Tamika Nurse waited, calmly standing near the top of the key, looking for the right opportunity.
When the clock hit six seconds, Nurse blew by the defense and collided with her defender.
Two free throws.
“I’ve never been more scared in my entire life,” Nurse said. “I’m not going to lie – never, but you just have to calm down and say ‘you’ve done this 1,000 times and these are going to be the same as the first four I shot.’”
Appearing calm on the outside, Nurse sank both, providing the winning margin in a 66-64 Oregon win against visiting Washington before 3,045 fans inside McArthur Court.
Washington guard Emily Florence took the ensuing inbound pass and sprinted up the court, but as she saw the lane blocked, tried to flip it out to Michelle Augustavo.
Taylor Lilley intercepted the pass and the celebration was on.
Oregon had been looking for a breakthrough win following a four-game stretch that featured three losses, including two on the Ducks’ trip to the Bay Area. The win Saturday showcased an Oregon team able to overcome a high turnover total and an injured Ellyce Ironmonger.
The Ducks’ win coupled with UCLA’s lost to USC Saturday left the Ducks in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Pacific-10 Conference at 4-3. Oregon improved its overall record to 10-8.
Oregon next heads on the road for four straight games, starting with the Los Angeles schools next week.
“Finishing a game like this – grinding it out, getting a win – I think sends this young team off on the road with a greater purpose,” coach Bev Smith said.
Nurse, seemingly able to cut at will, carved through the Washington defense for layups or passes to wide open Ducks along the perimeter. Her final statistics reflected her impact on the game with season-high highs in points (17), assists (6) and a career high in rebounds (8).
“I think we showed our identity – our Oregon basketball identity,” guard Kaela Chapdelaine said. “We didn’t quit. We were out there working our butts off from start to finish.
“They had their runs. We had our runs, but I thought we showed great poise, great aggressiveness and we just stuck with it right to the end.”
The gritty affair had fans seeing Oregon have to make multiple comebacks against a Husky team coming off a 68-64 loss to Oregon State. Officials let the players play in a physical contest.
“In most cases, when you have an inexperienced team a lot of younger teams would buckle under that pressure and physicality but I really felt like we matched it and even went above it,” Chapdelaine said.
Oregon sprinted to an 8-0 lead in the opening minutes off two three-pointers from guard Taylor Lilley as the Ducks showed little carryover from the Ducks 14.3 percent three-point shooting percentage two nights earlier. Lilley, who had 20 points, was a focus for the Huskies on defense.
“They have a lot of great shooters, especially in Taylor Lilley, so that was something that we obviously were aware of but we still wanted to do the same things – deny, put pressure on the ball. We went in with the same defensive mentality,” Washington guard Sami Whitcomb said.
Washington absorbed the early blow and knotted it at eight with a three-pointer by Whitcomb, a jumper by Andrea Plouffe and another long-distance shot by Augustavo.
Augustavo proved to be a consistent thorn in Oregon’s defense in the first half with her ability to find space for open three-pointers. She scored 12 of her 18 points in the opening frame, making all four long-distance shots on the right wing off screens or kick-outs.
After Oregon led 11-8, Washington put together a 12-0 run for a 20-11 advantage.
Oregon point guard Nia Jackson made a steal and fast break layup that ignited the Ducks offense as they chipped away until Ellie Manou’s baseline jumped cut the deficit to one, 29-28, at halftime.
Near the end of the half, Ellyce Ironmonger fell awkwardly and lay on the court grabbing her right knee. She later gingerly walked off the court on her own, but the initial prognosis was a sprained right knee and Smith said she is questionable for next week.
Washington built its lead to nine in the second half, 40-31, on a layup by Florence. Oregon answered with an 8-0 run of its own, boosted by four points by Nurse and her assist on another bucket by Lilley.
Oregon created its largest lead, 59-52, on free throws by Nicole Canepa, but in a recurring theme, Washington responded. They made it within two, 63-61, on a Katelan Redmon three-pointer, and tied it at 64 on a Florence free throw.
The stage was set for Nurse’s heroics.
“We should still be sitting up there enjoying basketball. You just never want a game like this to end,” Washington coach Tia Jackson said afterward. “Obviously, from where I’m sitting I want to be the one on the winner’s side, but you just want a game like this to keep going because that’s what we do this for.”
[email protected]