Throughout most of the season, scouting reports have emphasized that if teams can break Oregon’s full-court press, they will have a solid chance of winning.
It is easier said than done, to be sure, but Arizona did just that in their first meeting with the Ducks on Jan. 16, scoring 119 points in the process. The results last night in Eugene were quite different.
Though Arizona once again thwarted Oregon’s press with relative ease, the team was unable to consistently hit shots. The Wildcats shot just 37.3 percent for the game, and a woeful 19 percent from three-point range.
“We scouted well, we did what we needed to do in breaking the press,” freshman guard Davellyn Whyte said. “Our shots … they weren’t there, like the layups we made in the first game, they just weren’t falling for us this game and we were rushing our shots.”
Still, head coach Niya Butts felt the problem ran deeper than shot making.
“We didn’t take care of the boards either,” Butts said. “I think the unfortunate thing for us is we allowed our frustration on the offensive end to kind of carry over on the defense.”
Indeed, the Wildcats were outrebounded 51-40, and allowed the Ducks to grab 11 offensive rebounds. The defense seemed to wear down as the game went on, and the Ducks shot 48.7 percent from the field in the second half.
“We kind of fell apart once our shots weren’t falling,” Whyte said. “We just kind of gave into the fatigue.”
It was a particularly frustrating night for star forward Ify Ibekwe. The junior picked up two early fouls, and played just seven minutes in the first half. Her troubles continued in the second half as she committed two more fouls, and she was forced to play the rest of the game with four fouls.
“It was very frustrating for me because I was on the bench for the whole first half,” Ibekwe said. “When I got back in, I still had to regain what I missed out (on) in the first.”
Butts agreed that Ibekwe’s foul trouble hindered the team, but did not hesitate to credit Oregon’s effort.
“Obviously that hurts us,” Butts said. “She is one of the best players in this league, and certainly one of the best players on our team … but I think more than anything, Oregon was being really aggressive. They really wanted this basketball game.”
Ibekwe still ended up with 12 rebounds, but scored just nine points in her 21 minutes on the floor. Meanwhile Whyte, who leads the team in scoring with 17.5 points per game, also struggled and compiled just 12 points. She was 0-5 from beyond the arc, and shot just 5-13 for the game.
“It was a rough go for us,” Butts said. “I certainly don’t want to blame that totally on our lack of ability to score. I think Oregon did a great job on us defensively … they took advantage of our mistakes, and we didn’t take advantage of theirs.”
The Wildcats have little time to dwell on the loss, as they head to Corvallis to face off with
Oregon State on Saturday.
“Sometimes you have games like this, and you’ve got to be able to move on from them,” Butts said. “Saturday’s a big day for us, see how we respond right now. We chalked this one up, we split with Oregon. They’re a good team … we won the first one, they won the second.
“What we have to do is kind of look at it from that perspective, and be able to move on.”
Elwin Heiny Takes Court as Honorary Captain

Heiny coached the Ducks from 1976-1993. His 310 wins are the most in Oregon history, and he was greeted with a warm round of applause by the crowd of 2,109. The Ducks also sported pink uniforms in support of the “Pink Zone Initiative” to fight cancer.
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