Huskies women rally but fall short against Bruins

"One shot," Katelan Redmon said with mild exasperation Thursday night after a comeback by the Washington women's basketball team fell two points short in a 59-57 loss to UCLA in front of 2,237 at Edmundson Pavilion. "We needed just one more shot."

It seemed unlikely this game would come down to a final shot. The Huskies (6-10 overall, 1-3 Pac-10) never led, shot dreadfully early (24 percent in the first half) and trailed by 13 with less than 14 minutes to play.

Yet with less than three seconds left, 6-foot-2 senior forward Andrea Plouffe, the only open shooter Emily Florence could locate after dashing the ball up court at the seven-second mark, launched a 22-foot jumper from outside the arc with a chance to win the game.

Front iron. No time for a putback. No regrets, said first-year coach Tia Jackson after coaching her first Pac-10 home game.

"Anybody who was on the floor, I'll take that three from them all day long," she said. "From the past, I know Dre [Plouffe] can knock down that shot any day."

Just maybe not this day, when everyone not named Redmon sank just 3 of 29 shots in the first half for UW.

"Ill-advised shots," Jackson said. Still, UCLA led just 29-24 at the half.

Redmon was 6 of 8 in the first 20 minutes and kept Washington close while the Bruins (8-8, 3-2) also struggled offensively. Redmon finished 9 of 13 for a game-high 19 points, plus eight rebounds.

"My shot is finally back on," said the 6-1 freshman, who struggled through 0-for-7 and 3-for-11 outings two weeks ago at Stanford and California. "I was in a little bit of a slump there for a couple of games. I'm just hitting again."

Sophomore Sami Whitcomb (1 of 9 in the first half, 0 for 6 on three-pointers) found her range in the second half, sinking three three-pointers to post 17 points along with a game-high 10 rebounds.

Jess McCormack hit three of four shots (six points) and UW shot 56 percent (13 of 23) in the second half. But no one else scored more than four points for Washington.

"We were all getting good looks," Redmon said. "Sometimes that just happens. My teammates were giving me some great screens to get me open."

Notes

• Chief Sealth grad Christina Nzekwe had eight points and seven rebounds for UCLA. Regina Rogers, also from Chief Sealth, finished with six points and three boards for the Bruins.

• After making just 9 of 37 field-goal attempts in the first half, Washington has shot less than 30 percent in the first half of five of its past six games.

• The Huskies host USC on Sunday at 3 p.m. in a game televised on FSN. Thursday night's game was UW's first home game since Dec. 21.

UCLA
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Earl	23	3-12	0-3	2-2	1	2	6
Pluimer	33	6-13	4-5	0-4	1	3	16
Alexander	17	3-6	0-2	4-9	0	0	6
Tukiainen	27	3-7	0-0	1-3	1	1	7
Campbell	38	4-10	0-0	1-8	1	2	8
Henderson	18	1-3	0-0	0-2	2	0	2
Nzekwe	16	2-6	4-8	4-7	0	1	8
Ibekwe	3	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Brown	2	0-1	0-0	0-1	0	2	0
Rogers	23	3-10	0-0	2-3	0	4	6
	200	25-69	8-18	15-40	6	15	59

Percentages: FG .362, FT .444. Three-point goals: 1-8, (Pluimer 0-2, Tukiainen 1-2, Campbell 0-2, Henderson 0-2). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 1, (Pluimer). Turnovers: 14, (Earl 3, Alexander 3, Campbell 3, Henderson 2, Nzekwe, Rogers 2). Steals: 9, (Earl 3, Tukiainen, Campbell, Nzekwe 4).

WASHINGTON
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Redmon	37	9-13	1-1	0-8	1	2	19
McCormack	23	3-4	0-0	0-4	0	4	6
Florence	39	0-6	0-0	1-7	5	1	0
Whitcomb	35	5-15	3-4	2-10	1	2	17
Mosiman	19	1-7	0-0	0-2	0	0	2
Bennett	11	2-4	0-0	1-1	0	5	4
McNeill	8	0-2	2-4	2-2	0	0	2
Augustavo	5	1-4	0-0	0-0	0	0	3
Plouffe	23	1-5	2-4	1-4	0	2	4
	200	22-60	8-13	9-42	7	16	57

Percentages: FG .367, FT .615. Three-point goals: 5-20, (Redmon 0-1, Florence 0-2, Whitcomb 4-10, Bennett 0-1, McNeill 0-1, Augustavo 1-4, Plouffe 0-1). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 7, (McCormack, Whitcomb, Bennett 5). Turnovers: 19, (Redmon 4, McCormack 2, Florence 3, Whitcomb 5, Mosiman 3, Bennett, Plouffe). Steals: 5, (Redmon, Florence 2, Whitcomb 2).

UCLA	29	30	—	59
Washington	24	33	—	57

Attendance: 2,237. Officials: Michael Price, Brenda Pantoja, Maj Forsberg. Technical fouls: UCLA-None. Washington-None.