Several streaks collided Sunday at Alaska Airlines Arena on senior day for the Washington women’s basketball team.
The Huskies brought a 10-game losing streak against Oregon into the regular-season home finale while the Ducks dropped their last six games.
So, something had to give in a Pac-12 battle between Northwest rivals that began 50 years ago on March 1, 1974.
The Huskies broke from their traditional role as pushovers and turned the tables on the Ducks with a physical and imposing interior attack that powered Washington to a thrilling 68-60 victory win in front of 5,467.
It was the fourth straight home victory for Washington, including a last week’s 72-67 upset over then-No. 2 Stanford.
During the previous three home wins, the Huskies held opponents to an average of 60 points and their defense led the way again Sunday while short-circuiting an Oregon offense that ranked fourth in the Pac-12 averaging 75.5 points per game.
Lauren Schwartz scored 13 points, Dalayah Daniels added 10 and Haley Van Dyke chipped in nine points and nine rebounds for UW, which improved to 15-11, 7-9 in the Pac-12.
The trio of Husky centers Emma Grotaus, Darcy Rees and Daniels delivered bone-rattling screens at the top of the post that gave UW ballhandlers room to operate inside and outscore Oregon 38-24 in the paint.
The Huskies led 16-14 after the first quarter, but was outscored 18-11 in the second and trailed 32-27 at halftime.
Hannah Stines drilled a three-pointer that sparked a 9-0 run and gave the Huskies a 41-38 lead with 1:40 left in the third. On their next possession, (Lauren) Schwartz converted a pull up jumper and Darcy Rees capped the third-quarter scoring with a layup that gave Washington a 45-38 lead.
Rees began the fourth with contested layup in traffic that put UW up 47-38 and Trinity Oliver’s layup pushed the Huskies ahead 56-42 with 4:27 left.
Te-Hina Paopao (22 points) canned a three-pointer that cut Oregon’s deficit to 65-60 with 13 seconds left before Washington ended the game with three free throws.
Since beating the Huskies 65-58 at Matthew Knight Arena on Jan. 13 and improving to 13-4, the Ducks (14-13, 5-11) have been in a five-week free fall while winning one of 10 games and falling out of contention for an NCAA tournament berth.
Washington, which finished 12-5 at home, closes out the regular season next week in Los Angeles against USC and UCLA.