Amanda Johnson was brilliant in her first game back from a broken thumb, but Oregon crumbled down the stretch in the second half and fell 67-60 to Oregon State on Saturday in Corvallis.
The Beavers (13-7, 4-5 Pac-12) used a 22-7 run over the game’s final seven minutes to erase a 53-45 deficit and win their second in a row over the Ducks (11-10, 3-6 Pac-12), putting Johnson’s 16-point, eight-rebound performance to waste. @@http://www.goducks.com/downloads2/445505.htm?ATCLID=205370380&SPSID=4307&SPID=236&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
While Oregon’s defense held the Beavers in check for most of the game, the Ducks’ offense went cold during crucial moments.
“In the end, we didn’t score enough points,” Oregon assistant coach Dan Muscatell said in a radio interview after the game. “We’re a team that is built to beat a team that only gets 67 (points), and of those 67, they got a number of freebies down the stretch where we had to foul. In the end it was more of a struggle for us offensively I think than defensively.” @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=236&SPSID=4303@@
Facing an Oregon State team that ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in scoring defense (58 points allowed per game), the Ducks never established their offensive rhythm. They shot only 35 percent from the field, 50 percent from the free throw line, and Oregon’s 60 points was its third-lowest point total of the season. @@http://www.osubeavers.com/sports/w-baskbl/stats/2011-2012/osu20.html@@
Nonetheless, due to a strong defensive effort, the Ducks stayed close to Oregon State and were in excellent position to steal a road win until the latter stages of the second half. Oregon went on a 10-2 run to break a 43-43 tie midway through the second half to go ahead 53-45 with 7:36 left. @@http://www.goducks.com/downloads2/445505.htm?ATCLID=205370380&SPSID=4307&SPID=236&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
But from that moment on, Oregon’s offense sputtered, and Oregon State’s shooters caught fire. The Ducks scored only six points in the game’s final seven minutes, while the Beavers hit three three-point field goals and made five free throws down the stretch to earn the victory. @@http://www.goducks.com/downloads2/445505.htm?ATCLID=205370380&SPSID=4307&SPID=236&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
“We knew that we had to come out with our defense being our ‘A’ game,” Oregon State guard Ali Gibson said in a TV interview after the game. “I think we did that, and we slowed down all their drives, and we were able to hit some big shots.”
Aside from shooting percentage (the Beavers outshot Oregon 44 percent to 35 percent), the teams were mostly even statistically. Both Oregon State and Oregon grabbed 40 rebounds, and the Ducks committed 17 turnovers to Oregon State’s 18. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205335991&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
One of the few bright spots for Oregon was the play of Johnson. The star senior, who had missed six weeks after fracturing her thumb in a mid-December game against the University of Denver, was the Ducks’ leading scorer in her first game back.
“The one thing I talked to (Johnson) about as she was coming back and that was, ‘Get your thumb healthy, and whatever we get, it’s a bonus,’” Muscatell said. “She was more than a bonus today. I thought she did a real nice job and played through some fatigue.”
Nia Jackson was the only other Duck in double-figure scoring with 12 points. Gibson led Oregon State with 23 points, Sage Indendi scored 14, and Alyssa Martin and Patricia Bright tallied 11 apiece. Bright also grabbed 12 rebounds. @@http://www.goducks.com/downloads2/445505.htm?ATCLID=205370380&SPSID=4307&SPID=236&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
Oregon will return home on Thursday when they host the University of Utah. Tip is set for 7:00 p.m. The Ducks hope to move past the sting of another tough loss.
“There’s that saying in athletics which is you can’t let the same team beat you twice,” Muscatell said. “It’s bitterly disappointing when you get beat in the Civil War, and our players feel it and we certainly feel it, and I’m sure we’ll look at this game and then we have to basically put it in our back pocket and move on.”