Oregon 68, Arizona 66
NICK MEDLEY/Emerald
Oregon head coach Jody Range (background) and the Oregon players celebrate daring the second half of the Ducks'
Win: Arizona had runs of 10-0 and 11 -0 in first half
it Continued from Page 11
times, got the ball back, then jumped to
ward the basket and let the game-win
ning shot fly. It was just her fourth bas
ket in 12 attempts from the field.
“I thought Natalie Hughes really did a
good job, broke down our defense, then
hit the jumper,” said Bonvicini, whose
team dropped into a second-place tie
with the Ducks at 5-2.
Hughes’ last-second heroics almost
overshadowed the spectacular night of
reserve Natasha O'Brien.
The 5-foot-ll junior from West Beach,
Australia, was the most unlikely of he
roes. She was supposed to provide an of
fensive spark for the Ducks this season,
but had yet to score more than 11 points
in a game and was averaging just 2.2 a
contest in conference play.
Thursday was her breakout game.
O’Brien, who missed the 1996-97 sea
son because of an NCAA suspension for
competing in a semi-professional league,
scored seven points during a crucial 15-4
Oregon run to start the second half, and
her three-pointer tied the game at 42 with
14:26 to play.
She hit nine of her 14 attempts from
the field, including four of seven from
behind the three-point line, to finish
with 22 points.
“I think a lot of people, including
Tash, have been wondering where she's
been, and I’m telling you, that’s a great
boost for her confidence,” Runge said,
Reserve Nicole Strange joined O’Brien
in providing a shot in the Ducks’ arm off
the bench when she came in and scored
six straight Oregon points to put the
Ducks in front 61-55 with 3:49 left.
“That’s the sign of a great team when
you’re bench kids come in and [play
well],” Runge said.
At halftime, it didn’t seem likely
Strange, O’Brien or any Oregon player
could have brought the Ducks back.
Arizona, despite 15 first-half turnovers,
used a 10-0 run and an 11-0 run to lead by
as many as 12 on four occasions in the
first hal f and took a 38-27 lead into the
locker room.
The Wildcats hit 73.9 percent from the
field in first half (Oregon shot 32.4) and
outrebounded the Ducks 18-10.
"I thought we played scared in the
first half,” Runge said.
The second half was a very different
story.
Oregon scored 12 of the first 14 points
in the second half to pull within one, 40
39, and O’Brien’s three-pointer tied the
score at 42 two minutes later.
The Wildcats retook the lead briefly at
45-44 two minutes later, but after
O’Brien scored on the next possession,
the Ducks never trailed again.
Reserves: Strange
excels after half
* Continued from Page 11
A strong rebound and putback with 10:40 remaining
gave Oregon its first lead, 44-42, since it was up 5-4 with
17:17 left in the first half.
Another O'Brien jumpshot from the left corner put
the Ducks one up after the Wildcats regained the lead,
then her final three, wide open from the right side, gave
Oregon its biggest lead of the night to that point, 40-45
with 9:23 left.
O'Brien then passed the proverbial baton over to the
other hero of the night, Nicole Strange, who played just
one minute in the first half.
"1 was confused why I wasn’t playing," said Strange,
who has started 10 games this season but came off the
bench Thursday.
She more than made up for it, scoring all eight of her
points in the final 5:51.
“I wanted the ball so bad," she said, “and 1 just kept
shooting every time I got it."
It kept going in. All her shots were short- to medium
range jumpers, including three in a row, the second as
she was fouled, which gave Oregon a six-point lead, 01
55, with 3:49remaining.
“That’s her shot right there,” Oregon forward Brianne
Meharry said, "All those shots she took, the baseline
jumpers, stuff like that, that’s how she plays and that’s
her strength. I think that obviously helped us a lot. She
hit some key baskets."
Strange’s final two points came on a jumper in the
middle of the lane with the shot clock winding down.
The bucket gave Oregon a four-point cushion after the
Wildcats cut a seven-point deficit to two.
A couple of jumpers by the Wildcats tied the game
and set up Hughes’ dramatics.
Strange finished four for five from the field in nine
very productive minutes.
“1 missed the first shot and sometimes when I miss
the first one 1 put my head down,” Strange said, “but I
didn’t, I just kept shooting and they kept going in, thank
God.”
For O’Brien, the game was a coming out party of sorts
after slowly returning to form because she sat out last
season because of a suspension handed down by the
NCAA.
"It’s taken me awhile to get used to (playing again],
and I just had to take advantage of my chance when I got
it tonight, and I made the most of it. I’m glad I’ve started
toget things going," O’Brien said.
She said she became more and more confident as
more and more shots began to fall.
“When I first got out there,” she said, “I took a few
shots that didn’t drop and I thought ’Here we go, I’m not
gonna be out here long,’ but then I hit a couple in a row
and it was just ‘give me the ball.”
Yes, Hughes was the hero, but without Strange and
O’Brien, the Ducks would have never been in position to
pull out the win.
Emerald
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