Tucson, Ariz. – The Washington Huskies used a hot shooting night to get by the Arizona Wildcats on Friday night at McKale Center. The Huskies topped the Cats 74-52 in front of 1,342 fans.

Malena Washington led the Cats with 15 points, including three 3-pointers. It marked the 16th time this season the junior guard from Beaumont, Texas reached double-figures, which leads the team. 

Arizona shot 36 percent in the first half and outrebounded Washington 17-16, but trailed 36-22 at the break. Washington's Talia Walton led all scorers with 16 first-half points on 7 of 12 shooting. Chantel Osahor had 13 points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes. The Wildcats did manage to slow down Kelsey Plum, who came into the game as the second leading scorer in the nation at 27.1 points per game. Plum had just five points in the opening half.

Arizona was led by JaLea Bennett, who had six points and three rebounds in 10 minutes in the first half. Malena Washington had five.

The Huskies opened the game on a 12-0 run and led 18-6 after the first quarter. Arizona cut it to nine in the second quarter when Washington drilled a 3-pointer and Bennett followed with two free throws to make the score 22-13 with 7:39 to play in the half. The Huskies extended their lead to 17 before Griffey's 3-pointer to end the frame.

The Wildcats saw freshman point guard Taryn Griffey return for her first game since Jan. 15. Griffey banked in a 3-pointer right before halftime for her first points of the game. She finished with six points and one rebound in 13 minutes in her first game back. 

Plum finished with a game-high 22 points on 17 shots. Walton finished with 20 and Osahor had 16 points and 11 rebounds. LaBrittney Jones finished with eight points in th eloss for Arizona to go with five rebounds.

"We did a nice job on her in the first half, but we knew she would come out in the second half attempting shots," coach Niya Butts said of Plum. "Bottom line, we didn't hit enough shots. We took 57 shots, they took 56. We just didn't hit enough."

Arizona will return to action Sunday for its final home game of the season against Washington State. The Cats will honor their lone senior, Keyahndra Cannon, before the game. Cannon has started all 27 games for the Wildcats this season. Tip time is set for 1 p.m.