Sayvia Sellers opened Washington’s season with a performance that belongs in the program’s record book: 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a 79–63 win over UC San Diego on Monday.

Washington’s official recap identifies it as the third triple-double in program history and the first since 2016. The senior guard established career highs in rebounds and assists while giving the Huskies an opening-day answer in several parts of the game.

The victory also produced a useful contrast. Washington controlled the glass by an enormous margin but still spent much of the afternoon trying to separate from the Tritons. The headline performance and the unfinished work can both be read directly from the result.

A tied game before the finish

UC San Diego reached halftime level at 31–31. Its official account of the game describes a first half in which the Tritons led by five before Washington answered. They remained within seven early in the fourth quarter before another Husky scoring run opened more breathing room.

The visitors had ways to keep scoring. Coryn Watts finished with 15 points, making five three-pointers, and the Tritons hit 13 threes as a team. A large rebounding advantage does not automatically settle a game when the other side keeps finding points from beyond the arc.

That context makes Washington’s finish more meaningful than the final margin alone. The Huskies had to build their advantage after the break, rather than merely protect a comfortable lead established at the start.

Possessions came from the glass

The official game book shows Washington ahead 54–27 in rebounds, with Brynn McGaughy collecting 15 and Tilda Trygger adding 13. McGaughy also scored 13 points. Alongside Sellers, those two gave Washington three players with double-digit rebounding totals.

Washington finished the third quarter ahead 49–42, then scored 30 points in the fourth while making 13 of 17 shots. Avery Howell supplied 22 points for the game, including five threes. Her contribution follows the preseason recognition discussed in our Howell watch-list report, this time with a completed performance to examine.

A rebound can finish a defensive possession or create another opportunity on offense. Both jobs matter when a team is searching for control. Washington’s size of advantage on the glass gave it room to recover from other mistakes, but that cushion should not be assumed to appear every night.

Keep the passing, reduce the giveaways

Washington recorded 18 assists and 21 turnovers. Sellers accounted for 10 of those assists, showing how much of the team’s successful passing ran through her. The turnover total is the obvious counterweight when evaluating the offense as a whole.

The next step is to preserve the ambition of the passing while ending more possessions with a shot. That is an assignment, not a diagnosis of every giveaway: a box score cannot tell us whether an individual turnover came from spacing, timing, a defensive read or a difficult catch.

Washington returns to Alaska Airlines Arena against Pacific on Thursday, November 5. The current official schedule lists 7 p.m. Pacific and B1G+ coverage. Sellers has already supplied one memorable opening chapter. Cleaner possession management would make the next chapter easier for the entire team.

Sources and attribution

Washington’s official recap; Its official account of the game; The official game book; The current official schedule.

Cover image is illustrative basketball photography, not documentation of the players, venue or event discussed.