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Sayvia Sellers Triple-Double Guides No. 16 Washington Huskies to Win in Season-Opener
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- Sayvia Sellers Triple-Double Guides No. 16 Washington Huskies to Win in Season-Opener
(Scott Utterback/Courier Journal)
The No. 16 Washington Huskies women's basketball team plays its hype video before the beginning of its season-opener against the UC San Diego Tritons on Nov. 2 at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle. | Teren Kowatsch/Roundtable Sports
SEATTLE — The No. 16 Washington Huskies women's basketball team pulled away late to improve to 1-0 on the season in its season-opening, 79-63 triumph against the UC San Diego Tritons on Monday at Alaska Airlines Arena.
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The Huskies were closely-contested with the Tritons through most of Monday's contest, but a career-best night from senior guard Sayvia Sellers provided the spark needed for her team to close out the game.
Sellers recorded her first career triple-double (as well as her first career double-double) Monday. She scored 25 points on 9-for-20 shooting (including a 3-for-8 mark from 3-point range), pulled in 11 rebounds and dished 10 assists. She added a block to her already-impressive stat total. She's the first player of the 2026-27 season to record a triple-double across the country.
Sellers' game was the third triple-double in program history and the first since Chantel Osahor put up 11 points, pulled in 21 boards and dished 10 assists in a 105-53 win against the Idaho Vandals on Nov. 22, 2016.
"Pretty solid, I would say. Pretty decent," Sellers said in a postgame interview Monday. " ... It was cool. My teammates made some shots, so helped me out. But it was just fun to celebrate a moment like that with my team in the locker room. It feels good. ... I feel like (my teammates) rebound really well so people kind of just forget about me and I can just grab (the rebound)."
Sellers' triple-double provided the spark needed for UW to put the game away in the fourth quarter. But UC San Diego, which has made the NCAA tournament the last two seasons, was able to keep pace with Washington through the first 30 minutes.
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The Huskies held just a one-point lead (19-18) at the end of the first quarter and the game was knotted 31-31 going into halftime.
Washington, which featured six newcomers, was able to generate many open looks in the first half but failed to convert on most of them. The Huskies shot just 30.8% from the floor (12-for-39) and from 3-point range (4-for-13) through the first 20 minutes.
The two sides exchanged leads for the first three-and-a-half minutes, but UW was able to create some separation at the five-minute mark.
The Tritons trailed just 41-39 with five minutes, 12 seconds left in the third. Washington went on an 8-3 run to close out the third frame to carry a 49-42 lead going into the final 10 minutes.
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"We knew it would be a great game," UW head coach Tina Langley said after the game Monday. "That's the way you want to start your season, I thought they played really well tonight. ... Really resilient team. Grateful that we had the opportunity to compete against them. Really proud of the way our team came out and competed."
UW outscored UC San Diego 14-7 in the first four minutes of the quarter, which provided the necessary separation the Huskies needed to pull away.
In addition to Sellers' triple-double, Washington got meaningful contributions from several players.
Second-year forward Brynn McGaughy had a double-double in her own right. She finished with 13 points on a 6-for-14 mark from the floor and pulled in 15 rebounds while adding two assists and three steals.
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Junior guard Avery Howell was the team's second-leading scorer behind Sellers. The Boise, Idaho, native had 22 on and 8-for-16 mark from the field (5-for-11 from beyond the arc) as well as seven rebounds and two assists.
Junior forward Tilda Trygger finished two points shy of her own double-double. She had eight points on a 3-for-6 mark from the floor (2-for-2 from the free-throw line) and 13 boards.
