Oregon senior point guard Corrie Mizusawa added five assists to her conference-leading total of 88 in the Ducks’ 70-54 loss to UCLA.
For the second straight game, turnovers sabotaged the Oregon women’s basketball team’s chance for victory.
The Ducks committed 13 first-half turnovers — 20 for the game — but still carried a two-point lead at halftime before surrendering 44 points in the second half to fall to UCLA 70-54 at Pauley Pavilion.
Oregon’s loss drops them to 9-4 overall, 2-2 in conference and into a tie with Washington. With its win, UCLA (9-3, 3-0) sits in the top spot and remains the only unbeaten in conference play.
For the first time since the 1992-93 season, the Ducks were swept by the two Southern California schools away from McArthur Court. Oregon split the series
with the LA teams for the last
13 years.
Much the same as their game against USC on Sunday, Duck turnovers turned into easy buckets for the Bruins. Many of the points in the first half came off turnovers, which buoyed a UCLA offense that went 11 of 40 shooting and only managed 26 points.
“I think we were playing better on defense in the first half to hold UCLA to 26,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “We just need to focus on just a couple of things during the game, not the whole
big picture.”
The Ducks used 13 first-half points off the bench from guard Brandi Davis to take a six-point lead with a 1:40 left in the
first half.
UCLA responded with two quick baskets in the last thirty seconds and kept that momentum going early in the second half. The Bruins regained the lead on a three-pointer by guard Lisa Willis.
Oregon never got the lead back and watched UCLA go up by as many as 16.
“I think we kept going,” senior Andrea Bills said of her team’s second-half defense. “We can’t just trade baskets with them and give them open looks.”
While UCLA heated up on
offense in the second half, Oregon struggled shooting the ball the entire game.
Senior Cathrine Kraayeveld led the Ducks in scoring for the ninth time this season, contributing 16 points and nine boards.
“Offensively, we were out of sync,” Kraayeveld said. “We
have to keep our heads (in
that situation).”
Oregon shot 20 of 60 from the field and 7 of 25 from the three-point line for the game. Its 54 points was the lowest output of
the year.
Junior Chelsea Wagner, coming off tying a career-high 21 points against USC, only managed to score six points on two three-pointers while playing under the weather.
Also struggling was Bills, who managed only four points in 27 minutes of action. Bills was held scoreless for much of the game.
Senior guard Corrie Mizusawa led the Ducks in assists with five.
