The same resilience Oregon showed in creating a three-game winning streak disappeared long enough for Arizona State to blitz the Ducks in a 61-48 Sun Devils win Thursday night at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, Ariz.
Oregon had its share of chances and held the lead for a large portion of the game. The Ducks (13-10, 5-8 Pacific-10 Conference) led by one with 11 minutes left, but 26 turnovers derailed Oregon’s hopes of beating a ranked opponent for the first time in almost two years.
“The disappointing part of it is with 26 turnovers, you’re still in the game with the 10th ranked team in the nation and you’re on their home court and I think that’s the frustrating part for us as a coaching staff and certainly as players,” Oregon coach Bev Smith said in a broadcast interview.
Guard Kaela Chapdelaine and forward Carolyn Ganes each had 10 points for Oregon. Eleanor Haring scored eight points and Jamie Hawkins had seven points off the bench.
Oregon’s three game winning streak had coincided with the Ducks’ ability to find an answer offensively when teams made runs in the second half. Thursday night, when Arizona State (22-3, 12-2 Pac-10) knotted the score at 32, Oregon only answered momentarily.
Hawkins made a lay-up for a 34-32 lead. Arizona State’s Briann January answered with a three-pointer to go ahead by one and Hawkins again restored Oregon’s lead with a jumper in the key for a 36-35 advantage.
But after a 38-all tie, Arizona State seniors Emily Westerberg and Aubree Johnson combined to score 18 of the Sun Devils’ next 20 points to expand their lead to 58-45.
“We just didn’t execute well,” Smith said. “I thought we lost our focus. I thought we lost our concentration and above all, I thought we lost our intensity.”
The beginning of the game featured almost a complete opposite version of the Ducks, who jumped to a 9-2 lead. Oregon pushed the lead to 26-14 on a layup from Chapdelaine.
Oregon capitalized on Arizona State’s miserable 25.8 shooting percentage in the first half. The Ducks shot 47.6 percent by comparison, maintaining an eight-point halftime lead, even with a 4-0 Arizona State run to end the half.
The Ducks held the lead until Arizona State’s offensive push at the 11 minute mark. Turnovers kept popping up and prevented Oregon from adding a win to its record.
“You can’t not react against an Arizona State basketball team because they’ll keep bringing it at you and running it down your throat,” Smith said.
Oregon visits McKale Center on Saturday for a 1 p.m. meeting with Arizona.
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