1 of 6 | Washington’s Devin Coppinger shoots over Oregon’s Katie Fiso during a game on Sunday in Eugene, Ore. (Courtesy UW Athletics)
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By
Percy Allen
Seattle Times staff reporter
Sayvia Sellers and Katie Fiso exchanged big baskets for their respective teams and produced a thriller on the first day of March.
Back and forth they went, and at times it was as if the other eight players on the court were nonexistent. Whenever Fiso contorted around defenders for seemingly impossible layups for Oregon, Sellers drove to the rim and answered with equally awe-inspiring jumpers at the opposite end.
Their shot-making and creativity were next level, but in the final seconds the game’s biggest stars each made mistakes that decided the outcome.
Sellers missed a free throw that would have given the Washington women’s basketball team a one-point lead with 15 seconds left.
On the ensuing possession, Fiso, the former Garfield High standout, lost the ball and fouled Devin Coppinger, who split a pair of free throws that gave the Huskies a nail-biting 70-69 victory in Sunday’s regular-season finale.
In front of 5,865, Washington snapped a six-game losing streak at Matthew Knight Arena and won for the first time since 2016.
More important, the Huskies improved to 20-9 and 10-8 in the Big Ten and earned a first-round bye in the conference tournament, which starts Wednesday in Chicago.
Washington is the No. 8 seed and will face No. 9 seed USC (17-12, 9-9) at 9 a.m. Thursday in the second round. The winner advances to the quarterfinals against No. 1 seed UCLA (28-1, 18-0).
The Huskies snapped a two-game skid and will enter the postseason with a little bit of momentum thanks to Sellers, who was sensational while tallying a game-high 29 points on 11-for-19 shooting, five rebounds and five assists in 40 minutes.
“We came in off our bye week, so we were able to just get a better tempo on offense,” Sellers said during a postgame interview with the Big Ten Network. “I thought we just did a good job of sharing the ball really well.”
The Husky junior guard converted four three-pointers for Washington, which was 9 of 27 behind the arc.
Despite committing seven turnovers, Fiso was equally impressive while tallying a team-high 27 points on 12-for-17 shooting, five rebounds and three assists in 27 minutes.
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The Huskies went up 15-9 at the end of the first quarter after Coppinger’s three-pointer. In the second quarter, the Huskies continued to pad their lead, and Hannah Stines drove for a layup to go ahead 31-21.
Sellers took 10 shots (six field goals and four three-pointers) in the first half and did not miss while scoring 16 points to carry Washington to a 36-27 lead at the break.
Fiso did most of her damage in the third quarter while scoring 13 points, and Oregon trimmed its deficit to 48-47 near the end of the quarter.
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The Huskies maintained their lead, but the Ducks gained an advantage when UW freshman forward Brynn McGaughy picked up her fourth foul and coach Tina Langley opted for a five-guard lineup comprised of Sellers, Stines, Coppinger, Elle Ladine and Teagan Brown.
Oregon forward Ehis Etute feasted on the undersized Huskies while scoring 10 of her 21 points in the fourth quarter.
With 21 seconds left, Fiso delivered a gorgeous bounce past in the paint between Ladine and Yulia Grabovskaia to a cutting Etute, who sank a layup and gave the Ducks their first lead at 69-67.
After a timeout, Sellers blew past guard Sofia Bell and was fouled on a layup that knotted the score at 69 with 15 seconds remaining. She made her previous three foul shots and shoots 83.5% on free throws, but missed the freebie that would have given Washington the lead.
Facing the prospects of overtime or a heartbreaking loss, McGaughy cut off Fiso’s drive to the rim and forced a turnover that was retrieved by Coppinger, who was knocked over by Fiso after collecting the loose ball.
After Coppinger’s game-winning free throw with 3.1 seconds left, former Husky Ari Long’s desperation three-point shot hit the front of the rim as time expired.
“This year we’ve been in a couple of endgame situations where we have to get a big stop or a big score,” Sellers said. “I thought our team stayed together and executed really well down the stretch.”
Ladine added 11 points for Washington, which swept the regular-season series against Oregon for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
With a win, the Ducks (20-11, 8-10) would have captured the No. 8 seed in the Big Ten tournament, but they’re the No. 11 seed and will play No. 14 Purdue in the first round.
Percy Allen: pallen@seattletimes.com. Percy Allen is a sports reporter for The Seattle Times, where he writes about the University of Washington Huskies men’s and women’s basketball teams and the Seattle Storm.
