On a night where individuals were matching or surpassing career-highs, the Oregon women’s basketball team needed a true team performance against Washington.
Behind four Ducks scoring in double figures, Oregon matched multiple runs by Washington to survive 86-77 in front of 3,970 at Mac Court
on Thursday.
“I think everyone came on for us tonight,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “There was some tough moments, but we showed some fight. I didn’t think we had 86 points in us tonight, but we got it done. I give Washington a lot of credit. They played great.”
Oregon improved to 11-4 overall and 4-2 in the Pacific-10 Conference while Washington fell to 6-11 overall and 2-5 in
the Pac-10.
The Ducks victory was tempered, however, when junior guard Chelsea Wagner suffered a knee injury with 7:54 left in the second half. She returned to the bench later in the game.
“I was just trying to play defense and stay in front of the girl,” Wagner said. “And I went for a change of direction, and my left leg stopped. There was a little bit of a pop and a lot
of pressure.”
Smith said she was unaware of the extent of the injury, saying only that doctors would perform tests late Thursday night and would hopefully have a diagnosis today.
Wagner’s knee injury ended a career night for the native of Springfield, Ore.
With 10:30 left in the second half, Wagner knocked down her sixth three-pointer of the game from the right side of the floor. Her six three-pointers mark a personal career-high and break her record of five which she has tied eight different times.
After the injury, Oregon went on an 8-3 run to push the lead to 75-66 with 4:14 remaining.
Washington answered back, tying the game at 77-77 with 1:52 left on a three-pointer by redshirt junior guard Kayla Burt, before Oregon closed out the game on a 9-0 run.
Burt led Washington’s scorers with 19 on 8 of 13 shooting, including a couple of three-pointers late in the game.
However, the biggest clutch shooting in the second half came from Oregon’s Andrea Bills.
The senior connected on 11 of 15 from the free-throw line in the second half, including four in the last thirty seconds of the game.
Bills scored a team-high 21 points and added four assists.
“I tip my hat to Andrea Bills,” Smith said. “She was here a couple hours before, shooting free throws and number 44 is really making a statement for the type of player she is in the Pac-10.”
For the second straight game,
four Ducks recorded double-digits
in points.
Senior Cathrine Kraayeveld was held to only 10 points on 4 of 12 shooting, but added 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the year.
“I feel like I got fouled on
every shot,” Kraayeveld said. “I
don’t make a habit of chucking it
off the backboard.”
Oregon freshman Gabrielle Richards added 12 points in 15 minutes of play.
For the game, the Ducks shot 46 percent from the floor and 53 percent from behind the three-point line.

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