Oregon's Amanda Johnson tries to move the ball against Arizona's Soana Lucet (53)
By Big Tony Solorzano
(Los Angeles) – A second half explosion by Oregon eliminated a 17-point first-half lead by Arizona but it wasn’t enough as the Lady Wildcats advanced to the second day of the Pacific Life Pac-10 Women’s’ Basketball Tournament with a 90-89 victory over the Ducks Wednesday afternoon at the Galen Center.
Unlike the previous game between their sister schools, the Ducks challenged the Wildcats early on in the first half, at one point carving out a six-point lead four minutes into the first half, leading 12-6 on a jumper in the paint by Victoria Kenyon. However, the Wildcats quickly reversed the lead and in the course of the next five minutes, went on a 21-4 run capped by three-pointers from Candice Warthen, Davellyn White and Brooke Jackson.
The Wildcats increased the lead to as much as 17 until the half ended, with the Wildcats sitting on a 51-36 lead. However, the Ducks began their comeback as soon as the second half started. After Soana Lucet extended the Wildcat lead to 18 on her three-pointer, the Ducks slowly whittled the lead down, answering every point and free throw. The Ducks hit six three-pointers in the half as they erased the deficit and took the lead with 2:13 left in the game, on a three from Ariel Thomas.
Thomas increased the lead to three with a layup in the paint 18 seconds later, but Lucet was the heroine of the game as she put the team on her back and nailed two clutch layups with less than a minute left. One came off of a pass from Shanita Arnold to cut the lead to one with 52 seconds left. Arnold fed Lucet again, this time the layup put the Wildcats back in the lead as Deanna Weaver missed two free throws and a three-point shot by Thomas with two second fell short as White grabbed the rebound and held on as time expired.
Thomas led all scorers with 29 in the losing effort, hitting 11 of 18 shots and three of seven three-pointers. Amanda Johnson contributed a double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Danielle Love also added a double-double of her own with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
For the Cats, Lucet and White led the Wildcats with 23 points and seven rebounds each, while forward Ify Ibekwe added a double-double as well, hitting 19 points and pulling down 15 rebounds, including 12 defensive rebounds.
The Wildcats will take on the winner of the USC-Washington State Game Thursday at 5:15 at Galen Center.
Big Tony will be reporting the rest of the week from the Men’s and Women’s PAC 10 Tournaments from Staples Center and Galen Center. Keep checking for updates.
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