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Oregon Tops Washington 78-64, Advances To Pac-10 Tourney Semis
March 2, 2002
By LANDON HALL EUGENE, Ore. - Shaquala Williams regained her shot, without losing any of her defiance or toughness. A day after being held to just 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting, the Oregon guard scored 26 to lead the Ducks into the semifinals of the Pac-10 tournament with a 78-64 victory over Washington on Saturday. Williams is only 5-foot-6, but she's Oregon's most bruising player, and she relished mixing it up with the Huskies' Mendiola sisters, Giuliana and Gioconda. "They're tough kids," Williams said. "They kind of have a chip on their shoulders when they play. I like to think I do, too. It's my homecourt, and I'm not going to back down for anybody. So if you're going to take cheap shots and throw elbows, then I'm not going to back down from you." Cathrine Kraayeveld added 14 points and 14 rebounds to help the seventh-seeded Ducks (17-12) pull away. Jamie Craighead had 13 points and Ndidi Unaka, who came in averaging just 3.6 points, provided a big lift by scoring nine of her season-high 12 in the second half. "I was impressed by our ability to keep focused and offensively be aggressive and tough, not to give up easy shots," said Oregon coach Bev Smith. "We never let go of that intensity, and I think that took away a lot of any feeling they had to try and get back into it." Giuliana Mendiola had 18 points and Loree Payne 15 for the second-seeded Huskies (17-11), but they combined to make just 9-of-29 shots from the field. The team shot 31 percent, but the starters shot under 25 percent. "I thought, definitely, they did an outstanding job of really getting out on our shooters," UW coach June Daugherty said. "Their inside pressure was much stronger than the last time we played." Washington beat Oregon 88-80 on Feb. 23 in Seattle but can't seem to figure out the Ducks at McArthur Court. UW has lost 10 straight in Eugene dating to 1994. "We had revenge on our minds, and we came out hard," Unaka said.
Oregon will play either Arizona or Arizona State in Sunday's first semifinal. Washington, which won the conference title last season and advanced to the final eight of the NCAA tournament, probably will get another bid despite the early exit. "I'm confident that we deserve to be in the NCAA tournament, and at this point it's out of our hands," Daugherty said. Williams was frustrated in Friday night's opening-round win over Washington State, but she vented by scoring 16 points in the first 11 minutes, 20 seconds on Saturday. Overall, she was 8-for-16 from the floor, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range after missing all four against the Cougars. "Shaquala Williams was an unbelievable leader for them," Daugherty said. Washington stayed close in the first half and trailed only 33-28 at halftime. But the Ducks had too many options on offense, and the Huskies let any chance slip away by going 7:12 without a field goal during the second half. Leading only 49-41, Unaka and Craighead each hit two baskets during an 18-5 run, which ended when Kraayeveld made two free throws to push the lead to 21 with 4:36 left. Washington got within 12 with 2:08 to play but couldn't trim the lead any further. After getting a tougher than expected game from Washington State, the Ducks only had about 15 hours to rest up for the Huskies, who had a first-round bye. But Oregon came out firing away, building a 25-15 lead. A blocking foul on UW's Kellie O'Neill, followed by a technical on Daugherty for arguing the call, gave Williams four straight free throws. She made them all, and Unaka's floating jumper capped an 11-0 run. Washington responded by scoring 10 of the next 11 points to get within 26-25. After Craighead hit a long jumper and a 3-pointer, Payne sank a 3 to cut the deficit to 31-28. But UW didn't get that close again. |
