It all comes down to how you finish.
On Sunday afternoon, the Washington women’s basketball team lost its second straight close game against a conference opponent, as Washington fell to USC in overtime, 63-54.
The defeat was a disappointing ending for the Huskies in what had been a thriller of a game, as UW gave up an early lead before roaring back from a six-point, fourth-quarter deficit to send the game into extras.
Junior Lauren Schwartz provided the fourth-quarter heroics for the Huskies, with a layup and a pair of three-pointers in the final two minutes, including one with seven seconds left on the clock to tie the game at 54-54.
But that was the final basket that the Huskies would score, as USC dominated the Huskies in overtime 9-0 to send Washington to its second straight home loss.
On Friday, the Huskies fell to No. 9 ranked UCLA, 51-47.
Despite the pair of losses, the Huskies chose to look at the bright spots. Though disappointed in the end result of losing both contests of their two-game homestand, second-year head coach Tina Langley knows that there is a lot to look forward to for a team that has made major strides since last year’s 7-16 campaign.
“I think they see that this team is getting better every night,” Langley said. “People that know basketball know that this is actually a pretty exciting time. The way we fought at the end of that game showed our growth from the last game.”
The Huskies got off to a hot start in Sunday’s contest, leading the Trojans at halftime by a four-point margin, 26-22. But the Huskies couldn’t hold on, as USC outscored the Huskies 32-28 in the second half before running away with the win in overtime.
After shooting 43% from the floor in the first two quarters, the Trojans went 12 of 24 from the floor in the second half. The Huskies finished the game with a 39% shooting mark.
Coming into Sunday’s matchup, USC ranked first in the Pac-12 with a defensive scoring average of 51.22 points, while the Huskies’ offense ranked last in the conference with an average of 63.7 points per game.
“Give credit to them in overtime, they’re a great defensive team,” Langley said. “I think they took us out of a few things we were trying to do, and we’re going to continue to learn and grow from that.”
While the end result wasn’t what they’d hoped, the Huskies were encouraged by the fact that they put up such a fight. Schwartz’ big three-pointer in particular was a moment to savor, as it brought a jolt of energy to the crowd that just a few minutes earlier had watched the Trojans go on a 7-0 run to take a five-point lead. UW forced 20 turnovers on a team that averaged 14.4 per game.
“I just told the team, we’ve got to execute down the stretch,” Schwartz said. “We’ve got to do the details that we’ve been working on in practice, sprinting to screen and all that stuff. I think I got a really great screen, and props to Dalayah (Daniels) for that … I have confidence that my shots are going to go in.”
The shot didn’t wind up being the game defining moment, but it was still a reminder that the Huskies aren’t a team that will die easily.
“I just think our poise was better,” Daniels said. “If you look at the history of our past games, I think our poise towards the end, you’re really rattled, but I think we’ve grown each game in not letting the team get us out of our character. I think we grew in that area today.”
Daniels went 8-for-10 shooting for a team-high 17 points and nine rebounds against the Trojans, while Schwartz had 16 points, including four three-pointers.
Destiny Littleton led the Trojans with 20 points, including six successful free throws in OT.
Despite the pair of losses this weekend, the Huskies were encouraged by the fact that they kept it close in both games, and showed that they are able to hang around with some of the Pac-12’s toughest squads.
“We can be one of them, we can be a team of this caliber,” Langley said. “I think we’re a team that when we take the floor, we have a chance to beat anybody we play. We’re learning that about ourselves.”
Washington will play Friday at Arizona.