The Oregon women’s basketball team has beaten the Stanford Cardinal exactly once in the series’ history, in 1987. With the Ducks coming off their worst loss of the season (an 84-42 drubbing against Cal) and facing the nation’s third-ranked team, that anecdote stood little chance of facing obsolescence.
Nnemkadi Ogwumike compiled 13 points and six rebounds off the bench, and reserve center Sarah Boothe added 11 points off the bench to give the Cardinal (22-4, 13-1 Pacific-10 Conference) a 68-49 victory. Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer rested her starters for the majority of the game, with senior guard Rosalyn Gold-Onwude (11 points, seven assists, three steals, 26 minutes) the only starter who played more than 25 minutes.
Guard Taylor Lilley led the Ducks (9-17, 5-10) with 12 points, and Micaela Cocks added 10. Amanda Johnson’s three assists (out of seven total) led all Oregon players, and the freshman tied Ellie Manou (coming off the bench after a zero-rebound performance against Cal) with nine rebounds.
Oregon jumped on the Cardinal early, taking a 12-6 lead with 12:59 remaining after Manou hit two free throws. But Stanford, after substituting its entire starting five out of the game, came roaring back just as Oregon’s shooters cooled off, amassing a 25-2 run over the next 11 minutes. Gold-Onwude would hit a three-pointer at the first-half buzzer to increase Stanford’s lead to 36-16 at the break.
“I was really pleased with how Sarah and Nneka and all of our young players came in and gave us a great spark in the first half,” VanDerveer said.
“I think everyone brought enthusiasm and a spark to get us going,” Boothe said.
In the first half, the Ducks shot 23.1 percent from the field (6-26), including 25.0 percent (2-8) from the three-point line. Oregon was outscored in the paint 22-2 by the Cardinal.
The Cardinal kept the Ducks within a 20-point reach for the majority of the second half. Lilley’s jumper with 1:21 remaining brought Oregon within 17 (64-47), the closest the Ducks would get.
Though Oregon was outrebounded 39-31 and committed 16 turnovers, shooting made all the difference for the Ducks. The Cardinal shot 51.9 percent from the field (27-52) compared to Oregon’s 29.1 percent (16-55), and the Ducks made 30.0 percent (6-20) of their three-point field goals.
Head coach Bev Smith was encouraged by the energy level exhibited at the start, though the end result was less than satisfactory.
“Obviously coming off our Cal game, one of our focuses was just to come out with a lot of intensity, on the defensive end particularly,” Smith said. “Because we really felt that’s something that helps us play defensively when we get after it, but it really helps us play offensively as well, because we feel strong heading down to the offensive end when we can make some stops.
“We just weren’t able to sustain it,” Smith said. “Stanford made some changes.”
With just three more games before the Pac-10 Tournament, the loss to Stanford puts the Ducks in grave jeopardy of missing the postseason. Oregon’s season record against its remaining opponents (Oregon State, USC, UCLA) is 1-2, with the lone win an upset victory over the Bruins at Pauley Pavilion. If Oregon cannot win its last three games to close out the conference season with an 8-10 record, it will likely need to reach the Pac-10 Tournament final to remain in heavy consideration for a postseason berth.
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Ducks fall behind early, never catch up to Cardinal
Daily Emerald
February 22, 2009
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