SAN JOSE, Calif. – The passes missed their targets. The shots were short. California’s post players had their way inside.
Two weeks after the Oregon women’s basketball team overwhelmed the Golden Bears by 20 points in Eugene, the Ducks – even with Jessie Shetters, their 6-foot-6-inch center, back in the lineup for the first time in more than a month after suffering a stress fracture – fell to the Golden Bears in the second round of the Pac-10 Tournament, 63-51 on Saturday at HP Pavilion.
The loss dropped Oregon’s overall record to 16-13 and left the team looking forward to a possible berth in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament and more games at McArthur Court for Oregon’s five seniors.
“I’m very proud of this team in terms of where we came from to where we ended up,” Oregon coach Bev Smith said.
Cal forward Devanei Hampton had another strong outing against Oregon, scoring 21 points and grabbing nine rebounds, after having 27 points in the last meeting. Natasha Vital had 16 points, Ashley Walker 12 and Lauren Greif 10.
Oregon made 1 of 6 shots in the first few minutes as neither team shot well. Cal shot 2 for 6 in that same stretch, but eventually found its rhythm. The Bears used a 15-4 run midway through the first half to jump out to a 21-11 lead.
Carolyn Ganes found her shot, and restarted Oregon’s offense with consecutive three-pointers from the top of the key. Point guard Tamika Nurse led a fast break and fed forward Eleanor Haring for a corner jumper as Oregon completed an 8-0 run to end the first half and pull within one, 27-26.
“I think we definitely felt like we’d put ourselves in position to win the game going into the half and sometimes when you go into halftime you have those 15 minutes and it’s really hard to carry that momentum over that time,” Ganes said. “I think it was just one of those times where we couldn’t quite get it going again.”
In the second half, Ganes snatched Haring’s missed free throw and made the layup for a 28-27 Oregon lead. California again answered, this time with a 10-2 run, for a 37-30 advantage.
Nurse’s open three-pointer helped keep Oregon close and Ganes’ triple from the corner brought Oregon to within one at 39-38.
Cal switched to a 1-2-1-1 three-quarter court trap and it worked.
“There was just a little confusion at times when they were in their man and when they were in their zone,” Smith said. “I think when we did attack it we were fine, but they kept changing it up and I think what really took some seconds off the shot clock for us was their 1-2-1-1 – so we couldn’t get as organized as we wanted to.”
Cal took advantage of four Oregon turnovers, two missed three-pointers by Ganes and one by Nurse to go on an 11-0 run for a decisive 50-38 lead.
Ganes led Oregon offensively with 19 points on 8-of-20 shooting. Nurse had 12 points and Cicely Oaks 11.
“I thought Carolyn had an outstanding game and got it going for us in the first half and was all over the floor for loose balls and that’s just a sign of how hard she played and how badly she wanted to win this game and keep us going in the tournament,” Smith said.
Oregon’s normal go-to scorer Eleanor Haring had four points – all in the first half. She made 2-of-9 shots and found herself in the unusual position of watching parts of crunch time from the Oregon sideline.
“I think I wasn’t really putting myself in positions that are really my strengths and then my shots weren’t falling at all,” Haring said. “That’s pretty much on me. I have to put myself in better positions and attack (the basket) a little bit more.”
Oregon’s performance contrasted vastly with its last game with Cal, when Oregon shot 47.9 percent from the field and had seven players with five or more points. Cal, for their part, denied any revenge motivation.
“I don’t think that was our best basketball out there (in Eugene),” Cal coach Joanne Boyle said. “Think that was a time when we were going through one of our little February walls and we were able to finish on a good weekend with UCLA and USC, and then it was about starting fresh down here.”
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