University of Oregon
California
Bills Scores Career-High 22 as Ducks Defeat Cal, 77-62
02/29/04 | Women's Basketball
EUGENE, Ore. ? Andrea Bills scored a career-high 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the University of Oregon women's basketball team won 77-62 over California before 3,572 fans Saturday at McArthur Court on Senior Day.
Oregon, winners of two straight, evens its record to 14-14 and 6-12 in the Pac-10. The Bears drop to 11-16 and 4-14. The two teams will meet again Friday in the fourth annual Pac-10 Tournament at San Jose. The Ducks are the No. 8 seed while Cal is the No. 9 seed. Tipoff is at 8:15 p.m. at HP Pavilion.
Bills, who had just 15 points combined in the last three games, dominated inside by hitting 9-of-14 from the floor and blocking two shots. It was her sixth double-double this season.
“She had a great weekend,” Oregon coach Bev Smith said. “She posted up, was ready for the pass. She keeps us balanced. She's our anchor. She's been our leader, just toughens it out and keeps going.”
Bills scored 14 of her points in the first half, including a lay-in that put Oregon up 29-28 with 3:21 left before halftime ? a lead the Ducks wouldn't relinquish.
“I just planned on having a good game and making myself available inside for my teammates,” said Bills, a junior. “(Cal) is going to come out with a different game plan for us next time, so we have to work hard in practice. Our momentum is very high going into the Pac-10 Tournament.”
Making her second straight appearance in the starting lineup, senior Kayla Steen also gave Oregon a lift in her final home game, scoring a season-high 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range.
“She's a tremendous leader, a very vocal player,” Mizusawa said of Steen. “Many of us are quiet, including myself, but she's very vocal. Everybody listens to her.”
Mizusawa paced the offense with her second straight double-digit scoring game (10) to go with eight assists and a season-high-tying six rebounds. She now has 178 assists on the season, which is second all-time at Oregon and 12 behind Jacquie Semeniuk, who set the record in 1990.
The Ducks picked up their first back-to-back Pac-10 wins of the season and have put themselves in position for a winning season.
“This weekend was a great sweep,” Smith said. “This game was very important for us. We played with extra focus and concentration. Cal is a tough team with aggressive defense. I think our team wanted to play for themselves and for Kayla, so we have an identity going into the Pac-10 tournament.”
Oregon outrebounded the Bears 40-35. It was the second time in nine games the Ducks have outrebounded their opponent. Eleanor Haring pulled down eight boards while Kedzie Gunderson had seven, which tied a season high. Gunderson also chipped in 12 points ? her seventh double-digit effort this year.
Oregon's defense shut down Cal's leading scorer, Nihan Anaz (14.5 ppg), holding her to just four points on 2-of-12 shooting. Kiki Williams led the Bears, who have lost 11 straight at McArthur Court, with 15 points while Leigh Gregory added 12.
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