico converted 3 of 14 shots in the final 10 minutes while UW was 10 of 12 from the field.
Cumber led a short-handed Lobos team missing two starters with 20 points.