For the Oregon women’s basketball team, Saturday’s game against Arizona was more than just a sending off for a heralded group
of seniors.
The victory meant sole possession of second place in the Pacific-10 Conference going into the final weekend of the conference season.
Behind a season-high 11 three-pointers and solid defense, the Ducks (18-7 overall, 11-5 Pac-10) took a 17-point lead early in the second half and never looked back, beating the Wildcats (18-9, 10-6) 69-51 at McArthur Court.
The victory capped off a perfect 9-0 record at home in conference play. For the year,
the Ducks are 12-1 at home; the only loss coming at the hands of then-No. 10 Ohio State in December.
Before the game, emotions were high as the Ducks honored seniors Cathrine Kraayeveld, Andrea Bills and Corrie Mizusawa in front of an announced crowd of 4,682. Early in the game, however, that emotion seemed to hinder Oregon, as the Ducks started out cold and fell behind 10-3 early in the first half.
Instead of getting flustered, the Ducks relied on some key scoring by a couple of freshman — Kristen Forristall and Gabrielle Richards — to weather the early Arizona run and stay
within single digits. Combined, the freshmen scored nine of the Duck’s first 12 points, with Forristall connecting on 4 of 4 from the free-throw line and Richards hitting a three-pointer from the corner to pull the Ducks within two with 11:49 left to go in the first half.
“We were very tentative (in the beginning). I think a little bit of it was the emotions,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “But we
didn’t struggle defensively, which helped us stay in the game. When we did make some substitutions,
we became better in terms of our
offensive execution.”
The Ducks took their first lead of the game when sophomore Eleanor Haring made a pair of made free throws with 6:21 remaining in the first half. After that point, the Ducks would never relinquish their lead. Oregon pushed the lead to 32-23 with 1:24 to go in the half on a pair of three-pointers by senior Brandi Davis and redshirt freshman Kaela Chapdelaine.
In the first half, the Ducks shot 5 of 13 from behind the three-point line and sunk 10 of 12 free throws. In contrast, Arizona connected on 1 of 5 from behind the arc and 4 of 5 from the free-throw line.
On the year, the Ducks are 15-1 when leading at halftime.
Oregon took the momentum from the end of the first half and used it to build a quick 17-point lead after three consecutive three-pointers — two of them by Kraayeveld.
“We just tried to start the second half strong, and they just came out on fire,” Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini said. “And from that point, we were on our heels.”
Kraayeveld ended the game with 14 points on 4 of 14 shooting, 12 rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Twelve of her points came on three-pointers. The senior from Kirkland, Wash., recorded her eighth double-double of the year and the 27th of her career. Her 14 points marks the 20th time this year that she has scored in double-figures.
Kraayeveld helped an Oregon
defense that for the 15th time this season, held an opponent to under 60 points.
The duo of Kraayeveld and Bills kept the ninth-ranked scorer in the Pac-10 — Arizona’s junior center Shawntinice Polk — to seven points on 3 of 8 shooting from the field. The 6-foot-5 Polk managed only 14 points combined in both games against Oregon this season.
“Tonight we played much better defense (than in the previous Arizona game),” Bills said. “(In Tucson) we allowed way more transition points, and even though they had a lot in the first half, in the second half we really buckled down.”
Bills added her own double-double to the game with 10 points and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes of play.
Arizona threatened only once more, cutting the lead to 48-41 on a fast-break layup by senior Dee-Dee Wheeler, who led all scorers with 20 points, with 11:10 left in the second half. After a timeout a minute later, Kraayeveld hit her fourth three-pointer of the game to push the lead back to 10.
“We knew they were going to make runs,” Kraayeveld said. “We just have to be able to stop those runs and stay aggressive and keep communicating, and I think we
did that.”
Davis pushed the lead back up to 17 with 4:23 to play on her fourth three-pointer of the game. The Wildcats were unable to get within 14 during the final four minutes.
Davis, who will return next year for her final year of eligibility, led all Duck scorers with 19 points on 7 of 15 shooting.
With 1:23 left in game and Kraayeveld at the line, seniors Bills and Mizusawa received a standing ovation as they made their way to the bench. After sinking her two free-throws, Kraayeveld followed suit and the three exchanged high fives. The seniors have provided an integral part to a team that has the ability to reach to NCAA tournament for the first time under Smith.
“We wanted two things,” Smith said. “To be undefeated at home and to get high in the rankings so that we can secure a bid in the NCAA tournament. Our team deserves this victory, and I’m proud of them.”
