Perhaps the surest sign Tina Langley has the Washington women’s basketball team back on the right track wasn’t their upset win over then-No. 2 Stanford three weeks ago or Sunday’s comfortable victory over Oregon that capped a 12-5 record at Alaska Airlines Arena this season.
The Huskies’ appearance in NCAA tournament projections is a notable benchmark for the second-year coach who inherited a team that hadn’t been to the Big Dance since 2017.
In ESPN’s latest mock NCAA tournament bracket, Charlie Creme included UW in the ‘next four out’ category behind Nebraska, Toledo and Rhode Island.
Theoretically, Washington would need to leapfrog those three teams as well as ‘first four out’ entries Arkansas, St. John’s, Oregon and Maryland over the next two weeks to land a spot in the 68-team field.
Still, NCAA tourney bubble talk in late February is a testament to how far the Huskies (15-11, 7-9 Pac-12) have come since last season when they were 7-16 and last in the league at 2-12.
Aside from winning next week’s Pac-12 tournament and earning an automatic ticket to the Big Dance, conceivably Washington needs at least a split during this week’s road trip against the Los Angeles schools and likely a deep run at the conference tourney to improve its chances at snagging one of the 36 at-large NCAA tournament berths during the March 12 Selection Show.
The Huskies’ 8 p.m. Thursday game against USC (19-8, 9-7) has Pac-12 seeding implications. Washington is in eighth place in the conference standings, but could improve to sixth if it finishes in tie with USC or Washington State (18-9, 8-8). The Cougars play at UCLA (10-6, 21-7) at 6 p.m. Thursday.
In their previous meeting, Washington was shutout 9-0 in overtime and lost 63-54 against USC on Jan. 22 at Alaska Airlines Arena.
“We can be one of them, we can be a team of this caliber,” Langley said after the USC defeat. “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.”
The Pac-12 regular season concludes Saturday with UW vs. UCLA and WSU at USC. Both games are at noon.
Following Sunday’s 68-60 win over Oregon, Langley was asked what’s left for the Huskies to accomplish.
“The next practice,” she said. “It’s hard for me to go outside of that. I’m excited to see the film. I’m excited to see what we improved on. We celebrate our growth and we have a lot to celebrate (defensively), but we also have a lot to still improve on. … I’m excited to get to the court.”