The Oregon women’s basketball team didn’t have an answer for Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year candidate Dee-Dee Wheeler on Thursday.
The Arizona senior guard scored a game-high 23 points as Oregon lost its third Conference game of the
season, 69-60.
In front of 2,065 fans at the McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz., the Ducks handcuffed themselves by committing turnovers, showing an unwillingness to shoot the ball in the second half and failing to get rebounds —
especially on the defensive end.
“Their aggressiveness was the story,” said Oregon head coach Bev Smith. “We can’t hope to make a run when we can’t get any
defensive rebounds.”
For the first 13 minutes, Oregon (12-5 overall, 5-3 Pac-10) held Arizona (13-5 overall, 5-3 Pac-10) to 30 percent shooting. Meanwhile, the Ducks shot 56 percent during the same stretch and built a five-point lead, 20-15, when senior Brandi Davis –wearing number 30 instead of her normal 21 after leaving her jersey in Eugene — hit a three-pointer from the corner with 10:35 left.
In addition, Oregon held Arizona’s junior center Shawntinice Polk to seven points — all in the opening 20 minutes — and three rebounds in a foul-plagued first half.
“That was one of my best games I’ve played against her,” Oregon senior Andrea Bills said. “(Especially) getting her into foul trouble, but their transition game and our turnovers hurt us.”
For the third time this season, the Ducks committed 20 turnovers in a Pac-10 road game, leading to 21
Wildcat points.
Thirteen of those points came in the first half and fueled a 24-12 run in the last nine minutes by the Wildcats, en route to capturing a 39-32 lead
going into halftime.
“We had a hard time matching up with them because of our size,” Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini said. “But they probably thought the same thing about us and our quickness. We just wanted to put pressure on them and anticipate the ball.”
While Arizona did have problems matching up with Oregon’s size, the Wildcats used their speed and aggressiveness to outrebound the Ducks 35-26, including an 18-8 advantage on the offensive glass.
“We didn’t play to our best ability knowing how fast they were,” Bills said. “They were quick going to the offensive boards, and our guards
didn’t get a body on them.”
Arizona’s Natalie Jones led all players with 11 rebounds to offset her 0 of 10 shooting night from the floor.
Early in the second half, the Ducks cut the lead to three after four quick points by Kaela Chapdelaine and Eleanor Haring. But even with Polk on the bench with her third foul, Oregon did not get closer to Arizona the rest of the game.
“We felt really confident going in,” Bills said. “We didn’t do things that we normally do tonight, like attack aggressively on offense. That’s the first time a team has scored that many points in transition on us without any challenges.”
None of Oregon’s starters scored in double-figures. Bills led the way with nine points, and senior Cathrine Kraayeveld was held to seven, breaking her 11-game double-digit streak for points scored.
Freshman Gabrielle Richards led all Duck scorers with 15 on 6 of 12 shooting, while fellow freshman Kristen Forristall added 10 points in 16 minutes of play.
The Ducks will conclude their road trip Saturday when Oregon faces an Arizona State team that has scored 50 points or less in its last three games.
“We can’t carry the baggage from previous seasons,” Smith said. “We can only look to change the present.”

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