Oregon point guard Corrie Mizusawa defends against Southern’s Rolanda Monroe Tuesday at Mac Court.
The Oregon women’s basketball team almost let one slip away against Southern University on Tuesday.
Up by as much as 19 in the second half, the Ducks went on a seven-and-a-half-minute scoreless stretch, allowing the Baton Rouge school to get within eight before Oregon salted away the last minute and a half to hold on to a 65-52 victory.
“We sort of thought the game was over and we played a little bit to entertain, rather than to put the knife in and turn even harder,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “And you have to give credit to Southern (for playing well in the second half).”
Oregon’s Cathrine Kraayeveld hit a turnaround jumper from the right side of the floor at the 8:17 mark in the second half to push the lead to 59-40.
“I think we played really well at times and went on strings where we were playing awesome defense and hitting our shots and being aggressive,” Kraayeveld said. “But we kind of let down toward the end.”
The Jaguars then scored ten in a row, behind eight points by Ashley Blake, to close the gap to 59-50 before Kraayeveld sank two free throws and got the Ducks’ lead back above ten.
“I think it was a lack of focus and we were satisfied with what we had,” Oregon senior Corrie Mizusawa. “And we let them get back in the game.”
Freshman Gabrielle Richards ended Oregon’s field goal drought with a layup with six seconds left to play.
“I think the big factor tonight was Richards,” Southern head coach Sandy Pugh said. “I was like, ‘Where did this kid come from?’”
Richards contributed 19 points off the bench and was the team’s leading scorer. She went 7 of 8 from the floor and added three rebounds.
“I think Gabe was a real focal point for us,” Smith said. “I think she got better in the second half, and our team did a good job of finding her.”
Kraayeveld, in her fourth game back since her season-ending knee injury last year, did a little bit of everything for the Ducks scoring 18 points and grabbing seven rebounds as Oregon exploited its height advantage
the entire game.
Senior Andrea Bills scored 12 points and led the Ducks in rebounding with eight.
Oregon also struggled from the three-point line (3 of 15) and the free-throw line (14 of 23) on the night.
The Ducks travel to Brooklyn, N.Y., this weekend for the Long
Island University Tournament,
Nov. 26-27.
“We must be sharper mentally to be ready to battle and compete for 40 minutes,” Smith said. “If we think we can turn it on, that is a
big mistake.”
