It used to be the same old story for the UW women’s basketball team — lose the close ones and win the big ones.

That all changed last weekend when the Husky women (12-15, 7-8 Pac-10) defeated Oregon and Oregon State at home, 61-60 and 58-53, respectively. With their newfound momentum and realization of the ability to win the close games, the Dawgs defeated Arizona (9-17, 3-12 Pac-10) on the road 60-58 last night.

It wasn’t exactly an easy journey. After the Dawgs kept the game to a tie at the end of the first half (28-28) they soared ahead to a 12-point lead in the second, but gave nearly all of it up at the end, mostly on the strength of Arizona guard Ashley Whisonant’s 23 points.

After getting to within two, Whisonant threw up a final three-point attempt with the clock nearing zero, but her shot failed to fall as the Huskies held on for the win.

“This team is steadily getting better. Earlier, we play these close games and we don’t come up with victories, but now we’re on a 3-0 run,” UW coach Tia Jackson said on KKNW Radio. “We needed a little confidence boost, and this was the game to do it.”

Whisonant was the only real threat on the Wildcat squad during last night’s matchup; the Dawgs had a more balanced attack, with four players scoring in the double digits. Freshman Katelan Redmon and sophomore Sami Whitcomb both contributed 11 points; Whitcomb also grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists, while post players Laura McLellan and Andrea Plouffe both dropped in 10 points each.

McLellan played through a statistically bad first half, only scoring one point against the Wildcats, but came through big in the second period with nine points and three rebounds to help give the Dawgs a huge rebounding (36-25) and points advantage.

“I was in foul trouble in the first half,” McLellan said on KKNW Radio. “I was kind of tired of watching the game and I wanted to get in and help out [in the second half].”

Jackson said that the entire core of inside players as well as the bench had a strong presence in last night’s game, and perhaps, unconsciously, were making up for the recent departure of former center Jess McCormack.

“Our post players did a phenomenal job; Kali Bennett came in [off the bench] and made a huge difference,” Jackson said on KKNW Radio. “Our bench really played huge for us.”

Washington has now gotten over Jackson’s proverbial “hump,” being able to win a close game on the road.

The Huskies will need to maintain their momentum if they are to defeat Arizona State, No. 3 in the Pac-10, in Tempe, Ariz.

Jackson believes that anything is possible, even against what she acknowledges as an extremely tough team.

“When you play close games and you lose them,” Jackson said of the team’s past experiences on KKNW Radio, “the more you figure out how to win them.”

[Reach reporter Allen Wagner at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.]