Having lost six of its past eight games, Oregon was looking for a fast start against Arizona on Thursday night. After starting red-hot from the field, the Ducks held on in the second half to beat the Wildcats, 87-73.
Oregon came out of the gate scorching from the field, taking a 21-3 with 12:37 remaining the first half. Arizona, on the other had, was ice-cold from the field. Arizona started 1-of-13 overall and missed its first seven three-point attempts.
The drought was uncharacteristic of a sharpshooting squad that came into the game leading the Pac-12 in three-point field goal percentage this year (.383), knocking down a total of 100 long-distance buckets. Oregon was 10-of-17 from three-point range in the first period.
“It’s as simple as this: We made shots,” said head coach Paul Westhead. “And if you make shots then the momentum goes.”
The Ducks also capitalized on offensive boards in the first half. They had 10 second-chance points on only six offensive rebounds.
Oregon used its hot start to amass a 47-26 lead at the half, but Arizona shrunk the gap with a flurry of its own after intermission. With 12:17 remaining in the game, a layup by Erin Butler brought the score to 57-49.
“We had to tighten some things up in the second half when they made a run at us,” Westhead said. “And the difference in the second half was the poise of Lexi Petersen, who took over the game for us.”
Petersen, a true freshman who had largely seen extensive time at small forward this season, played her first serious minutes at the point guard spot and did an admirable job filling in for injured starter Nia Jackson. Petersen went 4-of-8 from the field and 9-of-10 from the line, scoring 17 points.  @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=236&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205360092@@
Petersen also chipped in four rebounds and four assists, though she turned the ball over eight times in her first extensive action as the team’s primary orchestrator. She said she’s adapting to her new role as time progresses. @@http://www.goducks.com/downloads2/441424.htm?ATCLID=205360092&SPSID=4307&SPID=236&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
“I’m getting used to it now,” Petersen said. “It used to be a little shaky — I was hit or miss — but now I feel like I’m pretty comfortable.”
Fellow freshman Jordan Loera also had a key effort for the Ducks off the bench. The first-year guard from Moses Lake, Wash., went 5-for-7 from the field, including 2-of-2 from three-point range. She had 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists for the Ducks in only 19 minutes of play.
“The freshmen are doing great for us so far,” said senior forward Jasmin Holiday, who scored 16 points, including four three-pointers, in 29 minutes of play. “They’re not hesitant or reluctant to shoot or anything, which is what coach wants for us and is what we need from them. They all come in and contribute a lot. You can barely tell that they’re freshmen out there.”
After giving up 29 second-chance points against Cal in its previous game, Oregon also did an outstanding job establishing itself on the boards against the Wildcats. The Ducks yielded only two second-chance points and enjoyed a 44-39 overall edge on the boards.
Thursday marked Oregon’s first real offensive outburst since they lost senior forward Amanda Johnson to a broken left thumb against Denver on Dec. 11. Prior to her injury, Johnson was averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds per game on 49 percent shooting.
In the team’s last seven games, all played without Johnson, the Ducks had posted a 2-5 record after beginning the season 7-2 with her in the starting five. Oregon was scoring 83.3 points per game with Johnson but had only posted 69.6 points per contest in seven games without Johnson. Against Arizona, the Ducks put up 47 in the first half and shot 45% overall. @@http://www.goducks.com/downloads2/441424.htm?ATCLID=205360092&SPSID=4307&SPID=236&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500@@