The Oregon women added another first to their season of frustration: first seventh seed to lose to a 10th seed in the Pacific-10 Conference Tournament.
Washington junior guard Sami Whitcomb scored a game-high 28 points – one away from her career high – junior guard Laura McLellan had 15 points and seven rebounds, and the Huskies jumped off to a hot start while the Ducks couldn’t shoot straight in a 69-43 defeat.
In another familiar plot line in this season, Oregon junior guard Taylor Lilley left the game with 13:30 in the first half with a concussion after attempting to draw a charge, falling to the floor and hitting her head. Lilley, who did not return to the game and did not score, suffered her second concussion of the season, the first coming on Feb. 5 against Arizona State in Tempe. (She missed the following games against Arizona and Washington State.)
The Huskies took advantage of Oregon’s cold shooting with a 16-2 run over 7 1/2 minutes, the disparity aided by Lilley’s early departure. A pair of free throws by Huskies junior guard Christina Rozier put the Ducks in a 27-12 hole, but Amanda Johnson helped shoot their way to a manageable deficit. The freshman forward scored all nine of her points in the last 4:42 of the first half as the Ducks closed halftime behind, 32-24.
As was seemingly customary all season, the Ducks could not make a sufficient dent in the Huskies’ lead, finding themselves behind 50-37 with 9:32 remaining before Whitcomb took over. The junior from Ventura, Calif., named an All-Pac-10 honorable mention this week, hit back-to-back three-pointers, twin daggers in the Ducks’ hearts that they could never recover from. The second three-pointer pulled the Huskies ahead by 19, and Oregon would never come closer.
Sophomore center Ellie Manou led the way for Oregon offensively, with 15 points, three rebounds and two steals. Junior guard Micaela Cocks was the only other Duck in double figures with 13 points, four rebounds and a team-high six turnovers. She played all 40 minutes in the game for the eighth time this season.
The Ducks shot 30.9 percent (17-55) to the Huskies’ 48.1 percent (26-54), including 25.0 percent (7-28) in the second half and 17.6 percent (3-17) from three-point range. (Washington’s Whitcomb outshot the Ducks from the perimeter, making six of her 11 attempts.) Oregon also committed 20 turnovers and had 31 rebounds to the Huskies’ 38, problems plaguing the Ducks all year.
The Ducks increased the school record for losses in a season by three yesterday; the nine wins are the lowest since the 1992-93 season.
[email protected]
Historically bad season comes to dubious end
Daily Emerald
March 12, 2009
0
More to Discover