Oregon used a bit of poise late in the second half to withstand an Arizona comeback from a 16-point halftime deficit to beat the Wildcats 59-53 Saturday at McArthur Court.
The Ducks started the game with purpose and better offensive balance than they had demonstrated Thursday night against Arizona State when sophomore guard Taylor Lilley was Oregon's only reliable offensive threat.
Holding the Wildcats to only 7/28 from the floor in the first half allowed the Ducks to build a 36-20 lead by the break and were seemingly in position to take control of the game when the second half started. But as they had against the Sun Devils two nights earlier, the Ducks struggled against Arizona's full court pressure and found themselves shooting a measly 21% in the second half.
With the door open Arizona rallied back, narrowing the margin to three points with just over two minutes remaining.
Two clutch free throws from Lilley and then Tamika Nurse built the cushion to five points and with just a minute remaining Nurse beat the Wildcat press deep for a lay-up that sealed the victory.
Nurse was the Duck's leading scorer with 12, followed by Lilley with 10. Lilley also collected a career high seven rebounds to lead the team in that category.
Oregon head coach Bev Smith was pleased with the win and with the determination of her players in the game's latter stages. "When we really needed a stop we got it," she said. "When we really needed a rebound we got it. We broke the press when we had to and made clutch free throws."
"Arizona can really hurt you with athleticism. They really hurt you when you turn the ball over. they get two points."
Senior guard Kaela Chapdelaine saw the difference in performance in each of the halves for the Ducks as a matter of intensity. "We were very satisfied with our start and our aggressiveness," she said. "We didn't match Arizona
