Not many basketball teams can claim they shot 31 percent from the floor and missed 16 free throws while still coming up with a win.
But somehow, some way, the Oregon women’s basketball team pulled out a 68-64 victory over Washington in the final game at McArthur Court.
Chalk it up to the ghosts of Mac Court, for one final time.
“There was a little magic left,” Oregon head coach Paul Westhead said.
A season-high crowd of 2,854 yellow-and-green-clad Duck fans that helped energize Oregon during a few difficult stretches didn’t hurt, either.
“I’m looking out there and our fans wouldn’t let it happen,” Westhead said. “They came for a win, and they were hell bent on getting a win.”
Perhaps buoyed by the enthusiastic crowd, the Ducks (11-4, 2-2 Pacific-10 Conference) got off to a fine start and surged to a 27-10 lead a little over 10 minutes into the game. But then, the Huskies (6-7, 1-3 Pac-10) came back.
Washington star Kristi Kingma, the sister of Oregon men’s basketball signee Brett Kingma, hit four three-pointers in the span of 4:24, and the Huskies cut the Ducks’ lead to four, with the score 32-28 entering halftime.
Then, in the second half, just like the first, the Ducks went up by double digits. A layup by Nia Jackson pushed Oregon’s lead to 45-33 with 15:11 left in the game when, once again, Washington came back. With 6:11 left, the Huskies tied the game at 54.
“In the second half things began to fall apart,” Westhead said. “They got a couple quick baskets on us, we missed some shots, we missed some free throws, had all the makings of maybe this game’s going to go south.”
It didn’t.
A pair of three pointers, by true freshman Danielle Love and junior college transfer Ashley Buis, pushed Oregon’s lead to 60-55, and the Ducks held on the rest of the way, overcoming poor foul shooting (the Ducks missed their last six free throw attempts) that inspired Westhead to joke: “I was yelling at the opposition, ‘Don’t foul!’”
For the game, the Ducks shot a woeful 20-36 from the charity stripe. They made only 20 of 64 field goal attempts but forced 25 Husky turnovers while only committing 13.
Guard Nia Jackson led Oregon in scoring for the third-straight game with 22 points. Nicole Canepa, Oregon’s inside threat, had yet another strong game with 15 points on 4 of 7 shooting off the bench. Love chipped in nine points on 3 of 4 shooting.
Notably, junior Amanda Johnson had her second consecutive off-night, scoring a season-low four points on only 2-14 shooting. According to Westhead, however, Johnson has been battling “chest congestion” that has slowed her down.
With that, the Ducks will prepare to complete the move to Matthew Knight Arena. The team was scheduled to have its first shootaround yesterday, and after a road trip to play USC and UCLA next weekend, will make their Matthew Knight debut Jan. 23 against Oregon State.
The Ducks are glad they were able to leave their historic venue with one last win.
“We just wanted this win so bad for ourselves, for Mac Court, for our fans, for everyone whose been a part of this tradition,” Canepa said. “It’s bittersweet that we have to say goodbye to Mac Court, but at the same time it’s great that we get to move into a new arena and start a new tradition ourselves.”
Westhead added, “It’s a forever win. It’s one you have to mark down, and one year from now, five years from now, 84 years from now someone will be remembering.”
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