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ASU Defeats Oregon In Pac-10 Semi No. 1, 64-58
March 3, 2002
By LANDON HALL EUGENE, Ore. - Amanda Levens scored 13 of her 19 points during a key second-half run as Arizona State advanced to the championship game of the Pac-10 tournament with a 64-58 victory over Oregon on Sunday. Melody Johnson added 13 points for the third-seeded Sun Devils (23-8), who will face the winner between Oregon State and top-seeded Stanford in Monday night's title game. Levens, held to just 10 points on 1-of-11 shooting in Arizona State's quarterfinal win over Arizona, hit five of her team's seven free throws in the last 42 seconds to preserve the win. Shaquala Williams scored 21 points, Andrea Bills had 12 and Cathrine Kraayeveld added 11 rebounds for the seventh-seeded Ducks (17-13), who got a big lift from the home crowd at McArthur Court but appeared to tire out late in their third game of the tournament. After a layup by Edniesha Curry pulled Oregon to 57-55 with 1:51 left, the Ducks didn't score again until Williams' meaningless 3-pointer with eight seconds left. Oregon trailed 31-19 at halftime but outscored the Sun Devils 22-2 during a span of just over eight minutes early in the second half. A jumper by Williams put the Ducks ahead 47-40 with 9:19 left. Oregon coach Bev Smith then made a pivotal decision by giving Curry, the Ducks' quickest player, a rest. Curry had been guarding Levens much of the time, and with her on the bench, Levens started draining jumpers. She made a twisting bank shot, a long 3-pointer and a floating baseline jumper, followed by a free throw, to give ASU the lead for good at 48-47. After two more free throws, Curry came back, but Levens sank another 3 to complete the run and give the Sun Devils a 53-47 lead with 5:23 left. Trailing by eight with just under four minutes to play, the Ducks had one more surge of energy left.
Jamie Craighead missed the second of two free throws, and Kraayeveld
grabbed the rebound. Craighead got the ball back and made a 3-pointer,
cutting it to 57-53. Then Curry, minutes after being knocked to the
floor by Cian Carvalho's elbow, drove the lane to make it a two-point
lead.
While Arizona State had a bye in the first round, the Ducks had to play twice to get to the semis, and they looked weary in the first half trying to guard the Sun Devils' post players, Johnson and Carvalho. On consecutive trips, Johnson grabbed offensive rebounds and banked in shots. Tied at 15-all, the Sun Devils started an 11-0 run with two inside baskets but then went to the perimeter. Betsy Boardman made a 3-pointer, and with the shot clock running down, Levens heaved a shot off the glass that made it 26-15. Oregon shot 44 percent in the half but committed 18 turnovers. |
