Six players in double figures and a welcome advantage on the boards helped Oregon to a 92-74 win over the Arizona Wildcats Thursday evening at McArthur Court.
Nia Jackson's 18 points paced the Ducks with Taylor Lilley and Nicole Canepa adding 15 apiece, Amanda Johnson and Victoria Kenyon contributing 13 and Jasmin Holliday joining in with 11. Johnson also garnered 14 rebounds to lead Oregon and earn the double-double.
The lead traded back and forth for most of the first half, neither team gaining an advantage of more than five points until Taylor Lilley's trey gave the Ducks an eight point margin as the first half entered its last minute.
The Wildcats cut the lead back to five two minutes into the second half, but that was as close as the visitors would come.
Held scoreless in the first half, Nicole Canepa hit for a lay-up, then she and Jasmin Holliday engineered a 12-2 Oregon run to push the Ducks in front 62-47 and Oregon was not seriously threatened again.
"Synergy" was the pre-game word from assistant coach Kai Felton and that Oregon took her advice to heart was evidenced by the 19 assists tallied in the box score. The Ducks seemed to score in waves as their press and uptempo offensive attack forced 19 turnovers and frequently caught the Wildcats flat-footed in transition.
"I think sometimes it develops because our players find an opening or an area - they are taking Taylor Lilley away that means our fours and fives have better opportunities," said head coach Paul Westhead. "Nia Jackson and Taylor recognize that so they get them the ball."
"My over view now is that the pace eventually affected Arizona. In the first half they were trying I think to conserve their energy a little bit . in the second half I just think that our pace kinda got to them - as a group."
"We've been struggling as a rebounding team for quite a while and we got out of it tonight," said Westhead of his team's 53-44 advantage on the glass.
"I'm happy for Amanda Johnson, she got her game going and did a good job for us tonight."
Jackson had been held out of practice all week after her collision with Oregon State's Talisa Rhea in last Saturday's Civil War.
"I knew I was going to play," said Jackson. "I was going to pass the (concussion) test if I had to take it 20 times, I was for sure going to play. We needed to get this win."
"We all passed the ball, we all got to the basket . it was good to see everybody sharing the ball"
Oregon's cause was aided by three early fouls on Arizona's Ify Ibekwe, limiting the Wildcats' best player to 21 minutes of playing time - only six minutes in the first half - and nine points although she was still able to lead her team in rebounds with 12. Soana Lucet's 25 points were tops for the visitors.
Late in the first half, Taylor Lilley broke the season record for three point baskets - she now has 83. The senior guard already holds the program marks for career and single-game three pointers. The Ducks also established a new team record for three pointers in a season, breaking the old mark of 194 set in 2001-02.
The win was the Ducks third straight and improved Oregon's season record to 15-8 and 6-5 in the Pac-10. Arizona State visits McArthur Court on Saturday for a 2:00 pm tip. As they had against Arizona, the Ducks will again be in pink accented uniforms as part of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's "Pink Zone" cancer research fundraising effort.
