University of Oregon
Arizona
Ducks Fall at Arizona, 69-60
01/20/05 | Women's Basketball
TUCSON, Ariz. ? Dee-Dee Wheeler scored a game-high 23 points to lead Arizona to a 69-60 victory over the Oregon women's basketball team Thursday before 2,065 at McKale Center.
The Wildcats (13-5, 5-3 Pac-10) snapped the Ducks' three-game winning streak. Oregon (12-5, 5-3) has lost eight in a row to Arizona.
Oregon led most of the first half and held its largest lead at 20-15 after a Brandi Davis 3-pointer from the corner with 10:35 left. But the Wildcats went on a 24-12 run to close the half and never lost their lead.
"Oregon is a very good team," Arizona coach Joan Bonvicini said. "We had a hard time matching up with them because of their size, but they probably thought the same about us and our quickness. We just wanted to put pressure on them and anticipate the ball."
Oregon committed 13 turnovers in the first half and 20 overall ? the third time this season it's had that many in a game.
The Ducks outshot the Wildcats 48 to 41 percent, but were outrebounded 35-26 as guard Natalie Jones led all players with 11.
"We didn't play to our best ability knowing how fast they were," said Oregon senior Andrea Bills, who had nine points and seven rebounds. "They were quick going to the offensive boards and our guards didn't get a body on them."
Wheeler, a Pac-10 Player of the Year candidate, was too much for Oregon, making 8-of-14 from the field, passing out six assists and collecting three steals.
Not one Oregon starter scored in double-figures, as leading scorer Cathrine Kraayeveld was held to seven points ? breaking her 11-game double-digit streak ? and five rebounds. Both Kraayeveld and Arizona center Shawntinice Polk were mired in foul trouble as well. Polk was held in check by Oregon with a season-low seven points along with nine boards.
"That was one of my best games I've played against her, getting her into foul trouble," Bill said. "But their transition game hurt us and our turnovers."
"We felt really confident going into the game," Bills said. "We didn't do things that we normally do tonight, like attack aggressively on offense. That's the first time a team has scored that many points in transition on us without any challenges."
Freshman post player Gabrielle Richards led Oregon off the bench with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting ? her second double-figure scoring game in the last three. Fellow freshman forward Kristen Forristall tied a career-high with 10 points in 16 minutes, nailing 2-of-3 from 3-point range.
Jessica Arnold was Arizona's only other double-digit scorer with 10.
The Ducks next take on Arizona State in a game televised on Fox Sports Net. Tipoff is Saturday at 1 p.m. PST.
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