University of Oregon
Oregon State
Davis? Shot Lifts Ducks to 56-54 Win Over Oregon State
01/10/04 | Women's Basketball
EUGENE, Ore. ? Brandi Davis entered the proverbial “zone” Saturday night against Oregon State. After five straight losses, the Ducks both desperately needed a win and someone to take over a game.
Davis did just that in the final six minutes, scoring 12 of her season-best 16 points ? including a game-winning 19-footer with 4.9 seconds left ? as Oregon defeated Oregon State 56-54 before a vocal season-high crowd of 5,097 at McArthur Court.
“I couldn't believe it went in, honestly,” Davis said of her winning basket. “I was supposed to come off the screen and take the ball and either drive or take the shot.”
Oregon State's Leilani Estavan tried to send the game to overtime, but her running 17-foot jumper skipped off the rim, giving the Ducks (9-6, 1-4 Pac-10) their second in a row over the Beavers (9-5, 3-2) and fourth in the last five.
“We didn't spend much time talking about the game because I think our players basically said it all on the court,” Oregon coach Bev Smith said. “The Civil War is always a very emotional game. We're pretty spent.”
Oregon trailed 45-37 after a basket by Oregon State's Shannon Howell (24 points) with 11:24 left in the game. After two free throws by Kayla Steen, Davis began her hot shooting, as she nailed a 3-pointer to cut the Beavers' lead to 45-42. Chelsea Wagner, who also gave a huge lift to the Ducks with a season-high 15 points, hit a 3-pointer from the corner. Davis then hit another one from the top to give Oregon its first lead, 48-47, since the game's first basket.
The Beavers regained the lead at 54-52 on a Howell lay-in with 3:51 left. Carolyn Ganes countered with a 12-footer to tie it at 54 with 3:31 on the clock.
Davis, who hit 6-of-11 from the floor and 2-of-3 from long range in 16 minutes off the bench. It was her fourth double-figure scoring performance in the last five games.
“She was very hot tonight,” Smith said. “She gave us absolutely everything she had. Everyone gave us everything they had. That's how we have to compete. The Mac Court fans love that ?Kamikaze' mentality where you go out and just give everything you got.”
Howell, the Beavers' leading scorer, scored 15 of her 24 points in the second half and shot 9-of-20 from the floor and hit 5-of-5 from the foul line.
“Chelsea did a great job defensively (on Howell),” Smith said. “She really made Shannon Howell work tonight. Howell is a great player, but she had to earn every single one of her points tonight.”
Wagner, a sophomore, scored all of her points from beyond the 3-point arc, making 5-of-11. The Ducks hit on 8-of-18 from long distance, while the Beavers struggled, making just 1-of-11. Oregon shot 25 percent (7-of-28) in the first half, but converted on 57 percent in the second half. Andrea Bills was the Ducks' other double-digit scorer with 11 to go with a team-high six rebounds. Brina Chaney added 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Beavers.
The Ducks next hit the road to take on Washington on Thursday and Washington State on Saturday.
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