Sayvia Sellers Scores 17 as No. 16 Washington Forces 21 Turnovers and Beats Pacific 75-54

SEATTLE. For one quarter, Pacific had No. 16 Washington right where it wanted. Then the Huskies started taking the ball away and never really stopped. Washington forced 21 turnovers, piled up 16 steals and went to the free throw line 32 times on the way to a 75-54 win over Pacific on Thursday, Nov. 5, at Alaska Airlines Arena.

Sayvia Sellers led Washington with 17 points and seven assists. Avery Howell added 15 points and seven rebounds, with 12 of those points coming after halftime, according to the AP recap on ESPN. Brynn McGaughy and Devin Coppinger each scored 11, and Coppinger set a career high with five steals, according to Washington.

The win moved Washington to 2-0 in front of 841 fans. Pacific fell to 1-1. Here is the official box score (opens in a new tab) and Washington's recap (opens in a new tab).

Pacific lands the first punch

For 10 minutes, the Tigers made Washington look ordinary. Pacific led 14-12 after the first quarter, the only quarter Washington lost all night. Stella Szabo was the steadiest piece of the Pacific offense early, scoring all six of Szabo's points in the first half on 3 of 4 shooting.

Washington's early offense was a little clunky. The Huskies made only 10 of 29 shots in the first half. They leaned on the 3 instead, hitting 6 of 17 from deep before the break, and Sellers and McGaughy carried the scoring with nine points apiece in the half.

The second quarter belongs to the defense

The game turned when Washington stopped worrying about its own shooting and started getting into Pacific's ball handlers. The Huskies won the second quarter 20-10 and took a 32-24 lead into halftime. By the break they already had 10 steals, and Pacific had already turned it over 11 times.

Coppinger was the engine, jumping passing lanes all night and finishing with five steals in 30 minutes. Coppinger also grabbed three rebounds, and every one of them came on the offensive glass. Howell and Sellers each added three steals, and McGaughy and Brooke Carlson had two apiece. When five different players are taking the ball away, a scouting report cannot game plan around one of them.

Pacific's starters felt it most. Sophia Mindermann played 31 minutes and turned it over four times, Yana Karamfilova and Victoria Rivera each had three turnovers, and three Pacific starters went scoreless in the first half. The Tigers never led by more than four points all night.

Howell and the free throw line put it away

Pacific made one real push. The Tigers scored 20 points in the third quarter, their best quarter of the game, and got contributions off the bench from Jordyn Dyer and LaMiracle Lebon to keep the margin in single digits. Washington answered by putting its head down and driving. The Huskies won the third quarter 21-20 to take a 53-44 lead into the fourth, then outscored Pacific 22-10 in the final 10 minutes.

Washington's recap credited a relentless downhill attack, and the numbers back it up. Pacific was whistled for 24 fouls. Washington made 27 of 32 free throws for the game, and the second half was almost automatic: the Huskies made 21 of 22 from the line after halftime. That is a 19-point edge at the stripe in a game decided by 21. Pacific made only 8 of 13.

Howell was the face of that second half. After a quiet three-point first half, Howell went 3 for 3 at the line, hit two 3s on the night and played a team-high 35 minutes without a single turnover. Howell also had seven rebounds, three steals and a block. Sellers ran the show around it, finishing 5 of 13 from the field with two 3s and 5 of 6 at the line to go with the seven assists.

The transition game was the other gap. Washington scored 20 fast break points to Pacific's five, and it turned Pacific's 21 turnovers into 21 points. Pacific got 13 points off Washington's 13 turnovers. Pacific actually won the paint 26-24, which tells you how much of Washington's damage came either in the open floor or at the line.

Rotation notes and the bench

Nights like this show what a coaching staff trusts in November, and Washington's rotation was telling. The starting five of Sellers, Howell, McGaughy, Coppinger and Tilda Trygger scored 61 of the 75 points and each played at least 25 minutes.

Trygger did not shoot it well, going 1 for 5 from the field, but still finished with seven points and eight rebounds, four of them offensive. Trygger made 5 of 6 free throws and did not commit a turnover. That is the kind of line that gets lost in a box score and wins games in conference play.

Off the bench, Amayah Garcia, listed as Sunshine Garcia in Washington's recap, gave the Huskies their best minutes, hitting both 3-point attempts for seven points with five rebounds in 16 minutes. Carlson added five points, two steals and a block in 14 minutes, though Carlson went 0 for 3 from deep. Kaelyn Carroll grabbed three rebounds in 13 minutes. Daniella McLean, Petra Toman and Macey Huard all saw the floor late, and McLean made two free throws. In all, 11 Huskies played.

The bench was outscored 23-14, which is a fair note for a team with Big Ten ambitions. Washington's reserves shot 3 of 11 from the field. The starters did the heavy lifting, and that is fine against Pacific. It will be a bigger question when the schedule stiffens.

What Pacific got right

Pacific deserves credit for its bench. Dyer led the Tigers with 12 points on 4 of 6 shooting, including a 3 and 3 of 3 at the line, in 21 minutes. Lebon was perfect from the field, 3 for 3 with a 3, for eight points. JoJo Nworie gave Pacific its only starter in double figures with 11 points and eight rebounds, and Marina Radocaj pulled down six rebounds in only nine minutes.

The Tigers actually outrebounded Washington on the offensive glass, 9-8, and kept the overall rebounding close at 35-33. They made 6 of 18 3s. The problem was simply the ball security. Twenty-one turnovers against a ranked team on the road will sink almost anyone, and Pacific never found a reliable way to break the pressure.

Pacific heads to Cal Baptist on Nov. 13.

What it means for Washington

Washington opened the season with a win over UC San Diego on Nov. 2, and this was a similar kind of night: not a work of art, but a comfortable, physical win built on defense and toughness. Through two games, the identity looks clear. Sellers is the decision maker, Howell is a reliable second scorer who can get hot after halftime, and the Huskies can win without shooting well because they defend the ball and get to the line.

That is a profile that travels. Both Sellers and Howell were named to the Naismith Trophy Player of the Year watch list in the preseason, according to Washington, and Trygger is on the Lisa Leslie Award watch list. Howell is also on the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award watch list. The early numbers fit the billing.

The shooting will need to come around. Washington shot 37.7 percent from the field and 8 of 25 from 3 against a Pacific team it should beat. In the Big Ten, where the league has 10 ranked teams in the latest AP poll, 16 steals will not come as easily. Washington held at No. 16 in that Nov. 9 poll.

Washington hosts Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena, closing a three-game home stretch. The Huskies make their first road trip of the season to Washington State on Nov. 17, and Stanford, Cal Poly and Oklahoma State follow on the schedule on Nov. 20, Nov. 22 and Nov. 27.

For now, the takeaway is simple. Pacific punched first, and Washington's defense punched back harder. A team that can turn a 14-12 deficit into a 21-point win without its jumper is a team worth taking seriously in November.

Sources: ESPN (box score and AP recap), Washington Athletics.

Photo: Washington Athletics.