Cicely Oaks sat at the end of the press table, barely able to withhold her anger.
“They were outplaying us on our floor,” Oaks said. “We just needed to do what we’ve been doing.”
The zone defense, the lack of urgency, and the missed shots all made a difference. The big culprit – 31 turnovers – proved the deciding factor.
Vanguard’s women’s basketball team entered McArthur Court underdogs Monday night and left winners, 64-60, against an Oregon team only four days away from the start of the regular season. Coach Bev Smith’s team had just lost to an NAIA school and she made it clear, this exhibition loss, was the most frustrating of her career.
“We did go away from our gameplan and it was individuals trying to make things happen and we’re not a team that can play like that,” Smith said. “We have to play together.”
Even with the poor play, Oregon had its chances, trailing 47-43 with 7:39 remaining. After an Oregon timeout, Kaela Chapdelaine found Tamika Nurse alone in the corner for a three-pointer and the foul. Nurse tied the score at 50 with a free throw. Following another Vanguard three-pointer, Oregon’s Jessie Shetters evened the score for the last time with a lay-up and a Vanguard blocking foul.
Vanguard’s Jessica Richter, an Oregon City, Ore. product, always seemed to have an answer with a timely three-pointer or free throw in scoring a game-high 30 points. Richter, who transferred from Syracuse University, scored 15 of her points in the final 10 minutes.
“We always believe that,” Richter said of her team’s ability to win. “We were fired up and ready to go at the beginning I thought. We had good energy at the start, so we felt good about it.”
Smith and her players talked of a team ready and prepared from a week of quality practices. Whatever Oregon had going beforehand disappeared once the game began.
Oregon’s largest first-half lead of four points disappeared in a one-point halftime deficit, 27-26.
Little changed in the second half with Vanguard’s zone defense causing more turnovers and leaving Oregon out of rhythm. Oregon held its largest lead at 39-33 on a Micaela Cocks lay-up. Again, it was Richter, who responded with four points in an 8-2 Vanguard run to knot the score at 41.
“I just don’t think we were aggressive,” Oaks said. “I think we were reacting to their defense rather than knowing that we needed to draw somebody and dish the ball. We were going into (the defense) and picking the dribble up and then trying to pass it. That’s not something that we can do.”
The competition for the starting point guard point position is still ongoing, Smith said. Nurse started and scored eight points, but had no assists and five turnovers. Cocks entered the game off the bench and provided five points and three assists.
“I thought Micaela came in and did some really nice things offensively and got us going,” Smith said. “Then she kind of lost some of her intensity and that’s going to happen to a freshman.”
Oregon redshirt senior Jamie Hawkins struggled in stretches in her second game. Her eight point, six rebound night included six turnovers – three on traveling calls near the basket.
“I thought she rebounded really well,” Smith said. “I thought she was a presence, but six turnovers is really tough.”
Oregon must now find answers with a road trip on Friday to UC-Santa Barbara and Sunday to Long Beach State.
“Obviously, judging from (Monday night), we have to go in this week and fix a lot of things,” Haring said. “I think we’ll be ready by next week. I think everyone understands what they have to do, where we went wrong.”
[email protected]