The Oregon women’s basketball team needed to win Saturday’s game against Arizona to improve its chances of an NCAA Tournament berth.
More importantly, the Ducks knew it.
But they didn’t do it in an 84-68 loss to Arizona at the McKale Center in Tucson.
Oregon, now 7-6 in Pacific-10 Conference play (12-10 overall), is in serious danger of being left out of the field of 64 for the first time since the 1992-93 season.
“This loss hurts because we should have won,” sophomore Cathrine Kraayeveld said. “We have to look past this and focus on what we can do better from this weekend. We have to focus on the positive.”
The Ducks also lost to Arizona State, 69-58, on Thursday.
On Jan. 4, Oregon defeated Arizona 72-53. On Saturday, though, Oregon couldn’t buy a basket.
The Ducks committed 25 turnovers in the game, including eight by senior Shaquala Williams. Arizona’s feisty and aggressive defense led to weak passes and early mistakes.
As the game wore on, Oregon could seemingly do nothing right offensively. The Wildcats (11-11 overall, 7-6 Pac-10) kept their defense in the Ducks’ faces all night, forcing Oregon to shoot 36 percent from the field.
“I think that we didn’t start aggressively,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “When you do that, you can’t take the hit and you can’t take the shot. That’s what set the tone in the first half.”
As usual, Williams paced the Ducks, leading the team with 21 points on 8-of-20 shooting. With two three-pointers in each half, she also led Oregon in the category, going 4-for-9.
“Shaquala is a great player, and she always keeps them in the game,” Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini said. “She is the kind of player who makes everyone around her better.”
Fueled by a defense that forced the Ducks to commit 16 turnovers in the first half, including four within the first few possessions of the game, the Wildcats dominated the first half.
Although no single player stood out, as a team, Arizona was more precise with its play. The Ducks started off slow, failing to hit a shot in the first four minutes.
Senior Jamie Craighead nailed a three-pointer in addition to Williams’ two, but as a whole, Oregon’s shooting was off. To make matters worse, the Ducks failed to sink a free throw until 30 seconds remained in the half when senior Edniesha Curry made two from the charity stripe.
Freshman Andrea Bills kept the Oregon rebounding strong, helping lead the team to a 23-17 advantage in the half. The Ducks grabbed 25 offensive boards in the game, compared to Arizona’s 19.
“Their post play was more aggressive,” Kraayeveld said. “They attacked the boards, but we just weren’t there defensively. We just weren’t able to stop them.”
Down by nine at the half, Oregon came out flat again in the second and saw Arizona’s lead balloon to as much as 22.
But three-pointers by Williams and junior Alyssa Edwards pulled the Ducks closer. Kraayeveld, on her to way to earning her fourth double-double of her career, also played strong underneath during Oregon’s comeback.
With 3:28 left in the second stanza, the Ducks were down by nine, a minuscule amount considering their position early on.
But that was more of a confidence builder for the Ducks, as Arizona went on to sink 17 free throws from that point on. The Wildcats finished the night 33-of-43 from the line.
“We went to the free throw line so many times, and that was a key to our winning the game,” Arizona senior LaKeisha Taylor said.