University of Oregon
Arizona State
Ducks Fall Flat, Lose to Arizona State 65-40
02/19/04 | Women's Basketball
TEMPE, Ariz. ? After battling for most of the game the University of Oregon women's basketball team experienced an offensive lull as Arizona State ran away with a 65-40 win Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena.
Trailing only 34-32 after a Corrie Mizusawa lay-in with 10:57 left, Arizona State closed the game with a 31-8 run as the Ducks went ice cold from the field and could not keep the Sun Devils off the boards.
"We have to take our hats off to Arizona State," Oregon coach Bev Smith said. "They rotate their players in well and they all play with intensity. Right now we're in a little bit of a funk. We have to find our character now."
Oregon fell to 12-13 and 4-11 in the Pac-10 while Arizona State improved to 16-8 and 10-5.
The Ducks were down 29-21 after a seesaw first half that saw four lead changes. Oregon then went on a 9-3 run to cut the lead to 32-30 after a Kedzie Gunderson lay-in at the 13:26 mark. But the Ducks would only score six points in a 10-plus minute stretch as Arizona State took control.
"It was a very disappointing night," said Oregon guard Brandi Davis, who had a team-high nine points. "We didn't step up to the challenge."
Oregon junior center Andrea Bills had an uncharacteristic off-night, scoring a season-low three points on 1-of-6 shooting. With five rebounds, she failed to lead (or co-lead) the team in rebounding for the first time in 20 games.
"I played a terrible game," Bills said. "My teammates gave me good looks, but I didn't finish. (Arizona State) killed us in transition and got a lot of easy lay-ups."
Kylan Loney led the Sun Devils with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting while Kristen Kovesdy added eight of her 11 points in the second half. Arizona State, the conference's top rebounding team, outrebounded Oregon 40-26, including a plus-eight differential in the second half.
Oregon shut down ASU leading scorer Betsy Boardman, as she had just five points on 1-of-5 shooting. She didn't score her first basket until a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 5:09 left.
Oregon shot 42 percent in the first half, but only 35 percent overall for the game. It scored its fewest points since it had 40 in a loss to South Carolina in November 2002.
The Ducks' 23 turnovers were their second-most of the season and first time they've committed at least 20 since UCLA visited Mac Court in early January.
Eleanor Haring added eight points and a team-high seven rebounds for Oregon while Gunderson also had eight points to go with six rebounds.
Oregon next takes on Arizona on Saturday at 1 p.m. PST in a game televised on the Oregon Sports Network.
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