Answers to three key questions for UW women’s basketball

The official start to Year 4 of the Tina Langley era is on the horizon, and the Washington women’s basketball coach is cautiously optimistic about the Huskies before their first season in the Big Ten. “I’ve seen a lot of growth this week,” Langley said. “This has been a great week of practice. Really great week and I’m excited by that. I want to see that continue to improve. “We still have a ways to go. We’re putting in both systems, offensive and defensive. I think every coach at this time of the year feels like it’s coming fast and you have a lot that you want to improve on. But I like our commitment to learning and I think our commitment to work is really strong right now.” The Huskies participated in a closed-door scrimmage three weeks ago and will have one more this weekend, which will serve as the final tuneup before their Nov. 4 season opener against Seattle U at Alaska Airlines Arena. “We saw what we needed to improve,” Langley said. “The scrimmage for us is video to help us grow, and I thought it was really good for that. “We did a lot of individual player development this summer and fall. Putting our team together and really move as one, the systems have a ways to go.” The Huskies finished 16-15, including 6-12 in the Pac-12 last season and are seeking their first NCAA tournament berth since 2016. Here’s three questions Langley must answer before the season opener. Who starts in the post? “We have some players who have really solidified themselves, but we don’t have a full starting lineup yet,” Langley said. Seemingly, the fifth starting spot will by occupied by Yale transfer Brenna McDonald or Tayra Eke, who spent the past two years at Eastern Michigan. Both are 6-foot-3 forwards who bring plenty of experience to the Huskies. McDonald, who has started 34 of 61 games, averaged 10.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks while shooting 53.9% from the field last season. Eke, a Madrid, Spain native, spent a year at Long Island University before transferring to Eastern Michigan where she averaged 9.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks while shooting 48.1% from the floor last season. Sophomore Olivia Anderson, UW’s tallest player at 6-6, played sparingly last season in 18 games while averaging 1.9 points, 1.5 rebounds and 6.0 minutes. Can the Huskies pick up the pace? Under Langley, Washington’s offense has averaged 64.2 points (2023-24), 60.8 (2022-23) and 56.2 (2021-22), which would have ranked last or next to last in the Big Ten. The Huskies are intent on sprucing up a pedestrian offensive attack that’s produced more than 70 points just once in the past 25 games. Washington has various scoring options, starting with Daniels who tallied double-digit points in 21 of 31 games last season. Ladine and Stines are capable scorers who topped 20 points five and three times, respectively during their collegiate careers. Theoretically, UW’s offense should operate smoother considering Sellers is a back at the helm. The 5-foot-7 sophomore point guard moved into the starting lineup for the final eight games last season and gave the Huskies a dribble-drive scoring threat that had been missing. “I like our pace right now,” Langley said. “Mostly, it’s just the time of the year that we want to take care of the basketball. You’re moving your tempo pretty fast and you want to do it in a way that’s efficient.” This is a critical season for Daniels, who is poised for a breakout year. The fifth-year graduate senior has led the team in scoring (11.6 points per game) and rebounding (6.9) the past two seasons and she’s adding more responsibilities, including play making duties. “Not just her, but our fours and fives are interchangeable and we want them pushing in transition,” Langley said. “It’s been fun to see her be able to teach. … I love that. The way (Daniels, McDonald and Eke) have played together has been really fun. Dee handles the ball in transition and has been a distributor.” It will be interesting to see if Daniels, who received All-Pac-12 honorable mention recognition the past two seasons, can become an All-Big Ten performer in a star-studded league that includes USC’s JuJu Watkins and UCLA’s Lauren Betts. “The most important thing for great players is consistency,” Langley said. “Do we show up every night and are we able to deliver what we’re capable of delivering each night? That’s the goal of all of our team.”