Seniors play a major role in helping teams win games. The Oregon
women’s basketball team can attest to that after defeating
California, 58-51 at Haas Pavilion on Saturday.
The Golden Bears did not see the same success as the Ducks this
season, even with the five seniors on their roster that were honored
as part of Senior Day following the loss.
“We have a special group of seniors that we really wanted to win this
game for,” Cal head coach Caren Horstmeyer said. “I thought the
team
as a whole came out and played with passion, fire and drive.”
Despite being outrebounded and outshot by Cal, Oregon (19-8 overall,
12-6 Pacific-10 Conference) persevered to secure the No. 2 seed in
next week’s Pac-10 Tournament and finish tied for second place in the
conference with USC and Arizona State.
“I’m very proud of this team, bouncing back from a loss to Stanford
(on Thursday),” Oregon coach Bev Smith said. “We talked all along
that this year we have set ourselves up to always have our destiny in
our own hands.”
The Ducks had the game in their hands with an 8-5 lead after senior
Brandi Davis drilled a three-pointer at 16:19 in the first half.
Oregon retained that lead for the remaining 36 minutes of its regular
season.
Davis, who finished with 10 points, then sank a jumpshot one minute
into the second half to give the Ducks their largest lead of the game
at 36-27.
With less than 10 minutes to play, the offensive production stalled
for each team.
Cal (10-17, 4-14) started a 5-2 scoring run at 9:46 and cut its
deficit to three points until Cathrine Kraayeveld nailed a shot from
beyond the arc with 2:32 on the clock to bump Oregon lead six, at 51-
45. From then on, the Bears could not close to within a single
possession.
“We got the looks that we wanted,” Smith said. “They really jammed
our low-post players when we did get the ball (inside). That three-
pointer Cathrine hit was a dagger to them.”
Oregon converted 3 of 12 shots from three-point range in each half.
Cal made 3 of 14 shots from long range in the game but outrebounded
the Ducks 44-31 and shot 37.3 percent from the field compared to
Oregon’s 36.5 percent.
Kraayeveld notched a game-high 14 points to go with five boards and
four assists. The senior forward added three steals and two blocks,
both game-highs.
“Cathrine is more than a go-to player,” Smith said. “She’s an
offensive threat for us inside and outside.”
Freshman Kristen Forristall also had an impressive game for Oregon as
she contributed 12 points and a career-best eight rebounds.
Reserve senior post Khadijah Coakley recorded her second career
double-double for Cal with a team-high 11 points and game-high 12
rebounds. No other player reached double figures in scoring for the
Bears and their bench provided half of the team’s scoring with 25
points.
“Khadijah Coakley played one of the best games I think I’ve ever seen
(her play),” Horstmeyer said.
Senior center Andrea Bills played in her 119th game and is tied for
third all-time at Oregon.
Meanwhile, teammate Corrie Mizusawa passed out nine assists in 38
minutes for the Ducks even after dislocating the middle finger of her
right hand in practice a day earlier.
“She just said ‘I’m playing,’” Smith said. “She was a true warrior
and played very solid for us.”
The senior point guard, who is a native of the nearby Lafayette,
Calif., moved into sixth place for career assists with 363 at Oregon.

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