Not even 5,253 fans at McArthur Court could help the Oregon women’s basketball team overcome No. 6 Stanford on Saturday night. But they came awfully close.
With 1.3 seconds left, and the Ducks leading by one, Mac Court erupted in cheers in hopes that Stanford’s Nicole Powell, the reigning Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year, would miss at least one of her final two free throws. But she didn’t.
And Oregon suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Cardinal, 75-74.
The loss seemed as hard for Oregon’s crowd as it was for the Ducks themselves. Oregon gave its fans plenty to cheer about as the team kept the game close and put up the kind of fight that was somewhat unexpected.
With more than 10 minutes gone in the first half, senior Alissa Edwards hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 16-16 and the crowd erupted in cheer. It was going to be one of those wild nights at The Pit.
“The fans are always what help us and we love playing at home,” sophomore Kedzie Gunderson said. “Having them get fired up whenever we make a stop, they are up on their feet cheering and that just makes us want to play even harder.”
But Stanford finished the first half on a 14-4 run to deflate the Oregon faithful and sent the Ducks into the locker room down 39-28.
With 10:36 left in the game, Stanford’s Chelsea Trotter hit a three-pointer to give the Cardinal a 62-47 lead. The crowd went silent.
Then, Oregon went on a 21-7 run in the next seven minutes. The Ducks got right back in it, trailing by one at 68-69. Absolute pandemonium blasted from the season-high crowd that packed into Mac Court.
“Our fans really helped us,” Edwards said. “Stanford had a hard time trying to get into offenses because they couldn’t hear anything. The fans were so loud.”
Oregon (6-9 overall, 2-4 Pac-10) took a 74-73 lead after two free throws by Carolyn Ganes with three seconds left.
“That was the most amazing thing I have seen from a crowd in a basketball game,” Ganes said. “The backboards were shaking, and it was an awesome atmosphere. The fans were a huge part in us coming back. They were really the sixth man on the court for us.”
The Ducks had done everything they could do — and their crowd let them know. But after Powell’s free throws, Oregon and its fans suffered the most gut-wrenching loss of the season.
“Our fans are great every single night we are home,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “Our players talked about that going into this game, about how they make a difference, and they are what women’s basketball here at Oregon is all about.”
The 5,253 fans who jammed McArthur Court to see a game, got one. And after it was over, some of the Ducks headed toward the locker room with their heads down. But the fans stayed to give their team a standing ovation for a valiant effort.
“They love games like this, and they love to see people spilling their guts on the floor for Oregon,” Smith said. “And that is what our players did tonight. They gave everything they had.”