Storm

The latest news and analysis on college and pro women's basketball.

Washington will be mid flight as the Super Bowl kicks-off in New Orleans. UW played an early game at Arizona State on Sunday, winning 74-61. Redshirt freshman Talia Walton had a season-high 26 points, nine rebounds and three blocks to lead Washington (16-5, 8-2 Pac-12).

Returning with a sixth consecutive win, the flight will still be festive. UW coach Kevin McGuff said he won’t scramble to find a television to watch the game, anyway. He’s a native of Hamilton, Ohio, making him a diehard Cincinnati Bengals fan, so there’s no tie to the game between the San Francisco 49ers or Baltimore Ravens.

“If the Seahawks were playing, I’d probably be a little more interested in trying to find a way to watch it,” he said. “I think it’ll be a great game. There’s great stories in there with the Harbaugh brothers going against each other. But it is what it is.”

McGuff isn’t just giving lip service regarding the Hawks or football, either. After Seahawks games – win or lose – McGuff sounds like quarterback Russell Wilson with his commentary on Twitter often ending with “Go Hawks!” Then there’s McGuff’s immediate love of UW football.

“I love college football,” said McGuff, who’s in his second season at Washington. “I missed being around it for a while when I was (head coach) at Xavier. It was a great job, but I missed being around college football because (previously) I was around it for six years (as an assistant basketball coach) at Notre Dame.

“I’m really happy to be at a school that has football. I like everything that goes on around it. And I still love the Bengals, but really, really like the Seahawks, too. I jumped right on that bandwagon. It was an easy one to jump on. They’re fun to watch.”

Davis is the only player with a tie to the game. She’s from San Jose, Calif and never hides her love of the 49ers. Since this is a Hawks town, I’ll spare you the gush. She had 16 points and seven assists against ASU (11, 3-7). It was her second game after suffering from a concussion.

Washington hosts No. 18 UCLA (16-4, 7-2) at Alaska Airlines Arena on Friday. Entering Sunday’s games, the schools were tied for third in Pac-12 standings.