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Washington nears Cinderella run in 62-59 OT loss to TCU

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For 40 minutes, Washington looked as though it would author a Cinderella story.

Facing off against projected top-five WNBA Draft pick Olivia Miles, the Huskies led for 24 minutes and 14 seconds on Sunday against No. 3 seed TCU in Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, threatening as early as the second quarter with a 14-13 lead against the Horned Frogs. They led by as many as 10, when they went up 27-17 just before the half after a Yulia Grabovskaia layup.

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They held that lead, despite foul trouble from Grabovskaia, leading scorer Sayvia Sellers, and freshman phenom Brynn McGaughy, until 3:57 remaining in regulation. Elle Ladine made a putback jumper, her only field goal of the game, to give Washington the lead back, but Taylor Bigby drew a foul on McGaughy and made both free throws to knot it back up.

McGaughy was fouled by Clara Silva on the next possession, but missed both free throws. Silva hit a layup to give TCU their first lead since the second quarter with 1:39 remaining. Sellers missed a three, then Marta Suarez missed a dagger for TCU before Silva blocked Sellers' layup attempt with 20 seconds to go. The ensuing inbounds play found McGaughy, who finished over three Horned Frogs on a layup that rolled all the way around the rim with 14 seconds to go.

Miles missed a step-back three to send the game to overtime, and it looked like Washington's Cinderella story may be etched in the history books.

But TCU ripped off a 7-0 run to begin overtime that was not stopped until Sellers converted an and-one to bring it back within 4. Avery Howell hit a three to cut the lead to one, but TCU answered with two more layups.

Sellers made a floater in the key to bring it within one possession, then Washington managed to force a miss from Miles. With fouls to give, TCU disrupted Sellers' offensive flow on the final possession, but an inbounds play with 6 seconds to go got to McGaughy and gave Sellers an open look off of a dribble hand-off.

It wasn't meant to be for Washington on Sunday night.

Sellers' three fell to the right of the basket, and the ensuing rebound caromed away from any Washington players as the final buzzer sounded.

TCU 62, Washington 59.

Sellers and Miles led the game with 18 points apiece, a fitting duel between a guard who may very well end up in Seattle on the city's WNBA team next month and one who will power the Huskies as a senior leader next season. Miles had 10 rebounds and 8 assists as well, while Sellers had 6 rebounds and a team-high 5 assists.

Silva had 16 and 8 rebounds for TCU, with Taylor Bigby adding 15 points after her career night in the first round.

Howell had 14 - 11 in the first half, none on only one shot attempt in the second half, and that single three in overtime - after putting in 30 on TCU's floor in the first round against South Dakota State. McGaughy had 13 despite battling through 4 fouls, and Hannah Stines added 10 in her final game in a Huskies uniform.

Washington will return Sellers, Howell, and McGaughy next season, as well as sixth woman Devin Coppinger, who should be the early favorite to start in Stines' place as the 3-and-D guard. They'll need to find someone to replace Ladine, who averaged 17 points per game as a junior but struggled in her final college season, and Grabovskaia, who was a crucial defensive piece and set up many of Sellers' threes off handoff actions this season.

The Huskies have made progress in every season under head coach Tina Langley. They have four-star forward Nina Cain and Australian U19 point guard Sienna Harvey already on the team as reserves who could step into bigger roles. Four-star recruit Amayah "Sunshine" Garcia could factor into the equation as well. The future for Washington women's basketball is brighter than it's been since 2017, the last time this team won an NCAA Tournament game.

But on Sunday night, all Washington left Fort Worth with was a glass slipper that didn't quite fit.

This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: UW nears Cinderella run in 62-59 OT loss to TCU

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