The Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team (15-8) defeated the Arizona Wildcats (11-11) in McKale Center on Friday night. The loss marks their fifth straight as they fall back to .500 on the season.
The Wildcats fell behind early in the first quarter with Oregon outscoring them 20-10. The deficit proved to be too much to overcome for Arizona, as the Wildcats shot 39 percent from the field for the game.
When Arizona head coach Adia Barnes was asked about the loss, she highlighted some of the weaknesses in execution throughout the game, emphasizing the turnover margin.
“In the first half, they had 15 points off of our turnovers,” Barnes said. “We missed seven layups in the first half. If you convert those things, you don’t have a deficit in the beginning of the game.”
Senior forward Dejza James scored 18 points on 8-12 shooting, eclipsing her previous career high of 16.
“We really tried to give it our all, so that’s what I tried to do,” James said when asked about her career performance. “We marked this down as a win today, and unfortunately it wasn’t enough.”
Aside from James’ career night, senior forward Breanna Workman added in 14 points on 7 of 14 shooting, but James and Workman were the only two Wildcats who scored in double digits for the night.
“It’s really hard to win games when you have two people in double digits,” Barnes said. “When you look at our opponent, that’s four players in double digits. It’s just tough. We just needed a couple more people to be productive.”
After the slow start in the first quarter, the Wildcats picked up momentum in the second and third quarters. In the fourth quarter, the Wildcats finished strong, outscoring Oregon 27-25.
The Wildcats had difficulty keeping Oregon’s post players out of the paint with forward Ruthy Hebard scoring 22 points (9 of 10 shooting) and adding in 14 rebounds. Hebard’s interior presence proved to be too much for Arizona, as they had no answer for her physical play down low.
“If we left this weekend with a split, it would be a great thing for us,” Barnes said.
Up next for the Wildcats is a home matchup against No. 6 Oregon State on Sunday, Feb. 5., at 2 p.m. MST.
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