USC had the look of a women’s basketball team aiming for a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
And Oregon?
The Ducks had the appearance of a basketball team drifting towards the Pacific-10 Conference Tournament.
Oregon narrowed USC’s lead twice to three points in the second half Thursday, but, unable to come up with a key bucket or rebound, lost 67-58 at McArthur Court before 2,394 fans.
“Anytime we get within even seven points, we always believe in ourselves and what we can do,” guard Taylor Lilley said. “But we just never seem to get over that hump to get that defensive stop or to get the offensive score.”
Oregon drops to 11-16 overall and 5-11 in the Pac-10. USC improves to 17-9 and 10-5 in conference play.
“I think one or two more (wins) and they really have to start looking at us hard,” USC coach Mark Trakh said of the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
Nicole Canepa’s free throw made it a 39-36 USC lead with 12:39 left. The Trojans upped the lead to seven, 43-36, on consecutive baskets by Morghan Medlock and Nadia Parker.
Oregon cut the deficit to five, 47-42, on an Ellyce Ironmonger free throw, but after a Medlock free throw and three-pointer made it a nine-point USC advantage with 6:30 remaining, the Ducks were never able to get closer than six the rest of the night.
USC stuck Simone Jelks on the sharpshooting Lilley. Lilley found enough openings to score 13 points, including three three-pointers, but USC’s defense forced her into a team-high seven turnovers.
“I respect her a lot as a player,” Jelks said. “She’s very hard to guard. She’s always moving. She moves really well without the ball so my biggest goal for myself was being able to crowd her and just be where she was at every second on the floor.”
The Trojans benefited from a bounce-back performance in the second half by the 6-foot-3 Parker, who endured a first half mired in foul trouble and had just four points and a rebound at the break.
She answered with 13 points and four rebounds in the second half.
“It’s one thing to play hard, but not box out,” Parker said. “It’s another thing to play hard on both ends.”
The near even rebound totals of USC (35) and Oregon (33) featured five offensive boards by the Trojans’ Morghan Medlock, who had 10 total rebounds, and scored 15 points.
More than rebounding or shooting percentages, Smith singled out the disparity in turnovers with Oregon (21) having 11 more than USC (10).
“With their athleticism and their long arms they do a pretty good job of wreaking havoc,” Smith said of USC’s defenders. “They just really kept us at bay. They didn’t let us run and challenged everything that we got.
“I think that got us playing out of sync and we tried forcing some things.”
Oregon players emphasized they are maintaining an optimistic, up-beat attitude as they await a visit by UCLA on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Washington (12-15, 7-8 Pac-10) beat Arizona Thursday night on the road, which makes it that much more difficult for the Ducks to move out of seventh place and out of the first day of games in the conference tournament.
“We’re just staying positive as a group right now,” Lilley said. “We just have each other to lean on right now and we can totally get UCLA, especially at home.”
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