SAN JOSE, Calif. — Senior forward Cathrine Kraayeveld made Oregon’s final field goal of the Pacific-10 Conference Women’s Tournament with 5:07 left in the second half.
With 20 seconds left and the Ducks down by four points, Kraayeveld then made the mistake of passing the ball to Arizona State’s Aubree Johnson instead of to her own teammate.
That costly turnover allowed the Sun Devils to finish with a 54-47 victory Sunday at HP Pavilion in front of 3,521 fans. With the semifinal win, Arizona State advances to today’s championship game to face Stanford.
“I cannot be more proud of our team’s toughness,” Arizona State head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “We scored when we needed to score … and as usual we’re getting it from different people on different days.”
The Sun Devils (22-8) denied Oregon’s
entry into the Pac-10 Tournament championship for the second time in four years.
The Ducks (20-9) reached the end of the road after committing five turnovers and missing their last five shots during the final five minutes of play.
“It was a disappointing loss,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “Particularly the way we battled, both in the first half and deep in the second half.”
Despite the loss, the Ducks will likely receive an invitation to the NCAA Tournament.
Arizona State’s Emily Westerberg made two consecutive layups to tie the game at
47 with 1:29 remaining.
“When we let our defense work instead
of our offense, we’re great,” said Westerberg, who finished with 12 points and
a game-high eight boards. “We got a
few stops and became clutch with some buckets and I think that’s what turned the momentum around.”
After one of Oregon’s several turnovers in the closing minutes, Johnson hopped over the leg of Oregon’s Andrea Bills near the left baseline and put up a floater with
45 seconds left to give Arizona State
a 49-47 lead, its first since the
6:50 mark of the first half.
“We handled it well until there were five minutes left,” Bills said. “Then we started making mental mistakes — a few turnovers that really hurt us.”
Oregon finished with 19 turnovers.
Johnson, a sophomore, started and ended the game well. In addition to scoring the first points of the game, the 6-foot-2 guard finished with a team-high 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting and grabbed four rebounds in 32 minutes.
The Ducks were held to their second-lowest point total of the season and shot 37 percent (18 of 49) for the game. Oregon made only one three-pointer in eight attempts, the fewest this season.
Kraayeveld went 6 of 15 from the floor for 14 points in 34 minutes. Bills made her first five field goals and finished with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
The Ducks were outrebounded
39-32, including 14-7 on the offensive glass. No Oregon player had more than five rebounds, and its bench contributed only two points.
Senior point guard Corrie Mizusawa finished with eight points and pulled down a season-high five rebounds.
Kraayeveld and Mizusawa shared the team-high in assists with three.

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