Few things went Oregon’s way in Tucson, Ariz., on Saturday.
Guard Brandi Davis was 3 for 3 from behind the three-point line, but she didn’t play until the final 10 minutes of the game for what head coach Bev Smith called “disciplinary reasons.”
Every player who came off the bench — and everyone available did — scored for the Ducks, but Oregon’s first points didn’t come until 5 minutes, 8 seconds into the game.
For every time that Oregon (12-14 overall, 4-12 Pacific-10 Conference) lost a lead and a victory in the final minutes this season, there were games like the Ducks’ 84-58 loss to Arizona on Saturday, where they found themselves facing a 23-point half-time deficit.
The Ducks don’t know which is worse: a slow start or a bad finish.
“At the start, we dug ourselves a 10-foot ditch with a 6-foot pole,” Smith said. “We made some runs, but it was too late.”
In the end, it was the slow start that got Oregon. The Wildcats (20-7, 12-4) had an 11-0 lead before Oregon forward Kedzie Gunderson’s long jumper forced the McKale Center crowd to take their seats — something fans only do upon the opposing team’s first points. Oregon brought the game to within 10 at one point in the first half, but the closest the Ducks got in the final 20 minutes was a 58-37.
“I take my hat off to Arizona,” Smith said. “They played very well, and that’s the way they’ve been playing lately. Our slow start weighed heavily on us. The shots we did get became more important and put more pressure on us. (Andrea) Bills’ fouls put us in a difficult match-up situation.”
Bills, Oregon’s starting center, picked up her second foul 1:50 into the game. She sat for much of the first half after getting the early fouls and ended the game with six points and three rebounds in 14 minutes.
Early foul trouble and a poor offensive start led Smith to quickly send out her reserves. The entire bench saw action and scored points, while two starters — Corrie Mizusawa and Yadili Okwumabua — didn’t score.
Perhaps the game was a bright sign for Oregon’s future. The three freshmen — Jessica Shetters, Ashley Allen and Cicely Oaks — who have not had extensive playing time this season saw plenty of action. Shetters scored all six of her points in the second half, and Allen had a career-high six points. Oaks also had a career-high with four points in eight minutes.
Mizusawa, the Ducks’ starting point guard, added three assists to her season total while playing on a partially torn left lateral meniscus. Mizusawa has 161 assists this season, tying Lauri Landerholm for No. 3 on Oregon’s all-time single-season list.
The Wildcats sent seniors Aimee Grzyb and Jessica Duger off with a 14-0 home season, the first time in Arizona history that the Wildcats had a perfect home season.
“To go undefeated at home is a great achievement,” Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini said. “It was a goal of ours from the beginning.”
Grzyb contributed five points and four assists in 30 minutes on the court. Duger scored a career-high seven points in just four minutes of playing time.
“It was sad to play my last home game, but the season is not over yet,” Grzyb said. “I was proud of Jessica Duger. She looked like she was having a lot of fun, and she made her shots while she was doing it.”
The Ducks host Stanford on Thursday with a 7 p.m. tipoff.
Oregon’s final home game of the season starts Saturday at 1 p.m. against California. It is the final game at McArthur Court in senior Kayla Steen’s Oregon career.