March 19th, 2016: Penn at Washington (NCAA tournament)

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Washington broke open a close game in the fourth quarter to beat Penn 65-53. Kelsey Plum had 24 points and seven assists to pace the Huskies, while Talia Walton had 18 points, 11 in the second half. Sydney Stipanovich led Penn with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

For purple, changing shirts, chasing loose balls, maroon versus gold, rigging the shooting contest, and the star y'all already knew about, join your intrepid and parched blogger after the jump.
I don't always root for Huskies, but when I do, I root for UW. Stay purple and bow down to Washington, my friends.

Seriously, did you think I was going to travel four and a half hours for a single game? We're staying for UW and Penn. So far it's definitely more competitive than the 2-15 game was, and with a three at the buzzer Penn has a 25-24 lead. Kelsey Plum has 11 for the Huskies, while Penn has spread the scoring out a bit more.

We're right behind the scout table, so Brenda Frese is a few seats over from us, greeting the adoring public. One of the assistants is still in scouting position, though.

Any band that plays "Fat Bottomed Girls" is all right by me, Penn. UW, of course, has to go to Nirvana. UW gets the edge on cheer, though I admit I had a better view of them. Love the daps amongst them with Harry. Band brought extra people who couldn't be in the pit during the game because of NCAA regulations, but they whipped out their instruments and got into the empty seats behind their bandmates as soon as the game was over. Excellent rendition of "Celebration" after the game!

It was close for a while, with both teams notching threes at the end of quarters, but UW came up with the big shots in the fourth quarter to pull away. What really impressed me about the Huskies was the trust they have in each other to pick each other up, whether it's on loose balls or no-look passes. I guess that's the advantage to playing an iron five.

Penn really only played one sub, Beth Brzozowski- they cleared the bench late in the game, when they were down big and were waving the white flag. That way, everyone got a chance to be in the tournament, which is nice. Brzozowski didn't really have much of an impact backing up the three starting guards.

Kasey Chambers must catch so much flak from opposing Ivy League bands because of her name. We're talking serenades of "Not Pretty Enough" here. She hit the big three that put Penn up at the half. She's a little bitty thing, or at least a medium-sized slight thing, and maybe that's why she sets up beyond the arc so much. Lauren Whitlach (whose name I kept hearing as "whiplash") was also firing away early and often from deep. Anna Ross had a nifty steal in the third quarter, and kept Penn fighting when they got down late.

Sydney Stipanovich showed moxie on the inside- she looks awkward, like she's a 5-4 woman who woke up in a 6-4 body and isn't 100% sure how it functions, but the shots go in and the rebounds stay grabbed. She lit up in the third quarter. It was fun to watch. Michelle Nwokedi was a defensive beast- she had a couple of spectacular blocks, one on Gilling and one on Plum, and I can't remember which on it was she managed to keep inbounds. I think it was the one on Gilling. Penn came up empty the next possession, though, which is a shame- you can't waste plays like that. The three-pointer is not her shot, and she definitely has to refine her offense, but thre's a lot of potential there. She's a player I'd be excited about if I were an Ivy fan.

It may be a conscious stylistic choice by Penn's coach, but I can't shake the feeling that they need to hit the weight room a little bit. Lots of very slight players there.

Mathilde Gilling came in briefly in the first half to spell Katie Collier; those minutes were unremarkable. I was surprised when it was Collier who came out, as Chantel Osahor had just gotten in a little bit of foul trouble. She started getting ready to come in in the third quarter, but ultimately Mike Neighbors decided to wait until the very end of the game to bring in all the subs. Subs for everyone! Everyone gets a sub! Their time wasn't very impactful, but I liked the defense that Deja Strother brought down low, and I thought it was nice for Kelli Kingma to have the chance to bring the ball up. When does Jenna Moser get to have her name on her jersey?

Chantel Osahor is an interesting player. She's got a big body, and she looks like she's going to get gassed if you run her for more than five minutes, but she's very quietly a critical part of the offense with her screens (even the illegal ones) and her passing. I don't know why she considers the three-point shot part of her offensive arsenal, because she doesn't have enough arc on it to gt it over. I've heard that that weird flat shot of her goes in more than it should, but I saw no evidence of that today. Katie Collier picked up nifty passes from her teammates and sometimes finished the shots at the rim. Sometimes, not so much. She was horrendous at the line, though; I think she might have been trying too hard to overcorrect for the previous misses (she was off to the right on one, off to the left on the next, for example). Talia Walton came up big in the second half, hitting threes from the strong side and beating the buzzer- she was the one who ended the third quarter with the big three for UW.

Alexus Atchley made some great defensive plays along the sidelines and hit a couple of big threes in the fourth quarter to stretch the lead. But we all know who the star of the show is for the Dawgs- the woman who wears #10 and the diamond braid, the Husky so purple even her name is purple, Washington's all-time leading scorer and a strong candidate to break 3000, the one and only Kelsey Plum. She has some soft touch, and she loves to use the glass. She has range and versatility. But don't let the shooting line fool you. She's more than a volume scorer. She had some beautiful passes to her teammates, including at least one no-look to set up a three. What first drew our attention as the game started was her hustle on defense- she was making smart deflections and playing tough. I really like her all-around game. She's a star, and she's going to be a superstar.

Officiating got pretty tight in the second half. The people behind us were yelling at the refs to let 'em play. There were a couple of out-of-bounds calls I disagreed with, but nothing really major.

It wasn't the crispest game in the world, but it was competitive until very late. I think the faith the Huskies had in each other was the key- you can make riskier plays if you know your teammates are going to be there to clean it up.

Questionable decision-making by both sides at one point late in the game. UW has an eight-point lead. They inbound to Collier. If I'm Washington, why do I have 0-4 from the line Collier in position to catch that ball? If I'm Penn, why am I not fouling her? Ultimatly, Penn chose to play out those last few seconds and give the subs time in the game, but I'm surprised they didn't go at it a little more aggressively.