Saturday, January 5
Eugene, Ore.
2 p.m.
University of Oregon
59
vs
53
Arizona
Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com
Oregon Holds Off Late Arizona Comeback
01/05/08 | Women's Basketball
EUGENE, Ore. ? The Oregon women's basketball team held off a late Arizona comeback, and left Mac Court Saturday afternoon with a 59-53 victory over the Wildcats in front of 2,401.
The Ducks improve to 8-6 on the year and 2-1 in the Pac-10, while Arizona drops to 6-9 overall and 0-4 in league, while also losing its last five.
The Wildcats had just seven players available for today's game, and Thursday played with just six in a double overtime loss at Oregon State.
Oregon had a 16-point lead at the break, and held off the Wildcats after they made a valiant second-half comeback. In the last two minutes of the game, Arizona cut Oregon's lead to three points on two separate occasions, but the Ducks were always able to respond offensively.
“When we really needed a stop we got it,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “When we really needed a rebound we got it. We broke the press when we had to, and made clutch free throws.”
Junior guard Tamika Nurse led Oregon in scoring for the first time this season, with 12 points off the bench. Sophomore guard Taylor Lilley chipped in 10, and set a new career high with a team-leading seven rebounds. The Ducks had a balanced scoring attack, as six players scored at least six points.
The Ducks got off to a slow start in the second half, as Arizona opened things up on an 11-6 run. The Wildcats made things interesting, employing full-court pressure on defense and finding leading scorer Ashley Whisonant on offense.
“We were very satisfied with our start to the game and our aggressiveness,” senior Kaela Chapdelaine said after posting a game-high six assists. “We didn't match Arizona's intensity in the second half. We need to be aggressive for 40 minutes.”
After Oregon held Whisonant to three first-half points, the senior responded with 14 in the second half for a game-high 17. On defense, Whisonant also had the job of shadowing Lilley all over the floor.
Whisonant cut Oregon's lead to 43-37 with 9:17 left after stealing an inbounds pass and finishing the layup. It was part of a 17-7 run for the Wildcats, in which Whisonant scored 10 points.
Arizona then got as close as 43-39 on a second-chance basket inside, but Lilley found her range on Oregon's next possession, dropping her second three-pointer of the game. Nurse then added a putback to give the Ducks a 48-39 advantage with 6:37 remaining.
Also in double figures for Arizona were Beatrice Bofia (11) and Amina Njonkou (11).
Oregon shot 35.8 percent for the game, and just 68.8 percent (11-16) from the free throw line.
In the first half, Oregon shot 48.4 percent (15-31) on its way to a 36-20 lead. Eight of ten players which saw minutes for the Ducks scored in the first half, led by Chapdelaine (6), Ellyce Ironmonger (6) and Micaela Cocks (6). As a team the Ducks had 10 assists and just seven turnovers.
Unlike Thursday's game against Arizona State, Oregon got its post players involved early, with Chapdelaine, Ironmonger and Kenyon combining to score all the squads' points in their 9-3 run at the start.
A Cocks' three-pointer as the shot clock sounded, combined with a steal and breakaway layup for Nurse, extended Oregon's lead to double digits, 22-11, with 10:33 to go in the first half.
Lilley had taken just one look at the basket with eight minutes remaining in the first, while the Ducks' post players had combined to take 12 of Oregon's first 18 attempts.
Lilley's first bucket, a baseline trey, came with 6:46 remaining until the break. The Newhall, Calif., native then switched it up on Arizona's defense with a drive to the hoop that gave Oregon a 31-14 advantage with 4:43 to go.
The Ducks take their 2-1 record on the road to Cal (7:30 p.m., Jan. 10) and Stanford (2 p.m., Jan. 12) next week.
QUICK QUACKS: Oregon has now won its last three consecutive meetings against the Wildcats...Arizona has not won at Mac Court since Jan. 22, 2004...Oregon now leads the series 25-19...the Ducks have not opened Pac-10 play with a 2-1 record since the 2004-05 season.
The Ducks improve to 8-6 on the year and 2-1 in the Pac-10, while Arizona drops to 6-9 overall and 0-4 in league, while also losing its last five.
The Wildcats had just seven players available for today's game, and Thursday played with just six in a double overtime loss at Oregon State.
Oregon had a 16-point lead at the break, and held off the Wildcats after they made a valiant second-half comeback. In the last two minutes of the game, Arizona cut Oregon's lead to three points on two separate occasions, but the Ducks were always able to respond offensively.
“When we really needed a stop we got it,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “When we really needed a rebound we got it. We broke the press when we had to, and made clutch free throws.”
Junior guard Tamika Nurse led Oregon in scoring for the first time this season, with 12 points off the bench. Sophomore guard Taylor Lilley chipped in 10, and set a new career high with a team-leading seven rebounds. The Ducks had a balanced scoring attack, as six players scored at least six points.
The Ducks got off to a slow start in the second half, as Arizona opened things up on an 11-6 run. The Wildcats made things interesting, employing full-court pressure on defense and finding leading scorer Ashley Whisonant on offense.
“We were very satisfied with our start to the game and our aggressiveness,” senior Kaela Chapdelaine said after posting a game-high six assists. “We didn't match Arizona's intensity in the second half. We need to be aggressive for 40 minutes.”
After Oregon held Whisonant to three first-half points, the senior responded with 14 in the second half for a game-high 17. On defense, Whisonant also had the job of shadowing Lilley all over the floor.
Whisonant cut Oregon's lead to 43-37 with 9:17 left after stealing an inbounds pass and finishing the layup. It was part of a 17-7 run for the Wildcats, in which Whisonant scored 10 points.
Arizona then got as close as 43-39 on a second-chance basket inside, but Lilley found her range on Oregon's next possession, dropping her second three-pointer of the game. Nurse then added a putback to give the Ducks a 48-39 advantage with 6:37 remaining.
Also in double figures for Arizona were Beatrice Bofia (11) and Amina Njonkou (11).
Oregon shot 35.8 percent for the game, and just 68.8 percent (11-16) from the free throw line.
In the first half, Oregon shot 48.4 percent (15-31) on its way to a 36-20 lead. Eight of ten players which saw minutes for the Ducks scored in the first half, led by Chapdelaine (6), Ellyce Ironmonger (6) and Micaela Cocks (6). As a team the Ducks had 10 assists and just seven turnovers.
Unlike Thursday's game against Arizona State, Oregon got its post players involved early, with Chapdelaine, Ironmonger and Kenyon combining to score all the squads' points in their 9-3 run at the start.
A Cocks' three-pointer as the shot clock sounded, combined with a steal and breakaway layup for Nurse, extended Oregon's lead to double digits, 22-11, with 10:33 to go in the first half.
Lilley had taken just one look at the basket with eight minutes remaining in the first, while the Ducks' post players had combined to take 12 of Oregon's first 18 attempts.
Lilley's first bucket, a baseline trey, came with 6:46 remaining until the break. The Newhall, Calif., native then switched it up on Arizona's defense with a drive to the hoop that gave Oregon a 31-14 advantage with 4:43 to go.
The Ducks take their 2-1 record on the road to Cal (7:30 p.m., Jan. 10) and Stanford (2 p.m., Jan. 12) next week.
QUICK QUACKS: Oregon has now won its last three consecutive meetings against the Wildcats...Arizona has not won at Mac Court since Jan. 22, 2004...Oregon now leads the series 25-19...the Ducks have not opened Pac-10 play with a 2-1 record since the 2004-05 season.
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
C
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballEhis Etute & Katie Fiso | Postgame vs. Washington
Monday, March 02
Kelly Graves | Postgame vs. Washington
Monday, March 02
Astera Tuhina & Katie Fiso: "Coming out hungry."
Friday, February 27
Kelly Graves: "I like where we're at."
Friday, February 27
