Lindsey Dion wasn’t even supposed to play against the Huskies Saturday.
Her sprained left ankle — which she injured a month ago at Washington — has not properly healed and has limited her play on the court in the Ducks’ recent five-game slump.
In fact, Dion was put in a boot after Thursday’s loss to Washington State, when she played just 11 minutes. And she didn’t practice Friday.
But against the dreaded No. 23 Huskies, a team that the Oregon seniors have never lost to, Dion refused to watch from the sidelines. She came off the bench to score 15 points, including a crucial jumper with 48 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Ducks (10-13 overall, 6-7 Pacific-10 Conference) a 64-60 victory at McArthur Court.
“I was in a boot ’til about 12:15 to 12:30,” Dion said of the 1 p.m. tipoff Saturday. “I didn’t want to sit out. I was ready to play through just about anything.”
An X-ray taken before the game revealed a severe high ankle sprain, but the doctor still gave the OK to allow Dion to play.
“His decision to let her play made a huge difference in this game, because without her I don’t think we would have been able to get it done,” head coach Jody Runge said.
While she said it took awhile for her ankle to warm up, Dion entered the game mid-way through the first half and make her presence known immediately. She was 2-for-2 in the opening session, scoring four points. But, more importantly, she scored five of the team’s eight final points in regulation. For the game, Dion was 7-for-12 from the field, and her 15 points were a season-high.
“I don’t want to say I was in the zone… but I had a lot of confidence,” Dion said.
She was so confident that at the end of regulation she drove the length of the court and took the potential buzzer beater, which clanged off the back of the rim. Nonetheless, Dion got the Ducks into the overtime with five straight points late in the game — a three pointer with 4:35 remaining and a jumper at the 3:58 mark — to tie the game at 51.
“Lindsey did a good job of finding openings in our zone,” Washington head coach June Daugherty said. “I thought she played with a lot of guts and courage. In the past four years, she has been the heart and soul of this Ducks’ team.”
In Oregon’s six previous games, Dion averaged just 6.8 points with the sprained ankle. After Thursday’s 77-76 loss to Washington State, Runge said Dion would not be playing against the Huskies.
“When I saw her come off the bench for the first time I was extremely pleased,” junior Jamie Craighead said. “She stepped up when we needed her to; those were huge shots she took. She hasn’t had a lot of confidence in her shot, so if she didn’t have it before, she should have it now. And that [bodes well] for us in the next five games.”
Along with Dion, the Oregon seniors have never lost to Washington. The Ducks have won 11 straight games against the Huskies.