Oregon Falls In Final

Saturday, November 24

Albuquerque, N.M.

8 p.m. PST

University of Oregon

New Mexico

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

11/24/07 | Women's Basketball

By: GoDucks.com

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. ? Oregon lost to New Mexico by the score of 65-46 in the championship game of the Holiday Inn & Suites Express Albuquerque Midtown Tournament on Saturday night at The Pit.

In front of a crowd of 7,835, the Lobos improved to 5-1 on the year, led by tournament MVP Amy Beggin's 17 points.

Oregon dropped to 3-2 after the loss to the reigning Mountain West Conference Tournament champions, and finished the trip to Albuquerque 1-1 after a win over Coppin State on Friday.

“There is a resolve about this team, we're not going to give in...we felt we were still in the game with five minutes left,” head coach Bev Smith said.

The sophomore guard combo of Micaela Cocks and Taylor Lilley led Oregon with 11 and 10 points apiece, respectively.

The Ducks were called for 24 fouls and three Oregon players; Ellie Manou, Ellyce Ironmonger and Kaela Chapdelaine, fouled out of the game.

With just over 13 minutes left, Oregon cut New Mexico's lead to six, 34-28, after back-to-back three pointers from Lilley and Cocks, but that was the closest the Ducks would come in the second half.

“Any time you play on the road you are going to play in some very adverse situations...it was a good learning experience for our young players,” Smith said. “I don't think many of our young players have played in an environment like this.”

Oregon shot 25.0 percent (12-of-48) from the floor, and turned the ball over 19 times. The Ducks also gave up 16 offensive rebounds to the Lobos.

New Mexico shot 40.4 percent (23-of-57) from the floor and outrebounded Oregon 45-37. Dionne March added 11 points for the Lobos and was named to the all-tournament team along with teammate Angela Harthill and Coppin State's Rashida Suber.

Kaela Chapdelaine was named to the all-tournament team for Oregon.

New Mexico went into the locker room at the break with a 24-16 lead, limiting Oregon to a .273 (6-of-22) shooting percentage. The Ducks didn't help themselves by going just 1-of-6 from the line and turning the ball over 10 times.

Lilley led Oregon with seven first half points, while Beggin led New Mexico with six. The Lobos also had nine offensive rebounds.

New Mexico ended the first half on a 10-1 run, holding Oregon without a field goal for over seven minutes.

The Ducks cut New Mexico's lead to 14-13 with just under eight minutes remaining in the first after two straight defensive stops led to back-to-back three pointers from Lilley and Cocks.

Oregon had four turnovers in the first four minutes of the game, as New Mexico held the Ducks scoreless until the 16:06 mark when Lilley dropped a runner in the lane.

QUICK QUACKS: New Mexico was the fourth consecutive team Oregon has played that went to the postseason last year; South Dakota State (WNIT Fourth Round), Marquette (NCAA Second Round), Coppin State (WNIT Second Round), New Mexico (NCAA First Round)...Oregon is now 2-2 against 2006-07 postseason participants...this was the fourth meeting between the two programs, the series is now even at two wins apiece...it marked the first time the two teams met up since a 79-49 Oregon victory in 1985, also in Albuquerque...the Ducks used a new starting lineup in today's game, inserting freshman Ellyce Ironmonger and bringing freshman Ellie Manou off the bench...the crowd of 7,835 was the largest crowd Oregon has played in front of this year...the Ducks' 46 points was their lowest scoring total of the year...the loss was Oregon's first by double-digits this year...Taylor Lilley played all 40 minutes for Oregon.