Washington women suffer worst loss in school history

If Washington is gauging improvement against Connecticut, the result is nil.

In three matchups against the other Huskies, UW has given up at least 100 points, losing each game. The latest was a 109-51 decision in the opener of the Caribbean Classic in Cancun, Mexico, on Thursday.

The loss was the worst in school history, and 109 points is the most allowed.

This by a team that prides itself on its defense, according to coach Tia Jackson.

Perhaps the Huskies should have focused on their offense, too. Washington struggled to score 50 points against UConn.

As for the defense? Well, No. 1-ranked UConn outscored UW 57-24 in the first half, and had a 64-22 advantage inside.

Washington, with its roster full of underclassmen, was ill-equipped to play against UConn. Freshman shooter Kristi Kingma was 1 of 7 from the field. Junior Sami Whitcomb was 1 of 9.

"I think they took away a little bit of every aspect of our game today," junior forward/center Laura McLellan told reporters in Cancun. She scored 10 points and had three rebounds. "They pressured our guards. We'd never really seen pressure like that. Their post players are big, and we've never played against that type of athleticism before."

Junior Sara Mosiman scored a team-high 11 points for Washington, which shot 26 percent from the field and was outrebounded 56-30.

Then again, Washington has never been a match for the storied Connecticut program. UConn beat visiting UW 101-81 in 1998, then routed UW 100-54 in Seattle in 2000. UConn was ranked No. 1 in those games, too.

Thursday, UConn simply tossed the ball inside to Tina Charles (29) en route to its eighth straight win this season. Star forward Maya Moore had a double-double at halftime with 23 points and 14 boards, and didn't play in the second half.

Washington's loss surpassed the 52-point margin of victory (103-51) by Louisiana Tech (which was ranked No. 2 at the time) in December 1982. And the 109 points topped the mark Stanford had set in a 106-76 victory over UW in 1997.

"I'm excited because we can take out our frustrations on this next team," said Mosiman, who was limited by foul trouble to 15 minutes. "The thing about tournaments is, it gives us another chance right off the bat. We don't get to think about too much, we can't."

Washington (3-4) continues play in the Classic against Florida State (9-2) today. The Seminoles defeated Northern Colorado on Thursday, 75-32.

"We don't have time to get down, we have to turn around and bounce back right away," said Jackson, who told reporters she was upset with her team's rebounding and lack of pushing the ball upcourt. "We can wallow in this if we want. But one of the things we can go ahead and stomach is Connecticut is the No. 1-ranked team in the country. They're very good. So we just wanted to make sure we could take some bits and pieces here that we can learn from and apply it to the next game."

WASHINGTON (3-4)
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
McLellan	20	5-13	0-1	1-3	0	3	10
Kingma	20	1-7	0-0	2-2	1	0	3
Morton	15	2-5	0-0	1-1	1	1	4
McNeill	19	2-4	1-3	2-5	0	3	5
Whitcomb	19	1-9	0-0	1-2	1	0	2
Romeo	14	0-3	0-0	0-0	1	1	0
Augustavo	26	1-11	2-2	1-2	1	1	5
Rozier	23	3-10	0-0	0-2	2	0	7
Young	18	1-3	2-4	2-3	2	3	4
Williams	11	0-1	0-0	1-2	1	4	0
Mosiman	15	4-10	3-4	0-3	1	3	11
	200	20-76	8-14	15-30	11	19	51

Percentages: FG .263, FT .571. Three-point goals: 3-21, Kingma 1-3, Whitcomb 0-4, Romeo 0-3, Augustavo 1-9, Rozier 1-2). Team rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 0. Turnovers: 15, McLellan 3, Kingma 4, Whitcomb 2, Romeo, Augustavo 2, Rozier 2, Williams). Steals: 6, Kingma, Romeo, Rozier, Williams, Mosiman 2).

Connecticut (8-0)
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Doty	28	3-7	0-0	1-5	3	2	7
Montgomery	26	2-5	5-7	0-1	6	4	9
Moore	25	9-14	4-6	2-14	4	0	23
Charles	19	13-15	3-5	2-8	0	2	29
Greene	17	3-5	0-0	1-4	2	3	6
Williams	17	6-6	1-1	4-8	0	4	13
Hayes	18	2-5	6-6	1-4	3	1	10
Fernandes	8	0-2	0-0	0-1	1	0	0
Dixon	22	1-3	1-2	0-1	2	2	4
McLaren	20	4-5	0-0	1-9	5	2	8
	200	43-67	20-27	12-56	26	20	109

Percentages: FG .642, FT .741. Three-point goals: 3-15 (Doty 1-5, Montgomery 0-2, Moore 1-4, Greene 0-1, Hayes 0-2, Dixon 1-1). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 8 (Doty, Moore 2, Charles 2, Greene, Williams, Hayes). Turnovers: 14 (Doty, Montgomery 5, Moore, Williams 4, Dixon 2, McLaren). Steals: 5 (Greene, Williams, Hayes 3).

Washington	24	27	—	51
Connecticut	57	52	—	109

Attendance: N/A. Officials: Bruce Morris, Angelica Suffern, Phillip Streit. Technical fouls: None.

Historic loss
The Huskies' 109-51 loss to Connecticut was the largest margin of defeat in the program's 35-season history. It was also a record for most points allowed.
Worst losses
Margin	Opp.	Score	Date
58	UConn	109-51	Dec. 18, 2008
52	La. Tech	103-51	Dec. 19, 1982
46	UConn	100-54	Nov. 24, 2000
42	WSU	68-26	Feb. 14, 1975
Most points allowed
Score	Opp.	Site	Date
109-51	UConn	Away	Dec. 18, 2008
106-76	Stanford	Away	Feb. 22, 1997
105-74	Oregon	Away	Jan. 23, 1982