Seniors play a major role in helping teams win games. The Oregon women’s basketball team can attest to that after defeating California, 58-51, at Haas Pavilion on Saturday.
The Golden Bears did not see the same success as the Ducks this season — even with five seniors on their roster who were honored as part of Senior Day following the loss.
“We have a special group of seniors that we really wanted to win this game for,” Cal head coach Caren Horstmeyer said. “I thought the team as a whole came out and played with passion, fire and drive.”
Despite being outrebounded and outshot by Cal, Oregon (19-8 overall, 12-6 Pacific-10 Conference) persevered to secure the No. 2 seed in next week’s Pac-10 Tournament and finish tied for second place in the conference with Southern California and Arizona State.
“I’m very proud of this team, bouncing back from a loss to Stanford (on Thursday),” Oregon coach Bev Smith said. “We talked all along that this year we have set ourselves up to always have our destiny in our own hands.”
Senior Brandi Davis drilled a three-pointer at 16:19 in the first half to give the Ducks an 8-5 advantage, and they retained that lead for the remaining 36 minutes of it regular season.
Davis, who finished with 10 points, sank a jump shot one minute into the second half to give the Ducks their largest lead of the game at 36-27.
With less than 10 minutes to play, the offensive production stalled for both teams.
Cal (10-17, 4-14) started a 5-2 scoring run at 9:46 and cut its deficit to three points when Cathrine Kraayeveld nailed a shot from beyond the arc with 2:32 on the clock to bump Oregon’s lead to six, at 51- 45. From then on, the Bears could not close within a single possession.
“We got the looks that we wanted,” Smith said. “They really jammed our low-post players when we did get the ball (inside). That three-pointer Cathrine hit was a dagger to them.”
Oregon converted 3 of 12 shots from three-point range in each half. Cal only made 3 of 14 from long range in the game but outrebounded the Ducks, 44-31, and shot 37.3 percent from the field compared with Oregon’s 36.5 percent.
Kraayeveld notched a game-high 14 points along with five boards and four assists. The senior forward added three steals and two blocks, both game-highs.
“Cathrine is more than a go-to player,” Smith said. “She’s an offensive threat for us inside and outside.”
Freshman Kristen Forristall also had an impressive game for Oregon as she contributed 12 points and a career-best eight rebounds.
Reserve senior post Khadijah Coakley recorded a double-double for Cal with a team-high 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. No other player reached double figures in scoring for the Bears, and their bench provided half of the team’s scoring with 25 points.
“Khadijah Coakley played one of the best games I think I’ve ever seen (her play),” Horstmeyer said.
Senior center Andrea Bills played in her 119th game and is tied for third all-time at Oregon.
Corrie Mizusawa passed out nine assists in 38 minutes for the Ducks, even after dislocating the middle finger of her right hand in practice the previous day.
“She just said, ‘I’m playing,’” Smith said. “She was a true warrior and played very solid for us.”
The senior point guard, who is a native of the nearby Lafayette, Calif., moved into sixth place for career assists with 363 at Oregon, which is only six assists behind Shaquala Williams in fifth place. Mizusawa needs seven assists to tie Jacquie Semeniuk for the program’s single-season assists record.

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