University of Oregon
Washington State
Ducks Downed by Cougars, 68-53
02/19/06 | Women's Basketball
PULLMAN, Wash. ? The University of Oregon's final opportunity for a Pac-10 road win fell short as last-place Washington State fought its way to a 68-53 win in front of 681 fans at Beasley Coliseum.
The Ducks (14-12, 5-11 Pac-10) finished their regular season conference road schedule at 0-9 and remain in the Pac-10's eighth spot with two games to play.
“We did not play with any fire or heart out there today, and we need to find those things in a hurry,” said Oregon head coach Bev Smith, not mincing any words or masking her disappointment. “The University of Oregon, the Oregon women's basketball program and our fans deserve a better effort than this.”
The Cougars (8-17, 2-14) outrebounded their taller counterparts, 49-20, and matched UO's entire output with 20 boards on the offensive glass.
“We didn't box out and didn't get bodies on the people we needed to,” said junior forward Jessie Shetters, who equaled her career high with eight points.
Oregon never led and trailed by 20 points at 41-21 with 16:30 to play before mounting a comeback, cutting WSU's lead to nine at the 6:14 mark. But that was as close as they came.
Junior forward Kate Benz had 17 points and 12 reoubnds, and senior guard Crystal Blue came within a point of her career high with 17 points to lead the Cougars.
For the Ducks, junior center Carolyn Ganes came off the bench to score 11 points. She also had a team-high four rebounds. Freshman guard Tamika Nurse had nine points and went 6-of-8 from the free throw line.
WSU led 33-21 at the break thanks to a massive rebounding advantage of 26-10. Benz led all players with 13 points and eight boards through the game's first 20 minutes.
An 8-0 run gave the Cougars an early 10-2 lead, but the Ducks responded with eight straight of their own to tie the score with 14 minutes left in the half. WSU scored the next four points and never relinquished the lead for the remainder of the period.
QUACK TRACKS: SR G Chelsea Wagner missed her third game of the season and second straight due to injury ... Oregon's last road win was at Cal on Feb. 26, 2005.
