This was familiar territory for the Arizona Wildcats. They found themselves behind 65-40 with five minutes remaining against the Stanford Cardinal on Sunday, and they mounted a comeback. Arizona amassed 17 points over the next four minutes, holding the Cardinal scoreless.
Stanford won the game, 70-61. Oregon also weathered the storm.
Why Oregon won
| – | The Ducks’ offensive game plan centered around pounding the ball into the post, and Arizona countered with physical man-to-man defense. Oregon held a 25-24 lead entering the locker room as Arizona forward Ify Ibekwe posted a first-half double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds). |
| – | Down 37-34 with 15:11 remaining in the second half, Oregon began to seize control of the game as Arizona broke down. The Wildcats used only seven players and four starters played all 40 minutes; tired legs allowed the Ducks to push ahead. Arizona made a late run to draw within two points, but Manou and Johnson broke the Wildcats’ backs. Manou passed out to Johnson on the left corner for a three-pointer with 2:22 remaining, and ?Arizona did not score for the rest of the game. |
The Ducks outscored the Wildcats (7-7, 0-3 Pacific-10 Conference) 34-18 over the final 15 minutes, and Amanda Johnson’s three-pointer with 2:22 remaining staunched a late rally as Oregon improved to 5-8 (2-1 Pac-10) with a 68-55 win.
“I think this was a real difficult game for us. Sometimes, you don’t know how your team’s gonna react after a big road win,” head coach Bev Smith said, referencing the Ducks’ 73-56 road triumph over UCLA on Sunday. “We fought through this game.”
Arizona forward Ify Ibekwe led all scorers with 23 points and added 15 rebounds and three blocks. The 6-foot-1 sophomore, the Pac-10’s leading rebounder and third-leading scorer, had 10 of the Wildcats’ first 16 points en route to a first-half double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds).
Taylor Lilley chipped in 14 points with five assists to lead three other Ducks in double figures: starters Ellie Manou (13 and eight rebounds), Johnson (12) and Jasmin Holliday (10). Oregon nearly had a fifth double-digit scorer in Micaela Cocks (nine points).
The Ducks are now 5-1 when three or more players score in double figures.
“As a whole, we’re just shooting well (and) executing well,” Holliday said.
In terms of ball control, Oregon played its best game of the season by far. The Ducks had a season-high 18 assists and a season-low nine turnovers.
Oregon failed to come out of the gate strong, allowing seven offensive rebounds (20 total) and shooting 36.7 percent from the field in the first half. But Arizona shot only 34.6 percent from the field as the Ducks implemented their defensive strategy: Make Ibekwe’s supporting cast beat them. Outside of Ibekwe, the Wildcats made one out of 10 attempts from two-point range in the first half and Oregon walked into the locker room halftime leaders, 25-24.
“I thought we played a little bit flat in the first half,” Smith said.
The Ducks came out of halftime and executed their game plan with greater success. Johnson and Holliday each scored eight second-half points as Oregon shot 57.1 percent from the field and kept the defensive pressure on Arizona. The Wildcats shot 36.4 percent in the second half, running on tired legs. Arizona head coach Niya Butts was forced into a seven-man rotation due to injuries, and four starters played all 40 minutes.
Previewing Arizona State
The Ducks’ next opponent is the Arizona State Sun Devils (9-6, 1-2 Pac-10), which outscored the Oregon State Beavers 35-14 in the second half Thursday for a 61-36 win. Compared to the Ducks, the Sun Devils are a veteran team, returning more than 80 percent of their scoring and rebounding from 2007-08. The Sun Devils are led by senior guard Briann January, the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year in 2008, and senior center Sybil Dosty, who entered the Oregon State game averaging nine points and eight rebounds per game.
Game time is 2 p.m. on Saturday.
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