It didn’t take a dramatic buzzer-beater or a last-second missed shot to end the Washington women’s basketball season. The Huskies’ second-round game in the Pac-10 tournament was largely over by halftime, when California led 31-17.

The Huskies quietly exited the season with a 61-41 loss.

Despite UW head coach Tia Jackson’s insistence that the Huskies were on the rise during the course of the season, many view the season as a setback.

The Huskies went 13-18 (8-10 Pac-10) last season to finish sixth in the Pac-10 in Jackson’s first year as the Huskies’ head coach. This year, the Dawgs went 8-22 (4-16 Pac-10), finishing dead last in the conference.

This season, the UW was outscored on average 70-59, outshot 36.5 percent to opponents’ 43.2 percent, and outrebounded 40-35 — with rebounding being, perhaps, Jackson’s biggest focus.

Perhaps Jackson meant the Huskies will be good next season, as five freshmen were forced into key minutes along with two community-college transfers for a total of seven newcomers to the Huskies.

The UW’s top three scorers, juniors Sami Whitcomb and Laura McLellan along with freshman Kristi Kingma — who all average more than eight points per game — will return next season.

They will be joined by UCLA transfer Regina Rogers, who sat out this season due to NCAA transfer rules, and high-school recruit Jeneva Anderson out of Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane.

Rogers averaged 6.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game at UCLA.

Anderson averaged 20 points per game at Lewis and Clark and posted a senior season total of 215 points. She scored an 88 Scouts grade on ESPN’s hoopgurlz.com.

“The future’s definitely bright,” assistant coach Loree Payne told radio station 1150 KKNW AM after the Huskies lost to Cal. “We are very excited to get [Regina] on the floor in front of all of our Husky fans, and Jeneva is going to add tons of athleticism to our team.”

For the most part, the Huskies are a young team; backups Michelle Augustavo and Heidi McNeill are the only seniors.

While their off-the-court and locker-room leadership may have been invaluable, Augustavo and McNeill’s on-court production didn’t force many teams to game-plan specifically for them.

Augustavo averaged 4.3 points per game while compiling 21 steals on the season. McNeill averaged four points and three rebounds per game for the season.

“It hasn’t quite sunk in yet,” McNeill told 1150 KKNW AM after her final game. “When normally I’m ready to do spring workout … with the team and play basketball, I’m going to be sitting at home and wondering what I’m going to do.”

McNeill expressed interest in playing professional basketball in Europe or pursuing a master’s degree in physical therapy after her Husky career ends. Augustavo has said previously that she would like to coach after her playing days conclude.

Reach reporter Honsen Lin at sports@dailyuw.com.