The Huskies packed an incredible amount into one calendar year in 2021. First was the delayed 2020 season, played in empty arenas in the spring, with the Huskies winning their first Pac-12 title since 2016 and then reaching the Final Four for the first time since 2013. After just a few months off, the Dawgs defended their Pac-12 title last fall, and were agonizingly close to a defining road win at No. 2-seed Texas in the Sweet 16, but the Longhorns rallied from 0-2 down to end Washington’s bid for another Final Four.
Led by a returning trio of senior All-Americans in Marin Grote, Claire Hoffman, and Ella May Powell, the Huskies are ranked eighth to begin the 2022 season. Going for a third-straight Pac-12 title, Washington was voted the Pac-12 preseason favorite, but UCLA, Oregon, and Stanford all received first-place votes as well, and UW is one of five Pac-12 teams ranked in the preseason top-25.
Plenty of teams will be aiming to unseat the Huskies from the top of the league, and Coach Cook says such outside expectations are usually something the coaches feel the need to address, but this season “I’m surprised how little it’s been on anyone’s mind or how little discussion there’s been.
“I think this is a group that’s entirely focused on December,” Cook adds. “Whatever the journey is to get us to December, if it means we’re playing our best in December, we’re here for it. For what this group has accomplished, there’s not a lot of chatter about them, and we’re okay with that. We’ve operated well from that place.”
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at University of Washington Athletics…