The Washington State Cougars gave Oregon a strong dose of their own medicine before falling to the Ducks 98-92 Saturday afternoon at McArthur Court.
Oregon was paced by senior guard Micaela Cocks' 22 points. Point guard Nia Jackson added a key steal and 20 points, directing the Duck's fast paced offensive attack.
But rather than attempt to catch their breath on the inbounds play as Oregon forces most teams to do, the Cougars inbounded the ball and raced the Ducks to the other end of the floor, and they won a number of those breaks.
In the opening half the two teams matched basket for basket during the game's first 11 minutes before a lay-up by Cocks off a Jackson feed started a 22-6 run to give the Ducks a 42-25 lead five minutes later.
Kiki Moore and April Cook each scored 24 points to lead Washington State and Moore's back to back treys capped a late run that saw Oregon' cushion reduced to five, 51-46 at the break.
"We like that pace," said head coach Paul Westhead. "That team (WSU) bit . they bit pretty good. They were coming right at us. And they were very strong to the hoop."
"On the one hand we like it because we like that pace. I tried to back it off a few times and then they started really cutting us up in the half court, so it was like choose your poison. So I would rather take the fast pace . so we can keep our pace going."
The Ducks re-established that pace to take a nine point lead midway through the second half before the Cougar's Cook hit for a three and a pair of deuces, sparking a 16-2 flurry giving the visitors a five point lead 80-75.
Jackson re-entered the game after a time out and immediately turned the momentum toward Oregon. After splitting the Cougar defense from the point for a lay-up, Jackson swiped the inbounds pass for another and the Ducks were back within a point.
The Ducks forced a turnover and Cocks hit from three to push Oregon in front. Amanda Johnson's block at the other end triggered a break that Cocks finished for a pair that gave the Ducks an 84-80 lead.
Cocks, Jackson and a clutch three-ball from Taylor Lilley kept the Cougars at bay, the Oregon iced the game shooting 8-8 from the free throw line as Washington State was forced to foul.
"Nia Jackson almost single-handedly turned that game around," said Westhead in something of an understatement.
"With her steals and scores . she willed it. She made it happen. And she's done that in the past, not just quite at that time in the game. But she is an explosive player, that once she gets going, she can blow by people and it was very, very timely. She broke that game open."
"I just knew that the momentum was shifting towards Washington State. I just wanted to come in and give my team a spark and play hard," said Jackson. "I remember in the beginning of the game I was attacking - a lot. And then I kind of went away from that. So I knew that when I came back into the game I was going to take it to the hole and just keep going hard . We just went on a run from there."
"They were sincerely happy with the victory," said Westhead. " So I think that speaks volumes that our team is coming together. We still have rough edges. I thought it was a great sign that we had the lead - lost it - it looked like it was going to run away from us. They just didn't let it happen. Did not let it happen."
The weekend sweep of the Washington schools improves the Oregon's season record to 11-3 overall and 2-0 in conference play. Oregon has a Civil War date in Corvallis on Saturday then a trip south to face the Arizona schools before returning to Mac Court to host California on January 21 for a 7:00 pm tip.
