It was a bittersweet weekend all-around for the Washington Husky basketball program. Both the men and women earned a road split on opposite ends of California. The men were in the south paying the LA schools a visit, and both teams were definitely out for revenge after losing on their respective trips to Seattle.

The young Huskies got off to an amazing start, frustrating the Bruins as they had no answer. UCLA coach Steve Alford was repeatedly burning his timeouts early in the first half as his team had no way of stopping the Husky offense. Despite the slow start, UCLA mounted a furious comeback late in the game but fell just short, and Washington pulled it out 86-84.

Six of Lorenzo Romar's men put up double figures in scoring, with freshman Noah Dickerson leading the way with 15 points. Senior Andrew Andrews chipped in 12 that helped Washington overcome Bryce Alford's 28. Perhaps displaying some of their youthful immaturity, the Huskies blew a 18 point lead to actually fall behind 82-79. With the win, the Huskies completed a season sweep of the Bruins.

Later in the weekend however, it was the Huskies who had to mount a furious comeback of their own, across town at USC. 

Down 11 at halftime, UW was able to chip away and come to within three at 57-54 with 13:25 left in the second half. In the end the Huskies weren't able to complete the comeback and win the game. 

Marquese Chriss and Dejounte Murray had 18 points apiece for the Huskies. With the loss, UW fell into four-way tie for second in the Pac-12.

Meanwhile for the women, they faced their first ranked opponent as a ranked team themselves. Playing no. 16 Stanford in Palo Alto, the Lady Huskies faced their first test with a target on their back. Unfortunately they were not able to come out victorious. 

Kelsey Plum put up her typical numbers, notching 23 points to lead the Dawgs. But apart from that, UW was abysmal from the field, shooting only 25% as a team.

Stanford led by as many 16 in the first 10 minutes of the game. In the end the Cardinal won by 16, 69-53.

Nonetheless coach Neighbors' team didn't let the loss keep them down as they immediately turned around and salvaged a victory in Berkley. It even turned out to be one that included a milestone as Plum surpassed 2,000 career points at Washington. Again Plum led the way with 28 points, en route to a 75-65 win.

Next weekend the UW again has a stiff challenge, they host no. 9 Oregon State at home at the Hec Ed.

Photo: Flickr/Dave Sizer