UW women to open NCAA tournament against Penn on Saturday

Getting there was good enough last year. Not so now.

For the second year in a row, the Washington women’s basketball team has qualified for the NCAA tournament, and the team will fly cross-country for its first-round matchup against Pennsylvania on Saturday in College Park, Md. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. PT on ESPN2.

There wasn’t a whole lot of intrigue for the Huskies going into Monday’s selection show: They had no doubt they would be in the field again, though they were nonetheless thrilled when they were formally awarded an at-large bid as the No. 7 seed in the Lexington Regional.

“There was some genuine excitement, and it’s good for them to do that. They need to celebrate this,” UW coach Mike Neighbors said.

That initial buzz turned quickly to business.

The Huskies saw their subregional matchups in the first 20 minutes of the selection show and didn’t wait to see the how rest of the bracket filled out before hustling to their practice gym for a scheduled workout. Players say that’s a different mindset that it was last year, when UW qualified for the tournament for the first time in eight years — and then, as a No. 6 seed, were promptly upset by 11^th-seed Miami in the first round.

“We’ve been there before and that really does make a difference. I think we know what to expect,” UW star Kelsey Plum said. “Last year we were happy to be there. This year, I don’t think we’re that. … We’ll be ready.”

In analyzing his team’s preparation for the NCAA tournament last year — what went right, what went wrong — Neighbors went so far to watch the Huskies’ comments from their press conference the day before playing Miami.

“Our three players said, ‘Wow, we’re really excited to be here’ … and as a coach you’re going, ‘Uh, oh, because you know you’ve got that happy-to-be-here (feeling),’” Neighbors said. “This group is certainly proud and happy to be going and honored to be going, but that’s not the focus of the trip. They want to play deeper into the tournament and that’s been the talk since Day One and they’re carried it over all the way through the year.”

The uncertainties that came with playing in the tournament for the first time were factors, UW senior Talia Walton said.

“Nobody on the team had played there in that environment, and a lot of things play into,” she said. “I think people take for granted or don’t really think about that, but being there and being in that environment with teams you’d never seen before, it gets to you. But now that we’ve had a little bit of experience there, and we know what it takes to win … it gives us momentum. I think we’re pretty prepared.”

The Huskies (22-10) will play Penn (24-4) for the first time. The 10^th-seeded Quakers are winless in four previous trips to the NCAA tournament, though they’re familiar with College Park, having played there during the first round in 2014.

Penn defeated rival Princeton, 62-60, to capture the Ivy League championship. Both teams got into the NCAA tournament, the first time the Ivy League has had two teams qualify.

Fifth-ranked Maryland (30-3), seeded second, is the subregional host, and the Terrapins will play 15^th-seeded Iona in the first game Saturday.

UW is coming off its best run ever in the Pac-12 tournament at KeyArena, which featured victories over Colorado and 11^th-ranked Stanford before falling to eventual champion Oregon State, 57-55, in the semifinals. That experience, Neighbors believes, will benefit the Huskies as the postseason continues.

“We got out of that locker room saying (the NCAA tournament) is going to feel easy compared to what we just did,” he said. “I certainly think we’re prepared and I certainly think we’re ready.”

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NCAA women’s tournament: Huskies (22-10) vs. Penn (24-4)

When: 1 p.m. PT Saturday

TV: ESPN2

Where: College Park, Md.

About the Quakers: Went 13-1 to win the Ivy League title, and their 24 wins are a school record. Penn’s defense ranks as one of the best in the nation, allowing 51.6 points per game. The Huskies counter with an offense that ranked among the best in the Pac-12, averaging 71.1 points.

Players to watch: Sydney Stipanovich was named the Ivy League player of the year and defensive player of the year. The 6-3 junior averages 12.7 points and 10.0 rebounds and she holds the Penn record for blocked shots. Stipanovich and teammate Michelle Nwokedi each average 2.7 blocks per game. Nwokedi was also named to the all-Ivy League first team.