After a disheartening loss to UCLA on Saturday, it took Taylor Lilley a bit longer than usual to get to the podium. When she finally hobbled into the media room, with one of her feet wrapped in ice, you could tell how disappointed she was.
It was, indeed, a difficult loss on Senior Day for Lilley, Micaela Cocks and Lindsey Saffold. The Ducks hung right with the Bruins for much of the game, but ultimately fell short.
As I exited McArthur Court about an hour after the game ended, I was left with one prevailing thought: These girls deserved better.
To be sure, the season is far from over, and the Ducks have plenty of time to redeem themselves against the Washington schools, in the Pacific-10 Conference tournament, and possibly in the National Invitation Tournament.
But after a moving pre-game ceremony, with Mac Court packed and former coach Bev Smith on hand, the stage was set perfectly for one more rousing home victory. It would have been the exclamation point on three outstanding careers, and it’s a shame UCLA had to get in the way.
But that’s not why I’m writing this column. It is not my place to nitpick every game the Ducks play, nor would it be appropriate. What I really want to emphasize are the sizeable contributions each of these three players made to the program.
Let’s start with Lilley. You probably know her as the diminutive guard who routinely tortures teams with her outside shooting. But that’s just part of the story.
Many of Lilley’s three-pointers come from so far out, they should be worth four points. She has more range than a lot of men do, and I’m pretty sure that if I tried shooting as far out as she does, I wouldn’t hit rim (which isn’t saying much, but still).
Predictably, Lilley holds just about every possible shooting record for Oregon: career three-pointers (248), three-pointers in a single season (102), and threes in a single game (9).
But I won’t bore you anymore with statistics. To fully appreciate Lilley’s play, you had to witness it in person. I feel lucky that I was able to watch her demolish the record books, even if it caused me to routinely question my own skills.
Yet for all of Lilley’s accolades, there’s one thing she hasn’t done: compete in the Olympics. Believe it or not, that’s something that Micaela Cocks has done. The guard represented her home country of New Zealand during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and that’s just one of her career highlights.
She was named Oregon’s MVP last season, also making the Pac-10 Third Team and earning a Pac-10 All-Academic Honorable Mention. And then, of course, there were the intangibles.
Cocks, along with Lilley, proved to be a calming and versatile presence on the court for the Ducks. This was particularly impressive given the massive changes the team experienced this season, going from Smith to Paul Westhead’s breakneck pace. It’s never easy to switch coaches, particularly when a team’s style of play also changes dramatically.
You would have never noticed that, though, watching Cocks and Lilley this season. They proved to be remarkably quick learners, and it is safe to say that the team would never have progressed so quickly without their leadership. More than anything, they should be appreciated for their efforts to usher in a new and exciting era in Ducks basketball.
Saffold was also forced to make adjustments, but in an entirely different way. After playing in all 30 games and starting 14 last year, Saffold spent much of this year on the bench. Lacking a solid role in Westhead’s system, she has played in just 18 games, starting none.
Some players might not accept that. They might pout and pester the coaching staff to increase their minutes, or even quit the team. Saffold did none of that. Instead, she embraced her role and did everything she could to support her teammates.
You don’t have to play a lot to be a good leader, and Saffold proved just that this season. This was particularly apparent when Jasmin Holliday sprinted out to midcourt to hug Saffold during the pregame ceremony.
So yeah, Senior Day didn’t go exactly as planned for the Ducks. But if you left that game feeling disappointed, don’t let it be your lasting impression of these seniors. Instead, remember that the future of these Ducks is bright.
Lilley, Cocks and Saffold saw to that.
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