There was an eerie feeling inside Hec Edmunson Pavilion during the Washington women’s basketball team’s exhibition season-opener last night against Division II Seattle Pacific Unviersity. After a SPU fast-break lay-in increased the Falcon lead to 9-4, fans had to wonder: Was this season going to be a repeat of last year’s eight-win disappointment?

But after a Washington timeout allowed the butterflies and jitters to settle down, the Huskies suddenly showed flashes of an improved team. Scrappy defense and an efficient performance by Laura McLellan led to a 69-61 win for the UW.

“I think getting out here, we’ve been so excited to get going, and we needed to pull back on the reins a little bit,” head coach Tia Jackson said. “We know we can have the same success, just at different pace.”

McLellan led all Huskies with 18 points and six rebounds in just 25 minutes. She was extremely efficient in the post, shooting 8-10 from the field. The senior came off the bench last night, which seems to be a good thing for last year’s second leading scorer.

“We had a running joke last season: Every time I came off the bench, I played so much better,” McLellan explained. “I like being able to see how the defense plays. I don’t mind it.”

After sophomore-transfer Regina Rogers got into early foul trouble in her Husky debut, the UW had to look to McLellan as a force down low. Jackson was impressed with the senior’s ability to score down in the post.

“We ended up looking at a second option with Laura,” Jackson said. “She had some tremendous hands inside, and they had a hard time stopping her.”

After falling behind early in the first half, the Huskies played scrappy defense and went on a 14-0 run, capped off by a Kristi Kingma jump shot to put the Huskies up 18-9 with 11 minutes remaining.

But a tough SPU zone defense and three straight three-point shots gave the Falcons the lead as the momentum started to shift. Thankfully for the Huskies, that’s when McLellan decided to go on her run.

She made three straight baskets and led the UW to a 39-29 lead into halftime. She finished 6-7 in the first half and led all scorers with 12 points. In the second half, McLellan showed some unusual range after she knocked down a wide open three-pointer to extend the Husky lead to 12 with five minutes remaining.

SPU pulled to within six in the second half, but an active and tough Husky defense kept the Falcons from regaining the lead.

“Sami [Whitcomb] created a lot, and [Morton] with her charges, that was extremely exciting,” Jackson said. “On defense we would gamble, and SPU would end up taking advantage of that. We ended up preaching every moment we could about smart defense, and I think eventually it triggered with about 17 minutes left in the second half.”

More than anything, the UW will use last night’s exhibition game as a gauge for improvement. Practice can only show so much, and last night’s efforts proved that the Huskies still have much to work on before the regular season gets underway.

“You have to love exhibition games,” Jackson said. “They reveal a lot about the things we need to work on for a competitive preseason and even more competitive conference play.”

Reach reporter Taylor Soper at sports@dailyuw.com.