Tamika Nurse raised her hand in the air and unleashed a wide smile. As the seconds ticked off the clock, the Oregon women’s basketball team celebrated its third consecutive Pacific-10 Conference win.
Oregon’s confidence is flowing following its latest win, a 73-63 triumph over the visiting USC Trojans Saturday night before 3,669 fans at McArthur Court.
“It was really good to finally finish out a game and get that win and just prove to ourselves that we can do it and we’re good enough to play with these teams,” guard Kaela Chapdelaine said.
Oregon (13-9, 5-7 Pac-10) earned two victories over the Los Angeles schools at home after holding leads in Los Angeles and faltering down the stretch.
Oregon held a 33-30 halftime lead Saturday, but struggled offensively to begin the second half. USC (14-9, 8-5) pulled even at 39, then Chapdelaine grabbed the rebound off a Jamie Hawkins missed free throw and passed out to Nurse. Chapdelaine set up in the left corner, took the pass and sank a wide-open three-pointer for a 42-39 lead.
USC pulled ahead, 48-43, on a Hailey Dunham jumper. Oregon’s Eleanor Haring banked in a jumper along the baseline, before Nurse hit two free-throws. Carolyn Ganes put the Ducks ahead, 50-48, on a three-pointer from the right corner.
Nurse sealed it with an off-balance jumper with a minute left for a 70-63 Oregon lead. Nurse attempted to “Reggie Miller it” as she described it and tried to lean into her defender and draw the foul, but USC guard Jamie Hagiya was nowhere to be found.
“So I fell flat on my face,” Nurse said. “I didn’t know it went in until I got up and I was like ‘Hey, we’re on defense. This is great.’”
Nurse had 16 points – 14 on free throws – with the sophomore frequently able to drive to the hoop and draw the foul.
Oregon switched its defenses multiple times to keep USC guard Eshaya Murphy off balance. Whether it was switching, zone or using a full court 2-2-1 defense, Oregon held Murphy to seven points on just 3-of-16 from the field and zero points in the second half.
“She’s a great player, great shooter, so we kind of need to get her out of rhythm, and I think the coaches did a good job of leading us that way,” Chapdelaine said.
Murphy had her streak of 47 straight games in double-figure scoring end. The last time she was held to fewer than 10 points was when she had five points in a USC win on Dec. 6, 2005, against Loyola Marymount.
“They did a great job,” USC coach Mark Trakh said of Oregon’s defense. “They helped on her. That’s the only reason. We don’t say a ‘a kid had an off game.’ The reason kids have off games has a lot to do with the way they’re defended. Oregon deserves all the credit in the world.”
Oregon guard Taylor Lilley had 11 points – all in the first half – before she left late in the second half with a cramp in her left leg. Ganes had 14 points and Chapdelaine added 13.
Lilley also had five rebounds with Chapdelaine snatching five and Nurse six. With Jessie Shetters out for the rest of the regular season with a stress fracture in her back, Oregon coaches have made it a focus to have the guards help out on the boards, along with the rest of the team.
With Arizona State coming up next Thursday, and Oregon only a game and a half out of fifth place, the Ducks are feeling good.
“Any time you work hard, that hard work is going to pay off in the end and I think it did,” Oregon coach Bev Smith said.
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