For 40 minutes, the Oregon women’s basketball team went toe-to-toe with the No. 2 school in the country.
At the final buzzer, the score read No. 2 Stanford 100, Oregon 80. The rambunctious McArthur Court crowd of 2,909 — the largest this year and the most vocal in recent memory for a men’s or women’s game — couldn’t care less.
The Cardinal retains its perfect Pacific-10 Conference record (7-0, 17-1 overall) while the Ducks drop to 12-7 and 3-4 overall, with four straight losses. On Saturday, however, heads were held high and not without reason.
“I told our team we play the game to win,” Oregon head coach Paul Westhead said. “But slightly under that goal (is) playing as hard as you can and doing your very best. It’s almost equally as important, and in the long run maybe more important. I thought our players played as hard and as well as they’re capable.
“And I think we’re back on track. Even though winning would really get us back on track, I think our players are back in the groove of pressing and running. I’m happy they got into a good, sound game rhythm.”
The game had the makings of a memorable one early on. Tied at seven apiece at the 17-minute mark of the first half, Oregon forced the Cardinal’s Rosalyn Gold-Onwude out of bounds with backcourt pressure. Forward Victoria Kenyon followed the forced turnover with a four-point play, fouled by Stanford’s Jayne Appel. The sequence sent the Mac Court crowd into a frenzy and gave Oregon what would be its largest lead of the game.
Even as the Cardinal regained the lead, largely on the efforts of Ogwumike, Oregon managed timely baskets while turning up defensive pressure in the full court. The Ducks ended up scoring 21 points off 16 Stanford turnovers, limiting themselves to just 10 turnovers (with 10 points off). The crowd did its part with consistent cheering and numerous standing ovations after timeouts.
“It was amazing. I loved it,” guard Taylor Lilley said of the crowd’s efforts. “The atmosphere was definitely something that I haven’t seen in a while. It was very active.”
Guard Nia Jackson was the Ducks’ spark plug, feeding off added pressure on Lilley and Micaela Cocks for a career-high 26 points, with four rebounds, four assists and no turnovers. Jackson’s cuts to the basket on offense kept Cardinal defenders on their heels all day. She had three steals but easily caused twice that many, darting around the backcourt and pressuring Stanford players into turnovers.
“Nia’s a gamer,” Westhead said. “She likes to play games that have a lot of pop and excitement. She likes to turn on the jets. They played kind of a straight-up man-to-man (defense) … they stick on (Lilley and Cocks), and there’s not much help. Nia only needs a half-step.”
Ogwumike, however, was not to be denied by the Ducks, finding seams in the matchup zone and grabbing rebounds seemingly at will. Her first-half double-double (16 points, 12 rebounds) carried the Cardinal to a 54-50 halftime lead. The sophomore from Cypress, Texas, finished with a career-high 30 points and 23 rebounds, eight on the offensive glass.
“She’s so fluid,” Westhead said. “We would locate her, but it didn’t last long. Her ability as a rebounder is devastating.”
After the break, the Ducks’ energy and aggressiveness had carried over to the second half, but shots weren’t falling at a necessary rate.
Oregon could not withstand the advances of Appel and Ogwumike inside and guards J.J. Hones and Jeanette Pohlen outside, despite the efforts of the press and control of the pace. Appel’s three-point play after being fouled on a layup with 6:29 remaining put the Cardinal up 88-77, and the lead would never again dip below 10 points.
Five Cardinal scored in double figures, including Appel (17 points and six rebounds in 19 minutes, limited by early foul trouble) and Pohlen (15 points, 5-14 from three-point range). Micaela Cocks scored 17 points for the Ducks, and Lilley added 16 points and four rebounds.
Characterized for much of the season by their strong post presence, the Cardinal shot 35 of their 70 field goal attempts from beyond the arc, hitting 13, and shooting 50 percent from the field overall. Twenty-six of the 35 made baskets were assisted. The Ducks’ cold second half (11-34, 32.4 percent) led to a 38.0-percent day from the field, with just 32.1 percent of three-pointers made.
Stanford dominated in points in the paint (38 to 22) and rebounds (48 to 36), also shooting 81.0 percent from the free-throw line.
“We fought hard the whole game,” Jackson said. “Sometimes, you just come up short.”
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