There are four teams bunched up in the middle of the Pacific-10 Conference battling for third place. Oregon’s 66-59 victory over Arizona State in front of 3,601 McArthur Court fans on Thursday showed just how competitive it has been this season.
The Ducks scored their final 10 points from the free-throw line on 16 trips in the final minute and a half to improve their conference record to 10-5 and 17-7 overall.
“Free throws are very important,” said Oregon head coach Bev Smith, whose team shot only two free throws in the first half but converted 18 of 28 in the game. “It wasn’t perfect, but we made enough to get the win.”
Arizona State (17-8 overall, 9-6 Pac-10) let another low-scoring game slip away despite collecting 16 assists — twice as many as Oregon — and shooting 25 of 55 (.455) from
the floor.
The first half featured four ties and three lead changes. After Jenny Thigpin sank a jump shot for the Sun Devils with 6:47 left in the first half, Oregon went on a 10-1 run during which Arizona State missed six field-goal attempts and committed 10 turnovers. The Ducks held a
27-22 lead at halftime.
Oregon’s lead diminished to a one-point advantage at the
11:30 mark of the second half. Sophomore Eleanor Haring started a 10-2 scoring tear for the Ducks that killed five minutes and put Arizona State down by 11 with six minutes to work.
“We definitely wanted it more,” Oregon senior Brandi Davis said. “It was something we knew we had to do and we had no choice — it was do or die basically. Tonight we had to do, not die.”
Hard-nosed Andrea Bills turned in 14 points for Oregon on
6-of-13 shooting, which included an unsuccessful three-point attempt — the first of her career. The senior center added a game-high 11 rebounds from the paint in 29
minutes of action.
Davis had Oregon’s only two successful three-pointers and provided the team’s biggest offensive contribution with 16 points (6 of 11).
“She had a great start, and that’s really important for us and her,” Smith said. “Her energy is important to us on both ends of her floor.”
Senior Cathrine Kraayeveld scored 11 points and finished 5 of 7 from the free-throw line for Oregon.
Arizona State’s Amy Denson went under Oregon’s radar for most of the game. The junior forward out of Central Point recorded team-highs of 16 points and 10 rebounds in her first double-double of
the season.
“Denson went off on us in terms of her numbers, but a lot the shots she hit were tough,” Smith said.
Arizona State, which usually causes turnovers, committed 21. The Ducks also faulted 21 times to tie a season-high for turnovers in a home game.
Sophomore Emily Westerberg was held to only 12 points for the Sun Devils after she mutilated Oregon in Tempe, Ariz., on Jan. 22 with a career-high 26 points.
Oregon temporarily holds a tie for second place in the conference with Southern California (16-8, 10-5) and Arizona (18-8, 10-5).
The Ducks are now 8-0 at home against Pac-10 teams, and 10-1 overall with only one game left at Mac Court. Saturday’s game against the Wildcats will be recognized as
Senior Night.
“It’s going to be a big physical game,” Bills said. “Senior Night is going to be emotional. It’s going to be a down-to-the-wire game and we just have to come out as aggressive as we did tonight.”
