It appeared that the Oregon women’s basketball team was well on its way to ending its four-game losing streak against UCLA on Sunday.
A fast-break layup by junior center Andrea Bills gave Oregon a 41-27 lead with 12:41 remaining and sent the McArthur Court crowd of 3,612 into a frenzy.
That would be the end of Oregon’s good fortune, however, as the Ducks fell victim to UCLA’s pressure defense.
Implementing a full-court press, UCLA went on a 20-4 run that was capped by an Amanda Livingston hook shot, giving the Bruins a 47-45 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. The Ducks had several opportunities down the stretch, but when the buzzer sounded, Oregon had lost 63-57 and faced a 0-4 Pacific-10 Conference record.
Oregon head coach Bev Smith said the Ducks resembled a “deer in headlights” during the Bruin run.
UCLA was aided by Oregon’s 20 turnovers, several of which came on sloppy passes while attempting to break the Bruin press.
“There’s no doubt about it, we just didn’t handle their pressure,” Smith said. “I thought we did a good job the first couple of times (against the press) … but you have to keep doing it, you have to keep that discipline, you have to keep that focus and you can’t let them come back into the game.”
This wasn’t the first time Oregon has suffered a significant meltdown during a game this season. During their first loss of the season at Portland on Dec. 4, the Ducks were blown off the Chiles Center floor by an eager Pilot team that set the tone early with a 20-2 run.
During Friday’s game against USC, Oregon quickly fell behind on the strength of a 17-2 Trojan run. The Ducks pulled to within six late in the first half but could never fully recover.
Despite having experienced cold spells before, the loss to UCLA was different. The Ducks didn’t fall into a hole early that they couldn’t get out of — that would be much easier to deal with.
Instead, Oregon had control of the Bruins and let them off the hook.
Junior point guard Corrie Mizusawa said the Ducks’ youthful squad needs to do a better job of playing the game one possession at a time.
“We’re a young team, we’re not the most experienced team,” Mizusawa said. “Obviously we’re going to go through some bumps and sometimes it’s hard for the younger players to get their heads back into the game and realize that it’s just one play, and that’s one thing that we have to work on.”
The Ducks put up a good fight down the stretch, but it should never have come down to Oregon scrambling to find a way to score during the game’s final minute.
With Oregon facing its worst conference start since the 1995-96 season, the Ducks need to find a way to overcome the disappointment of losing a game they should have won.
“It’s hard not to let it (bother us),” Bills said. “We just can’t have that happen when we’re up five, 10 points and trying to build a bigger lead. We have to get those stops and can’t have mental breakdowns and turnovers.”