The Oregon women came into Gill Coliseum on Saturday night looking for revenge, after a loss at McArthur Court on Jan. 31 sent them into a spiral. The Oregon State Beavers responded with the first series sweep of the Ducks since 1993 and the largest margin of victory since 1975.
The Ducks (9-18, 5-11 Pacific-10 Conference) scored 10 points in the second half (tied for the season-low point total in a half) on 15.4 percent shooting (4-of-26, worst of the season) as the Beavers (17-10, 7-9) closed out Oregon, 70-41.
“It felt like the basket was about four feet wide for them, and probably three inches for us,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said postgame.
Hopes of a possible first-round bye in the Pac-10 tournament were all but dashed Saturday night, as the Beavers entered in sixth place in the conference standings, and the Ducks seventh. Those did not change based on the game’s outcome, but Oregon’s chances of securing the bye are now remote at best.
The Ducks began the first half with a short run. Junior guards Micaela Cocks and Taylor Lilley both connected on drive-and-dish three-pointers, and Oregon found itself ahead 8-2 at the 17-minute mark. A three-pointer by sophomore guard Talisa Rhea brought the Beavers ahead, 9-8, with 14:43 remaining, and the two teams kept each other in check until halftime. Oregon State entered the locker room with a 33-31 lead.
Beavers senior guard Brittney Davis, a native of Portland, catalyzed the Oregon State offense while working to keep Cocks in check on the defensive end. She finished the game with 21 points, four assists and four steals.
“I felt like Brittney did a great job of attacking and being aggressive to the basket and really opening up the outside for us,” Beavers head coach LaVonda Wagner said.
Oregon State opened the second half up strong, pressuring the Oregon guards on defense and advancing the lead.
“Even when we were only down eight, it felt to our team we were down more,” Smith said.
The Ducks grew progressively colder, making only one field goal over the final 14:30 of the game. The Gill Coliseum crowd began to factor in as well; a tough layup in traffic by Davis, who was fouled by freshman forward Jasmin Holliday on the play, brought the crowd to its feet. Davis converted the three-point play to put Oregon State up 50-38 with 9:22 remaining.
“I feel like it’s kind of a gradual thing, how the game declined,” freshman forward Amanda Johnson said of the Ducks’ second half. “We just didn’t knock down the ones that we needed to hit. We needed to come together and support each other, and I don’t think that happened.”
Oregon State shot 51.0 percent (25-of-49), the Beavers’ best shooting percentage in a Pac-10 game. They also outhustled Oregon on the glass, grabbing 36 rebounds to the Ducks’ 25, including nine from freshman forward Kirsten Tilleman. The Beavers forced 20 turnovers to Oregon’s 11 and came up with 10 steals to the Ducks’ two.
No Duck scored in double-digits; Lilley and Johnson each scored eight points to lead the team, and Johnson grabbed seven rebounds. Lilley picked up three first-half fouls and sat the remaining four minutes of the first half, eventually fouling out with 5:20 remaining in the second half.
Rhea added 18 points for Oregon State, and senior guard Mercedes Fox-Griffin added 11 points and four assists.
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