The evolving Oregon women’s basketball team collided with a thriving Arizona State team Saturday night.
Oregon (10-6, 2-4 Pacific-10 Conference) held firm much of the evening – the Ducks had a 49-47 lead with 10 minutes left – but Arizona State was ranked No. 11 in the country and in the closing minutes it showed in the Sun Devils’ 80-70 come-from-behind win before a crowd of 3,353 at McArthur Court.
Emily Westerberg, who led the Sun Devils (16-2, 6-1) with 19 points, displayed why the senior forward is one of the top players in college basketball with 12 of her points coming in the last nine minutes. Her counterpart, Oregon forward Eleanor Haring, struggled to find any rhythm offensively.
“I feel like we, as a team, put ourselves in position to win and then, just personally, I don’t feel I really contributed at all,” said Haring, who visibly showed her frustration afterwards with her 4-for-13 shooting performance.
Haring finished with eight points and five fouls – one of three Ducks to foul out in the final minutes. The tightly officiated game and an aggressive Arizona State attack left a large disparity in free throw attempts – 45 for the visitors to 20 for Oregon.
“The free throws, unfortunately, we can’t really control a lot of that,” coach Bev Smith said. “We can try to do what we need to do defensively and move our feet, but the discrepancy is a lot of times out of your control in terms of what is being called on ends of the floor.”
Known for its defense, Oregon is changing with more offensive success in recent weeks. Oregon notched the 70-point mark for the fifth consecutive game. The defense, typically Oregon’s mainstay, has slipped. Oregon has dropped to fourth in the Pac-10 in field goal defense (.383) and three-point field defense (.311).
“Arizona State does some things both at the offensive and defensive end that just keeps that pressure on,” Smith said. “I think it could have been closer and I think we could have maybe had a chance to get over the hump and that’s just those little things that come back to haunt you.”
Those little things could be pinpointed to rebounds and missed lay-ups. Arizona State picked up 10 offensive boards and on the other end, Oregon had lay-ups bounce out, whether it was a floater by Cicely Oaks or a wide-open look by Jamie Hawkins.
Guard Taylor Lilley did her part to keep Oregon close with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Highly regarded for her long distance skills, Lilley created shots of her own, either stepping back for three-pointers or attacking the basket.
In three consecutive possessions in the second half, Lilley faked a three-pointer, spun to the baseline and made a lay-up. Nineteen seconds later she took on a charge and followed that by drawing a foul on a lay-up.
“That young lady is really, I think, befuddling a lot of scouting reports because she’s known as a shooter and yet, she’s taking the ball to the hoop,” Smith said.
Oregon’s search for an elusive breakthrough win continues next week in visits to Stanford and California.
“Maybe we just need one, you know what I mean?” sophomore guard Tamika Nurse said. “Just one game where we actually get the win, get the close win. Just to know that you can do it. I don’t think we doubt that we can, but I do think it would really be good for us to get that one where it’s close and we win it.”
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