There is only one word to describe the mess in the first half of the women’s game against No. 6 California on Saturday: ugly.
And there’s only one word to describe the second half of that very same game: redeeming.
After 20 minutes of play, the Golden Bears (16-2 overall, 7-0 Pacific-10 Conference) were up 31-10, and held the Ducks (7-11, 4-4) to just 18 percent shooting from the field. The brutal statistics include a 24-2 run by Cal to end the first half, and a scoring drought that started with 12:41 left in the first half and continued until 17:25 in the second half.
It was painful to watch or listen to, but the fans at McArthur Court stayed, half because they were drawn to the car wreck-like atmosphere, and half to see if their team would pull it together. Even head coach Bev Smith knew the trial her young team put the crowd through, and she thanked them for not packing up and leaving.
“I want to thank all of our fans for sticking it out with our young women in the second half,” she said. “That was really great.”
Those fans were rewarded with a reinvigorated Ducks squad that made up for its abysmal opening performance by outscoring the Golden Bears by six points in the second half. The team shot 48 percent from the field and hit eight three-pointers, while holding Cal to 33 percent shooting for the second half.
The bad news? Oregon still lost by 15, but the effort was there in the second half, and now Smith wants to see her team put it together for a full game.
“(The first half) was a trying half for us,” Smith said after the game. “We finally got it rolling, but it was about aggressiveness. We only shot four free throws in the game, which means we weren’t attacking enough. We have to put a full 40 minutes together every night.”
It’s the second straight game the Ducks have played one good half of basketball. Against Stanford on Thursday, the team hung tough with the Cardinal, and at halftime were only down 10 points. But then Oregon let the second half slip away, and Stanford won 85-57.
Smith thinks it all comes back to intensity to start a game, and the effort level.
“I told the team in the locker room that we can run anything, but only if you want to,” Smith said. “Tonight, we tried to run a game plan but there was no spice.”
Now the team’s focus is about moving on. Oregon plays the University of Portland tonight at 7 p.m. at Mac Court, and the Ducks will be looking to get back on the right track. And the three games in five days excuse won’t fly this time. Smith says it’s unfortunate that they have to play, but it happens and all she is concerned with is that her team starts the game with the fire and intensity necessary to win a basketball contest.
“All I care about is getting after it,” Smith says. “There will be no excuses (about being tired), because Portland just played a pair of games this weekend as well.”
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