Ducks Fall in OT at Arizona

Saturday, January 14

Tuscon, Ariz.

11 a.m.

University of Oregon

Arizona

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

01/14/06 | Women's Basketball

By: GoDucks.com

TUCSON, Ariz. ? After Thursday's gritty performance in a one-point loss to No. 15 Arizona State, the Oregon Ducks appeared primed for a breakout win against the struggling Arizona Wildcats.

But life on the road in the Pac-10 affords no guarantees, and it was the home side that prevailed 81-72 in overtime before 1,764 fans at the McKale Center.

“We lost a couple of winnable games here in the desert,” said Oregon head coach Bev Smith. “We can hang our heads and feel sorry for ourselves, but I don't think that is what this team is about. We need to pick ourselves up and play with some more consistency next time out.”

Junior guard Joy Hollingsworth poured in a game-high 22 points and sophomore forward Che Oh scored 20 to lead Arizona (6-11, 2-5 Pac-10).

The Ducks (10-6, 1-5) were paced by 15 points apiece from senior guard Chelsea Wagner and junior forward Eleanor Haring. Senior guard Brandi Davis had 14 points and made 4-of-6 from three-point range.

Arizona snapped a five-game losing streak and extended an Oregon slide that has now seen the Ducks lose second-half leads in three consecutive contests.

“Anytime you lose a game you have to take something from it,” Smith said. “I think we learned that when you get ahead by four you need to push that to six, and when you have a lead of six it needs to go to eight. We just made too many mental errors.”

Oregon held a six-point lead at 34-28 with 17:58 to play, but an 11-0 run by the ?Cats over the next 5:45 swung the game's momentum in favor of Arizona.

After UA went ahead 57-48 with 4:45 left, the Ducks came to life. Haring scored six points during a 16-7 run, tying the game at 64-all on a jumper with 20 seconds to play.

A defensive stop by Oregon at the other end forced overtime, and Wagner scored the first basket of the extra frame for a two-point Duck lead. Two free throws by Oh handed Arizona its first lead of overtime, 69-67, with 2:45 to play, but Davis stroked a three and put Oregon back on top by one.

Hollingsworth countered with a trey of her own, putting the ?Cats ahead for good with 1:56 remaining.

“Hats off to Arizona,” Smith said. “They played hard, and when we made runs they weathered them each time.”

Oregon bounced back from a sluggish start to lead 30-26 at halftime. Davis led the Ducks with six points in eight minutes off the bench.

The Ducks were ice cold in the early going, hitting on 1-of-7 field goal attempts, and fell behind 10-2 at the 14:06 mark of the first half.

Arizona failed to take full advantage of Oregon's futility, allowing the Ducks' to go on a 12-5 run sparked by the second unit to pull within one at 15-14 with under nine minutes to play.

Oregon took its first lead at 26-24 with 1:33 to play in the half on a put-back bucket from sophomore center Gabrielle Richards ? the first of consecutive field goals by the Aussie post.

QUACK TRACKS: SR G Chelsea Wagner's first three-pointer was the 110th of her career, moving her into sole possession of fifth place on UO's all-time list ... UO did not attempt a free throw in the first half ... Saturday's game was the first of two FSN television broadcasts involving the Ducks this season ... FR G Tamika Nurse's uncle, NFL All-Pro quarterback Donovan McNabb, was in attendance rooting on the Ducks ... Nurse played a career-high 34 minutes.