The women’s basketball team’s season was all but over 10 days ago.
After losing to last-place UCLA on Feb. 23, the Ducks appeared to hit rock bottom, with their hopes of making an eighth-straight NCAA Tournament fading fast.
But all that changed w hen the Ducks returned to McArthur Court this weekend, sweeping the Arizona schools to rekindle the dangling thoughts of the Big Dance.
Saturday’s 83-78 victory over Arizona in front of 5,593 fans was the third win in four tries for the Ducks (16-11 o verall, 9-8 Pacific-10 Conference), who jumped up two spots in the standings to fourth place, ahead of the Wildcats (18-10, 8-8).
“I guess we just like to have our back in the corner,” guard Jamie Craighead said. “We seem to step up when we need to. H opefully people are watching these games and reading stats and hopefully we can get in the [NCAA] Tournament.”
An Alissa Edwards three-pointer at the 9-minute, 49-second mark in the second half broke a 53-53 tie and sparked a 16-6 Oregon run. Although the Ducks never trailed after that, Arizona made it interesting.
With 2:06 remaining, Arizona’s LaKeisha Taylor sank a short jumper to cut the Oregon lead to 73-69. A Craighead trey was quickly answered by another Arizona basket, prompting Oregon head coach Jody Runge to call a timeout.
Following the break, senior Lindsey Dion sank her third three-ball of the day — a career-high — to put the dagger in Arizona’s comeback.
“I thought we had a great team effort,” Runge said. “It’s a big sweep obviously. We’ve just tried to focus on finishing on a positive note for these seniors, and try to salvage a chance to go to the NCAA Tournament. It would really break my heart for them to not get a chance to do that.”
Forward Lindsey Dion hits a driving jumper, cutting Arizona’s second-half lead to 52-50. Minutes later, a three-pointer gave Oregon a 56-53 lead, and the Ducks never trailed again.
The Wildcats, losers of seven straight road games, seem to have the same travel bug as the Ducks. Arizona starting forward Krista Warren was carried off the court late in the first half after tearing her anterior cruciate ligament.
“It sucked,” Warren told the Arizona Daily Star. “I just wanted to get out there and play. I wanted to jump up and down and yell at the team, but I couldn’t.”
Oregon has had its share of road woes this year, going 3-9 overall. But The Pit is a different story, where the Ducks are 10-2 this se ason.
In leading the Ducks with 20 points against Arizona, Craighead broke Oregon’s single-season three-point record by draining 6-of-15 from behind the arc. Her 75 three-pointers this season surpass the mark set by Missy Croshaw, who had 70 in the 1 993-94 campaign.
“Someone made the mistake of telling me about it earlier this week,” Craighead said of the record.
Five Ducks scored in double figures, the first time that has happened this season. It was a career night for Edwards, who dished out nine assists, and Dion, who scored 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
“We’ve done pretty well here toward the end of the season,” said senior Angelina Wolvert, who had her third double-double of the season (18 points, 11 rebounds). “Our team’s a lot healthier than it was when we went through that drought of loss after loss. We don’t have one person coming with all the points, we’ve got six or seven people out there making a huge difference.”
Guard Jamie Craighead hit her school-record 75th three-pointer against Arizona.
Oregon also allowed Arizona just four offensive rebounds, the fewest the team has allowed all year. The Ducks out-rebounded the Wildcats 38-25.
“This is definitely one of those examples of how everyone on the team has stepped up and executed very, very well on offense,” Runge said. “We talked before the game that defense was going to win this game, and not giving them second chances by fouling or offensive rebounds. … We did a tremendous job on both ends of the floor.”
Any realistic shot at the NCAA Tournament now relies on the Civil War rematch this Saturday at Mac Court. The Ducks beat the Beavers 71-67 in the first meeting of the year.
“It’s a nothing-to-lose attitude,” said senior forward Brianne Meharry, who finished with 12 points. “It could be a little late, but it’s nice to kind of redeem ourselves and play against the top teams in the Pac-10. It’s kind of bittersweet also, because you are beating the best teams, but you realize how good you are and where you should’ve been.””
