The Oregon women’s basketball team just couldn’t find its rhythm Thursday against Arizona, and paid for it in a tough loss, 96-65.
The Ducks (5-7, 1-2 Pac-10) allowed the most points scored against them in a game since 1996 as they went on to lose their third straight in Tucson, Ariz.
Oregon found itself down 10-2 just three minutes into play, and never took the lead in the contest, despite coming close. The Ducks crawled to within one point, down 19-20, with 10:30 left in the first half.
The Wildcats put Oregon’s offense to sleep for the next eight minutes on a 21-2 run. The Ducks trailed into halftime, 29-43.
“We did not stick to our game plan,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “We are a team that is struggling to understand our identity.”
The Ducks went only 10 of 30 for 33 percent shooting in the first half. But of all the statistics, Oregon was hurt the most by being outrebounded 28-9 in just the first 20 minutes of play.
The Wildcats dominated the entire second half, their lead growing to 30 points within four minutes.
With the Ducks behind by as many as 32 points by the end, the Arizona crowd of 2,777 had plenty to be excited about.
“Hats off to Arizona,” Smith said. “They really crashed the boards, and we didn’t meet their intensity. We weren’t aggressive, and we allowed Arizona to get into their game.”
The rebound margin was key for the Wildcats, as they finished with a plus-23 margin, 50-27. Arizona shot 53 percent from the field on the night, and went nine for 19 from downtown.
Senior Krista Warren, who had 19 points and nine rebounds on the night, led the Wildcats. But the star for Arizona was freshman Shawntinice Polk, who had a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds, and helped the Wildcats start the game as they had hoped.
Oregon did end the evening better than it started, finishing with 40 percent shooting from the floor. The Ducks went just six of nine from the free throw line, and were identical with the Wildcats from beyond the arc.
The Ducks were led tonight by their post players with freshman Carolyn Ganes on top with 19 points, and sophomore Andrea Bills accounting for 11 points in her 31 minutes.
The Ducks may not have started the new year the way they would have liked, but will get their next chance for victory Saturday against Arizona State.
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