It had all the makings of a Knight Arena classic. An energetic crowd of 4,541 cheered on an Oregon women’s basketball team in the midst of a five-game losing streak that finally seemed ready to end.
The Ducks were playing step for step with visiting USC, and after Deanna Weaver hit a driving layup five minutes into the second half to take a 46-42 lead, the Ducks had all the momentum.
But then, a few moments later, it fell apart. USC (15-8, 7-5 Pacific-10 Conference) went on a 19-0 run to break a 53-53 tie and left Eugene with a 85-63 victory.
Oregon’s (12-12, 3-10 Pac-10) losing streak is now at six games after a strong but inconsistent effort.
“If we’re going to beat teams like USC, I don’t know if you have to play 40 minutes, but you have to play a high 30 of very, very high quality basketball,” Oregon coach Paul Westhead said. “The second half we broke down a half dozen times on defense and started to miss some shots. That combo is a tough one to recover from.”
Those second-half defensive breakdowns helped USC put together an efficient offensive performance. Jacki Gemelos led the Trojans with 18 points on 6 of 12 shooting off the bench. Ashley Corral scored 16, Cassie Harberts added 15, and Briana Gilbreath chipped in 14. As a team, USC shot 45 percent from the field, including 51 percent in the second half.
Even when Oregon was able to get stops in the second half, they often surrendered second-chance opportunities to USC. The Trojans outrebounded Oregon 53-34 and scored 20 second-chance points to Oregon’s eight.
“In the first half I would suspect we did a better job (of rebounding),” Westhead said. “In the second half we became much more vulnerable to a miss and then a put back. The problem’s not going away.”
Whereas rebounding might be a deficiency this Duck squad is unable to correct, shooting has been one of Oregon’s strong suits most of the year. However, during their losing streak, the Ducks’ have had a hard time making shots.
After shooting 25 percent from the field against UCLA Thursday, Oregon shot only 33 percent against USC. Freshman point guard Ariel Thomas, who started in place of injured Nia Jackson, led the Ducks with 16 points, and Amanda Johnson and Deanna Weaver added 15 points apiece, but Oregon was generally inefficient on the offensive end.
“I know it’s an improvement, but at the end of the game, (we shot) 33 percent,” Westhead said. “We’re a decent-to-good offensive team, and we have to shoot better than that.”
Though even Oregon’s most ardent supporters would have trouble finding much to be excited about after yet another loss, the Ducks did a few things well.
Oregon held USC to 30 percent shooting from three-point range, and blocked eight shots — their highest total during their current losing streak.
And, most encouragingly, Oregon started the game strong with an abundance of effort and energy, playing even with one of the Pac-10’s better teams for most of the game.
“I believe we came out with great intensity,” Thomas said. “Once again, our problem is just sustaining it for 40 minutes.”
Although it’s assured that the Ducks will finish with a losing record in conference play, Oregon still has the opportunity to claim full bragging rights over rival Oregon State. After topping the Beavers 81-72 last month at Matthew Knight Arena, the Ducks will go for a sweep in Corvallis next Saturday.
“We have a very big week next week,” Westhead said. “A week that stands out all by itself. In the Civil War week, it doesn’t matter whether you’re 20-2 or 2-20. It’s a very important week for us.”
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