If someone were to forecast the Arizona women’s basketball team (7-11, 1-5) scoring 73 points against Oregon on the road, the forecast would probably include a win.
That was not the case last night, as the shots were falling like the snow outside McArthur Court in Eugene for the Ducks (11-6, 2-3), as they shot nearly 60 percent (33-of-57) from the floor in an 86-73 victory over the Wildcats.
“”It’s just disappointing,”” said UA head coach Joan Bonvicini, who remains at 598 career wins. “”We played much better offensively. We’ve really been working on getting more people involved offensively. We did a much better job shooting from the floor and did a decent job rebounding, but (Oregon) just lit it up.””
The Ducks’ last two losses were nail biters to Southern California and UCLA. On Friday against USC, they lost in triple overtime, and against UCLA Sunday they lost by seven. The stakes were high for both teams, who were sitting sixth and seventh in the Pacific 10 Conference standings.
On Saturday, Arizona trailed by eight at halftime to Washington State, but bounced back in the second half to win. Last night, Oregon took a 54-45 lead into halftime, and didn’t look back, tacking on another 32 points compared to Arizona’s 28.
“”We knew they could shoot the ball, but we just didn’t do very well defensively,”” Bonvicini said. “”We got down in double figures in the first half and just tried to play catch-up the whole time. We got them on the ropes a little bit in the second half, and then we just couldn’t sustain it.””
Oregon’s shooting percentage was the best Arizona had seen from any opponent all year. The Ducks also made 11 3-pointers, another statistic that ultimately doomed any hopes of a Wildcat win.
Arizona shot 46 percent (26-of-57) from the floor, 33 percent (4-of-12) from beyond the arc, and 65 percent (17-of-26) from the free-throw line. Arizona also out-rebounded Oregon 30-28.
Senior guard Joy Hollingsworth had a game-high 22 points, along with eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. Guard Jessica Arnold had 17 points, and forward Amina Njonkou had 13 points and five rebounds.
“”Joy did a great job again,”” Bonvicini said. “”She had 18 in the first half. Joy’s just playing very well offensively and rebounding. Jess hadn’t scored like this in a while. I think it’s great for her confidence. And Amina played really well, too.””
At halftime, Arizona shot 59 percent, including 4-of-7 from the 3-point line, but the play went down in the second half. The Wildcats’ second half percentage nearly halved to 33.3 percent.
“”It’s just hard,”” Bonvicini said. “”We’re on the road. We need to pick it up offensively and shore up our defense.
Struggling Beavers next for Cats
Arizona will travel to Corvallis for a matchup against Oregon State on Saturday.
The Beavers (6-8, 1-4) lost at home last night to No. 11 ASU 59-43.
Just like last night’s game against Oregon, both teams enter in similar situations. The Wildcats currently sit in eighth place in the Pacific 10 Conference, and the Beavers have the No. 7 spot with a 1-4 conference record. The Wildcats only conference win came Saturday against Washington State.
OSU has the leading scorer in the Pac-10, senior guard Casey Nash. Nash had 20 points in defeat last night, and she reached double figures for the 13th straight game, and accumulated 20 points for the eighth time this season.
“”Saturday is going to be a completely different type of game,”” Bonvicini said. “”Oregon State plays very hard. They’re going to play pressure defense.””
