The Oregon women’s basketball team did what last year’s team couldn’t in earning win No. 15 Thursday as the team solidified its hold on a winning season.
Oregon’s 62-42 win over No. 22 California likely gives the Ducks a berth in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament. Three games remain in the regular season and for now, Oregon is focused on upping its win total.
The win marked Oregon’s first over a ranked opponent since March 19, 2005, when the Ducks upset No. 23 Texas Christian in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Forward Eleanor Haring scored 11 of her 17 points in the second half as Oregon prepares for a meeting with Stanford, the No. 1 team in the Pacific-10 Conference, on Saturday at 11 a.m. on Fox Sports Net.
“When we needed to get the intensity going, we got it,” guard Taylor Lilley said. “I definitely think we wanted it more than them in the second half.”
Oregon (15-10, 7-8 Pacific-10 Conference) outscored California (19-7, 9-6) 39-22 in an all-around effort. Oregon led by three at halftime, but extended the lead to 35-27 as Haring scored eight of Oregon’s first 12 points of the second half.
Jamie Hawkins had seven points. Carolyn Ganes and Cicely Oaks each had six.
Oregon’s bench chipped in 26 points of their own as the Ducks found offensive spark plugs in freshman guards Taylor Lilley (10 points) and Micaela Cocks (9).
Even seldom-used forward Mary Sbrissa made a cameo appearance in the second half.
“I think everyone is kind of taking it upon themselves to give that little bit more,” Haring said.
Take-away Devanei Hampton and the California offense would have been non-existent. The agile 6-foot-3-inch forward eased her way past the Oregon defense on multiple occasions and also hit mid-range jumpers for a game-high 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting.
“She’s probably the toughest post player in the Pac-10,” Hawkins said. “She creates a lot of contact. She comes at you pretty hard.”
Outside of Hampton, California made just 6-of-30 shots for 20 percent shooting from the field.
Oregon made it a point to control California’s shooters after they torched the Ducks in the first meeting in a 65-56 win. Portland native Lauren Greif had 19 points then, but was blanked on Thursday. Likewise, point guard Natasha Vital, who had 11 points in Berkeley, only had two points in Eugene.
“We were mostly concerned with Greif,” Chapdelaine said. “She’s a great shooter, great player.”
Lilley, known for her soft shooting touch, had three steals, part of a gritty effort by Oregon’s players who dove for loose balls and took several charges. Two of those steals led to Lilley buckets on the other end.
“I was reading them pretty well,” Lilley said. “I was in the pack defense and they were just pretty much throwing it right to my hands and I was like ‘Thank you’ and went down there.”
Neither team held an overwhelming advantage in the first half. Oregon led 17-10 before California reeled off eight straight points for an 18-17 edge. Oaks answered with a jumper, then four Oregon free throws with a California layup in between left the Ducks with a 23-20 halftime lead.
Oregon showed the effort necessary in the second half and with UCLA losing Thursday, the Ducks, now tied for sixth in the conference, can push for a higher seed in next month’s Pac-10 Conference Tournament.
“We want to put ourselves in a nice little spot in the standings in the Pac-10 for the conference tournament and that’s been our goal since the beginning,” Chapdelaine said.
[email protected]