After losing two straight games to Stanford and California, the Oregon Ducks are just glad they won. They did it coming from behind, overcoming a seven-point halftime deficit to beat the University of Portland Pilots 64-55 Monday night. The Ducks were led in scoring by junior guard Micaela Cocks, who had 22 points.
“We were concerned with where our confidence was after Stanford and Cal,” head coach Bev Smith said. “But I’m very pleased with our effort in the second half, and pulling away down the stretch for the win.”
The sloppy play continued, however, for Oregon (8-11 overall) in the non-conference game against the Pilots (10-10). The team had 21 turnovers, but only eight after halftime, and also missed seven free throws. However, those things are easier to handle when you win.
“We were looking into the post more tonight, and that explains some of the turnovers” junior guard/forward Lindsey Saffold said. “Sometimes that can be a little tough. We just need to stay composed and play our game and the turnovers will be fine.”
The first half started ominously for the Ducks. Tara Cronin hit a three-pointer just 22 seconds into the game, and she added another one just a minute and a half later, helping Portland to a 9-5 lead with 16:19 left in the half. The Pilots’ first three field goals were all three-pointers, and they had six at halftime. Laiken Dollente, a junior from Yakima, Wash., was perfect from behind the arch, going 3-for-3.
Oregon stuck around, and limited the damage done by the hot shooting from the Pilots. With 13:17 left in the first half, sophomore forward Ellie Manou tipped in a miss from freshman forward Jasmin Holliday to tie the score at nine. Cocks then hit one of her two first-half three-pointers to put the Ducks up 12-9 for their first lead of the game.
The Pilots responded, going on an 8-1 run over the next four minutes, and ReZina TecleMariam’s three-pointer with seven minutes left gave the Pilots a seven-point lead. But a layup from sophomore forward/center Ellyce Ironmonger and a jumper by Cocks cut the lead, and the score was tied again at 25 with four minutes to go.
Again, Portland bounced back, running off seven consecutive points to close the half, taking a 32-25 lead into the locker room.
Cocks had 10 points at the break, and freshman forward Amanda Johnson had seven points and two steals for Oregon, but the story at the half was junior guard Taylor Lilley leaving late in the first half with a left ankle injury. With 1:43 to go, she collided with a Pilot defender, and dropped to the floor as the play went the other way. After a timeout she left for the locker room, and didn’t return until halfway through the second half. She didn’t play the rest of the game.
“It is an ankle sprain, but we don’t know the severity yet,” Smith said. “We will have to wait until x-rays tomorrow morning.”
After the half, Cocks gathered the team and told them that the they needed to pick it up. Smith said that Cocks had been frustrated with the way the first half had gone, and she decided to take it upon herself in the second.
“We really did flounder a bit,” Smith said. “We talked about it being about intensity. Micaela was very frustrated at halftime, but she gave it all up for the team, and I really liked her leadership tonight.”
“It was a really a bad effort,” Cocks said. “But we regrouped, and had a little team huddle, and we came out with more intensity in the second half.”
The Ducks started on a 7-2 run, fueled by five points from Saffold. They extended their lead to 52-47 with eight minutes left in the game, but a three-pointer from Jessica Clemens cut Oregon’s lead back to one point with 6:52 to go.
Oregon weathered the run by the Pilots, and put the game on ice in the waning minutes thanks to two free throws from Saffold and a long three-pointer as the shot clock ran down from Cocks. Her jumper with just under two minutes to play put the Ducks up nine points, and Portland missed their last eight shots of the game to seal the win for Oregon.
“We had our trials in the first half,” Saffold said. “But we came out more aggressive in the second and were able to score and get the win. We were also better rebounding tonight, and that was key.”
Next up for Oregon is the Civil War on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Eugene against the Oregon State Beavers. OSU is coming off two losses to California and Stanford.
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Pilot crash
Daily Emerald
January 26, 2009
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