University of Oregon
Arizona State
Arizona State Edges Women?s Basketball, 69-67
01/24/04 | Women's Basketball
EUGENE, Ore. ? Another great performance by the University of Oregon women's basketball team again turned into heartbreak Saturday as Arizona State won 69-67 before 3,726 McArthur Court fans.
The Ducks blew a 64-56 lead with 3:59 left, as the Sun Devils went on a 13-3 run to close out the game. Except for Alisha Godette's 3-pointer which tied it at 64 apiece with 1:39 remaining, all of Arizona State's points during the run came from the foul line.
“It was really disappointing,” Oregon coach Bev Smith said. “We played very well for 37 minutes. It was a great ball game. I think we stopped playing for those last three minutes because we were afraid that we were going to lose. That's something we need to work on.”
Oregon (10-9, 2-7 Pac-10) dropped its fourth conference game at McArthur Court. Arizona State (12-6, 6-3), meanwhile, swept the Oregon roadtrip and won its third in four tries.
After Godette's 3-pointer tied it, Brandi Davis turned the ball over. On the other end, Kristen Kovesdy was fouled on a lay-in attempt and hit both free throws to put the Sun Devils ahead for good. Corrie Mizusawa made a lay-in with 1.8 seconds left. The Ducks then fouled Kylan Loney on the inbounds play. She missed both free throws with 1.2 seconds on the clock, but Oregon didn't have enough time to get a shot off.
“Our players play hard here at Mac Court,” Smith said. “They really wanted to get these wins this weekend. We played two of the top teams in the Pac-10 and you can't tell me we're not as good as these teams.”
The loss spoiled another impressive game from Oregon sophomore guard Chelsea Wagner. She scored a season-high 20 points, hitting five 3-pointers for the second straight game and the third time this year. She also had six rebounds, two steals and one blocked shot in a season-best 31 minutes. Wagner has been playing on a torn lateral meniscus in her left knee for the last three games.
“She's a very tough competitor,” Smith said of Wagner. “She's got a lot of adrenaline. When her jumper gets going, she gets going and she gets our team going. Our team did a great job of finding her.”
Wagner had to fill a void left by Kedzie Gunderson, who went down with a knee injury 35 seconds into the game. An MRI will be performed on Gunderson either tonight or Sunday morning.
“It all comes down to being aggressive,” Wagner said in trying to explain the loss. “For 37 minutes, we were the best team. We just need to continue to attack the basket.”
The Sun Devils shot 21 free throws in the second half, making 16. The Ducks attempted only nine free throws, converting on six.
Oregon, the Pac-10's worst rebounding team entering the game (minus-3.4) outrebounded the conference's best 33-32. Andrea Bills led the Ducks with eight ? the 14th straight game she has led or co-led the team in rebounds.
The Ducks had a season-high five players score in double-figures as Davis (13), Bills (11), Eleanor Haring (10) and Mizusawa (10) all did well on the offensive end.
Oregon next travels to Los Angeles to take on UCLA on Thursday at 7 p.m. and USC on Saturday at 4 p.m.
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