Taylor Lilley fired shot after shot.
Each time the ball clanked off the rim. With Lilley, a high percentage shooting guard, missing all 12 of her attempts and post Nicole Canepa struggling with foul trouble, the Oregon women’s basketball team sputtered Thursday.
On the same night the No. 2 Oregon football team lost, a sparse crowd saw the basketball team commit 25 turnovers and make just 2 of 19 three-point attempts.
The result was a 67-60 loss to visiting South Dakota State at McArthur Court.
“I think the bottom line for us we got set back on our heels with their intensity, with their tempo,” coach Bev Smith said. “They really took it to us.”
Kristin Rotert and Andrea Verdegan each had 18 points for South Dakota State as the two guards combined for six of the Jackrabbits eight three-pointers.
Oregon’s backcourt, dotted with upperclassmen, was slowed by the constant pressure from South Dakota State’s defense. The Ducks led 47-45 on a Kaela Chapdelaine steal and lay-up, but the Jackrabbits answered with an 8-0 run that put them ahead 53-47.
In that span, Oregon was blocked twice and traveled.
“We had too many turnovers,” guard Micaela Cocks said. “We weren’t aggressive enough.”
Junior point guard Tamika Nurse committed eight turnovers and senior guard Kaela Chapdelaine five.
“If we put more ball pressure on them, it’s harder for them to get the ball in the post and they’re obviously a little bigger than us so we had to pressure them as much as we could,” Rotert said.
And with Canepa, who had 11 points in the first half, relegated to the bench with three fouls 15 minutes into the game – two coming within a span of six seconds – it left the Ducks without its most consistent offensive presence.
She returned in the second half and picked up a fourth foul within the first two minutes. Canepa returned one last time with just under six minutes left and fouled out two minutes later.
“They are a shorter team than us and especially with Nicole, she is shifty and she is very mobile so she could have done a lot to help us,” Lilley said.
Oregon instead went to forward Ellie Manou, who recovered from her 1-for-6 effort in the season opener by making 8 of 12 shots and consistently finishing inside for a team-high 17 points.
“I think anything could have been better than last week,” Manou said, laughing. “The guards did an amazing job of letting me find the ball and you have to reward them for doing a good job.”
Cocks, who provided an offensive boost with 11 points, was inserted into the game seven minutes into the first half after missing the team’s first game for playing in an unsanctioned game in New Zealand. On two separate possessions, Cocks went to the basket and made lay-ups.
“I was excited to get back out there and play,” Cocks said.
Oregon led 9-3 in the first half on a lay-up by Chapdelaine and made it 15-9 on a Manou lay-up. South Dakota State stayed close and consecutive three-pointers by Rotert tied it at 18.
The Jackrabbits upped their lead to six, 32-26, on another Rotert three-pointer with two minutes left and went ahead by nine, 35-26, on Rotert’s fourth long distance shot of the opening frame.
Manou then stole the ball, led the fast break and dished to a cutting Nurse for a lay-up and a seven point deficit as the buzzer signaled the end of the first half.
“I wasn’t really happy with our poise,” Smith said. “There was still plenty of time – both in the first half and the second half – and I thought we just got into a panic and started to play how they play and that’s not our style.”
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