First Half Dooms Ducks

Thursday, February 7

Eugene, Ore.

7 p.m.

University of Oregon

Stanford

Photo by: John Giustina

02/07/08 | Women's Basketball

By: GoDucks.com

EUGENE, Ore. ? The sixth-ranked team in the country got hot early, and although Oregon put up a second-half fight, the Ducks fell to Stanford, 72-43 on Thursday night at Mac Court in front of 2,503.

The Cardinal extend their winning streak to nine games, and improve to 21-3 on the year and 10-2 in the Pacific-10 Conference.

The Ducks have now lost five straight, and are 10-13 overall with a 4-8 record in conference play, currently seventh in the standings.

For the second consecutive game, freshman Nicole Canepa scored in double figures since returning to the starting lineup at Arizona State last Saturday.

The San Francisco native led the Ducks with 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting.

It was Stanford's 46-point first half that put Oregon in an early hole. After Ellie Manou scored the opening basket at the 19:31 mark for the Ducks, Oregon was held scoreless for nearly 10 minutes until Kaela Chapdelaine converted a layup with 9:31 remaining to halftime. At that point, the Cardinal had a 23-4 lead.

In her last appearance at Mac Court, Candice Wiggins led all scorers with 25 points, 11 field goals, a game-high tying eight rebounds and four assists. Kayla Pedersen added 17 points and Jayne Appel added scored 14 points with eight boards.

The Ducks had a much different start to the second half than the first, beginning things with a 13-4 run, led by two Kaela Chapdelaine three-pointers.

But it was too little too late after Stanford went into the locker room at halftime with a 46-12 lead, shooting 58.8 percent from the field led by Wiggins' 15 first-half points. Pedersen was also in double figures by halftime with 13.

The Cardinal's 46 points were the most Oregon has allowed in a first half this season.

Canepa and Chapdelaine scored four points apiece for the Ducks, who shot 23.1 percent (6-26) in the first half.

The Ducks changed their starting five, going back to their original starting crew from the start of the season; Tamika Nurse, Taylor Lilley, Kaela Chapdelaine, Ellie Manou, Nicole Canepa.

Oregon next hosts California at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Mac Court. The game is scheduled to be televised on Fox Sports Net.

Oregon will host the second-annual Think Pink game on Saturday.
$1 for every ticket purchased for the game will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Head Coach Bev Smith is issuing a challenge to all Oregon fans to pack Mac Court on Saturday, and lend their support for the WBCA's courageous cause by wearing pink.

QUICK QUACKS: Nia Jackson was held out for the fifth straight after spraining her left ACL in an individual workout on Monday, she is doubtful for Saturday's game against Cal.