Photo by Kurt Howard

Amber Melgoza (4) of Washington defends against Brittany McPhee (12) of Stanford.  McPhee is a graduate of Mount Rainier High School in Des Moines.

Husky women hit ground running

By Tim Clinton

Washington's women's basketball program officially arrived for the modern area in 1974, but the sport had been played previously as early as 1899 at the school.

The modern Huskies hit the ground running, posting .500 or better records every year through 2000.  Coming up short in 2000 was only a one-year glitch.

The UW has made 20 NCAA tournament appearances in all, including in the just concluded 2025 "Big Dance" where the team took a narrow 63-60 opening round loss to Columbia.

Washington rode the hot shooting hand of Kelsey Plum all the way to the Final Four in 2016 and to the Sweet 16 the next year.

Plum has gone on to star for the Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA and had her UW number retired this past winter.

The Huskies fell into six losing seasons after Plum departed but are on the mend now.

Washington has had its share of long-tenured winning head coaches, including 11 seasons each under Chris Gobrecht and June Daugherty.

Gobrecht led the Huskies to a 243-89 record, including a mark of 143-50 in Pac-10 play.  She took them to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament in 1990 and to the Sweet 16 in 1988, 1991 and 1995.  The UW won the Pac-10 title in 1988 and tied for it in 1990.  As a first-year coach, Gobrecht led the Huskies to an 11-2 record for the Nor-Pac title in 1986 and to a 24-6 overall mark.

Daugherty went 191-139 immediately after Gobrecht's tenure and 113-85 in Pac-10 play.

She coached them to a tie for first in the conference regular season in 2001 and to an NCAA Elite Eight appearance that year.  The Huskies made the second round in 2006.

The next highest coaching success was by Mike Neighbors for four seasons with Plum on the team, going 98-41 overall and 47-25 in what was now the Pac-12 in women's basketball.

Washington first made the NCAA tournament in Joyce Sake's second and last year that ended in 1985 after going 11-0 in Nor-Pac play for the title.  The Huskies went 26-2 and made the NCAA first round.

The UW's other conference title came under Kathy Nier in 1978.  The Huskies went 12-1 to win the NWBL Coast Division crown and finished 26-5 overall.

Washington went 82-31 overall in Neir's four seasons.

Photo by Jeff Clinton

Former University of Washington star Kelsey Plum (10) now plays for the Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA.