Oregon was hoping its fast-break offense could create easy looks and key an unlikely upset against No. 3 Stanford on Saturday. The Ducks figured that the Cardinal, who hadn’t lost a Pac-12 game in more than three years, would get worn down if Oregon’s offense stayed aggressive. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205382591@@
What actually transpired, however, was one of the worst offensive displays in recent Oregon history. The Ducks scored a season-low 46 points and didn’t have a single player score in double figures in a 81-46 loss to the Cardinal at Matthew Knight Arena. @@http://www.goducks.com/downloads2/447301.htm?ATCLID=205382591&SPSID=4307&SPID=236&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
Oregon (14-13, 6-9 Pac-12) shot only 25 percent from the field and tied season lows in made field goals (16) and three-pointers (four) in the process. @@http://pac-12.org/SPORTS/BasketballW/Standings.aspx@@ @@http://www.registerguard.com/web/sports/27637729-41/oregon-ducks-stanford-season-game.html.csp@@
“(When you shoot) 25 percent (it’s) hard to win,” Oregon head coach Paul Westhead said. “Hard to win.”
Although Westhead credited Stanford’s (24-1, 15-0 Pac-12) stingy defense, he also laid some of the blame on the Ducks’ poor execution. Oregon missed numerous layups and open shots and failed to establish their fast-paced offensive system.
“I know when a team is locking you up and shutting you down,” Westhead said. “Stanford plays good defense, but we weren’t locked up today. I don’t think that alone caused 25 percent.”
Meanwhile, Stanford’s offense, which entered the game tops in the Pac-12 in scoring, lived up to its billing. The Cardinal shot 40 percent from the field and made 19-of-20 free throws. @@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/wbasketball/2011-12-Stats/HTML/CONFLDRS.HTM@@
Star post players Chiney and Nnemkadi Ogwumike were superb, combining to score 26 points and grab 19 rebounds, but the sisters were overshadowed by junior Joslyn Tinkle, who scored 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
Tinkle more than doubled her season average in scoring by capitalizing on holes in Oregon’s zone defense. @@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/wbasketball/2011-12-Stats/HTML/STAN.HTM@@
“She kind of caught us in that little short corner area,” Westhead said. “We didn’t cover that spot as well, so she got some good open looks.”
Stanford set the tone for its dominant performance in the game’s first two and a half minutes. The Cardinal made a pair of three-pointers and took a 10-0 lead before Oregon scored its first point at the 17:21 mark of the first half. After the Ducks cut Stanford’s lead to 16-7, the Cardinal went on a 12-3 run to increase their lead to 28-10 and take an early stranglehold on the game.
Any hopes Oregon might have had at making a comeback were dashed early in the second half. Stanford went on a 19-5 run to extend a 44-22 lead into a 61-25 advantage and emptied its bench early.
“I think the first 10 minutes of the second half we had five or seven points within that timespan,” Oregon forward Amanda Johnson said. “That’s really frustrating, and we need to be able to execute better so that we can feel the momentum of putting the ball in the basket, because I think it can get really frustrating going stretches of time and not being able to do that.”
Nia Jackson led the Ducks with nine points, but she was only 3 of 12 from the floor. Johnson added eight on 3-of-10 shooting and sophomore reserve Deanna Weaver scored seven.
“We knew we were going to have to come out and play 40 minutes in order to be able to compete with this caliber of team, and it just didn’t happen today,” Johnson said.
Oregon will play its final home game of the year at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday when they host rival Oregon State before finishing the regular season with a trip to Colorado and Utah. If the Ducks win their final three games of the season, they will still have a chance at finishing .500 in the conference, an important benchmark for the team. @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=236&SPSID=4304@@
“I think they’ve learned quite a bit from this weekend, and we can be a better team,” Westhead said. “We’re going to need to because we have three big games remaining.”