University of Oregon
California
Ducks Get it Done With 58-51 Win at California
02/26/05 | Women's Basketball
BERKELEY, Calif. ? The Oregon women's basketball team was outrebounded and outshot Saturday. But California couldn't overcome the Ducks' courage and intensity down the stretch as Oregon won 57-51 on the Bears' Senior Day at Haas Pavilion.
The win secured the No. 2 seed for the Ducks in next week's State Farm Pac-10 Tournament and likely secured their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2001. Oregon (19-8, 12-6) finished the conference season tied for second place with USC (18-9, 12-6) and Arizona State (20-8, 12-6). The Ducks, though, win the tiebreaker by virtue of their December victory over Stanford. It's Oregon's highest finish in league play since its Pac-10 crown in 2000.
Oregon will meet up with this Friday's winner of No. 7-seed Washington (13-15, 9-9) or No. 10 Oregon State (6-22, 1-17) Saturday at 1:15 p.m. at San Jose's HP Pavilion.
"I'm very proud of this team, bouncing back from a loss to Stanford," Oregon coach Bev Smith said. "We talked all along that this year we have set ourselves up to always have our destiny in our own hands. Our team today was very focused."
The Ducks, who only trailed early on to the Bears (10-17, 4-14), could never fashion more than a nine-point lead. The pesky Bears got to three down at 48-45 on a Khadijah Coakley (11 points, 12 rebounds) lay-up with 4:36 left. After two Cal turnovers and a missed 3-pointer by Oregon's Kaela Chapdelaine, senior Cathrine Kraayeveld calmly buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key off an inbounds pass to give Oregon a 51-46 lead with 2:26 on the clock.
Kraayeveld, who had a game-high 14 points, hit a lay-up and a free throw which was followed by a Kristen Forristall (12 points, eight rebounds) 3-pointer with two seconds left on the shot clock to give Oregon an insurmountable 57-49 lead with 26 seconds remaining.
Kraayeveld's 3-point bomb was much needed, as the Ducks had missed their previous six attempts from long range and were just 6-of-24 overall.
"We got the looks that we wanted," Smith said. "They really jammed our low-post players when we did get the ball (inside). That 3-pointer Cathrine hit was a dagger to them."
California had 41 boards compared to Oregon's 33 and shot 37.3 percent to the Ducks' 36.5 percent. But in the end, Oregon's heart and guts ? Mizusawa played with a badly dislocated right middle finger suffered during Friday's practice ? won out.
"(Corrie) just said I'm playing," Smith said of the point guard who had her middle and ring finger's splinted together. "She was just a true warrior and played very solidly for us."
Mizusawa, playing in front of family and friends from nearby Lafayette, had nine assists to put her second-place all-time at Oregon with 183 assists ? seven away from tying the record. She also passed Lisa Bowyer to claim sixth in program history with 363 assists in a Ducks uniform.
Kraayeveld made 6-of-12 from the floor, had five rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots and three steals.
"Cathrine is more than a go-to player," Smith said. "She's an offensive threat for us inside, outside. The little things don't show up. Her defensive position, the way she runs the floor and sees things offensively."
Brandi Davis added 10 points for Oregon while Andrea Bills, playing in her 119th career game (tied for third all-time at UO) had eight points and five rebounds. Not one Cal starter reached double-figure scoring. It also marked the 16th time the Ducks have held a team to fewer than 60 points this season.
- www.GoDucks.com -
2005 State Farm Pac-10 Tournament
Mar. 4-7, 2005
HP Pavilion at San Jose
Fri., Mar. 4
Game 1: No. 7 Washington (13-15, 9-9) vs. No. 10 Oregon State (6-22, 1-17), 6 p.m.
Game 2: No. 8 California (10-17, 4-14) vs. No. 9 Washington State (6-22, 1-17), 8:15 p.m.
Sat., Mar. 5
Game 3: No. 3 Arizona State (20-8, 12-6) vs. No. 6 UCLA (16-11, 10-8), 11 a.m.
Game 4: No. 2 Oregon (19-8, 12-6) vs. Winner 7/10, 1:15 p.m.
Game 5: No. 1 Stanford (26-2, 17-1) vs. Winner 8/9, 5 p.m.
Game 6: No. 4 USC (18-9, 12-6) vs. No. 5 Arizona (19-10, 11-7), 7:15 p.m.
Sun., Mar. 6
Game 7: Game 3 win vs. Game 4 win, 12:39 p.m. (Fox Sports Net)
Game 8: Game 5 win vs. Game 6 win, 3:05 p.m. (Fox Sports Net)
Mon., Mar. 7
Game 9: Championship Game, 7:39 p.m. (Fox Sports Net)
