Junior forward Lindsey Saffold hit junior guard Micaela Cocks for a wide-open three-pointer with 16:32 remaining in the first half to tie Oregon State, 7-7. The Ducks’ execution was smooth, and the crowd believed in Oregon’s chances to finish the first half of Pacific-10 Conference play with a 5-4 record.
Cocks’ shot would be the last Oregon points scored over the next 4:26. And, in an all-too-familiar story line, the Ducks dug themselves an early hole they could not escape from.
Two separate four-minute first-half scoring droughts and a marked rebounding disadvantage doomed the Ducks (8-12, 4-5 Pac-10) against the Oregon State Beavers (12-7, 3-6) in a 61-42 loss. The 19-point defeat was the worst suffered by an Oregon team at the hands of the Beavers at McArthur Court, representing the largest margin of victory in a Beavers win since 1974.
“It really hurts. Personally, I have that sick feeling in my stomach right now,” junior guard Taylor Lilley said. “It’s really disappointing.”
Oregon State was able to jump on the Ducks’ perimeter players early. Senior guard Brittney Davis, sophomore guard Talisa Rhea and senior guard Mercedes Fox-Griffin rotated defensively on both Cocks and Lilley (who played 36 minutes after injuring her left ankle against Portland), pressuring them out of comfortable shooting range. Offensively, the Beavers’ guards moved constantly off screens in order to hamper Lilley’s speed and stretch Cocks’ responsibilities.
Davis was the game’s leading scorer with 16 points, and Fox-Griffin had 13 points and six assists.
“We just had to be aware and in stance at all times,” Lilley said. “There were a couple instances where we stood up, and they’d just get open.”
The Ducks got a first-half boost with the post offense of sophomore forward Ellie Manou, who scored six points in eight minutes and helped dispel a deep rebounding deficit. Oregon State outrebounded Oregon 18-8 in the first half, including a 7-1 offensive rebounding edge, and 38-19 in the game.
“Oregon State just wanted it more than us today,” Manou said. “They played harder.”
In the second half, the Ducks again struggled to keep the deficit down, never once within 10 points of the Beavers’ growing lead. A pair of three-pointers by Rhea, Oregon State’s leading scorer this season, acted as twin daggers to the heart of the Ducks. The second one put the Beavers up 50-34 with 7:38 remaining in the second half, and the Ducks would never be closer.
Manou finished with 12 points and three rebounds as the only Duck in double figures. Lilley filled up the Oregon stat sheet with six points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and four turnovers.
Oregon’s Nicole Canepa dressed for the first time since Dec. 28 after recovering from a right ankle injury, but did not play against the Beavers.
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Ducks lose, effort called into question
Daily Emerald
February 1, 2009
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