WOMEN'S BASKETBALL - Huskies upset No. 15 Texas A&M

It was a perfect storm.

Unfortunately for Texas A&M, they sailed right into it. The Washington women's basketball team had everything going its way entering Wednesday's game with the Aggies, and for the first time in three tries, things stayed that way, as the buzzer saw the Huskies upset the nation's No. 15 team, 65-59.

"I think this was huge for us," said senior Breanne Watson.

Victims of some unfortunate road losses that saw leads slip away and injuries that slid starters to the bench, the Huskies returned home, and center Andrea Plouffe returned to the court. Both pushed the Dawgs (4-4) to their first victory of the season over a ranked team.

Coach June Daugherty was the first to admit her 300th career coaching victory was not easy.

"It was a battle," she said. "Texas A&M is a really good team; they fight so hard and they make it so tough on you in the full court and they make it tough on you in the half court ... it was the kind of game that we thought we were going to get from them."

The Huskies sent the Aggies to the locker room down 10 points at halftime, but that was only the beginning.

The UW struggled out of the break, failing to score a field goal until more than five minutes into the final half. At the same time, Texas A&M's quick guards were making nearly every shot they attempted.

With little more than nine minutes left in the game, an Aggie run brought them to within two points. For Washington it was uncomfortably similar to its past two road failures.

"I knew that we had to step up because we didn't at Kent State and that's where we lost it," said point guard Emily Florence. "At Ohio State we gave up another lead, but we weren't going to let it happen on our home court."

Daugherty's team answered with its own quick run to push the lead back to nine. The aggressive Husky defense that led to the scoring burst brought the coach to her feet. Arms wide at her sides she prompted those in attendance to provide a little aid.

"I just asked [the fans] to get behind us defensively and help us get the stops that we needed defensively and they helped, they really did," Daugherty said.

While the noise level increased and the Huskies fed off the crowd's energy, the Aggies did not let cheering Husky fans silence their game so easily. Over the final minutes A&M's Danielle Gant, who finished with a game-high 24 points and bettered the UW's top two rebounders combined with 13, absolutely took over.

She was doing whatever she wanted on the court. Of three Huskies assigned to stop her, none could. Gant's lay-ups, jumpers and rebounds put the Aggies in a position to spoil the Husky homecoming, but the crowd did not let up.

They spurred Washington to defensive stops that all but erased early-season miscues.

"I think in the last couple of minutes, June said it all," Watson said. "When you've got the crowd behind us, I think that gave us the boost in a tight game. To hear your fans cheering you on as opposed to in Ohio State when they're cheering against us."

Reporter Sam Cameron: samcameron@thedaily.washington.edu