UA women overpowered by Oregon

Published Jan. 12, 2012 10:22 p.m. ET

foxsports

Facing a game-high deficit of 21 points, the Arizona women’s basketball team rallied but was unable to complete the comeback, falling to Oregon 87-73 on Thursday night.

The Cats moved to 12-4 overall and 1-3 in Pac-12 play, while the Ducks moved to 10-7 overall and 2-3 in Pac-12 action.

“Give credit to Oregon, because they shot extremely well in the first half and we weren’t able to defend,” head coach Niya Butts said. “It’s tough to give up that many points and dig yourself out of a hole like we were faced with. We just didn’t have enough in us to finish. We were able to close the gap a few times, but we couldn’t get stops when we needed them most.”

Freshman guard Erin Butler led all scorers with 23 points off the Arizona bench. She shot 8 for 12 from the field and 7 of 10 from 3-point range. UA had four players score in double digits, as senior guard Shanita Arnold collected 17, junior guard Davellyn Whyte had 15 and sophomore forward Erica Barnes had 11. With her 10 assists, Arnold recorded her first double-double in an Arizona uniform, and with her 12 rebounds, Barnes had her sixth double-double of the season.

“We had some players step up and get quality minutes that haven’t played
in a while,” Butts said. “Erin Butler was a huge lift for us
offensively. Any time you can get that type of production from a kid who
hasn’t played in seven or eight games, that’s pretty good.

"But we have
to play just as well offensively and defensively. I was happy with how
Layana White and Cheylene Harper played tonight. Tonight’s game gave our
post players some different matchups, and Oregon played a lot of
perimeter offense. Not having Reiko Thomas tonight hurt us most mentally,
because we had some people step up in her place.”

Thomas did not play because of illness. The starting five for Arizona included Arnold, Barnes, junior guard
Lindsey Fearing, freshman center Aley Rohde and Whyte. Butler had the
most minutes off the bench with 32.

The Cats shot 32.8 percent from the field (22 for 67), 34.2 percent from behind the arc (13 for 38) and 88.9 percent from the free-throw line (16 for 18). Arizona had 17 assists while giving up 16 turnovers. UA scored 17 points on 15 Oregon turnovers but had just two second-chance points.

For Oregon, freshman guard Lexi Petersen was the leading scorer with 17 points on 9-for-10 shooting from the charity stripe and and 4-for-8 effort from the field. The Ducks had five players finish with at least 11 points, and all nine players who got in the game scored at least one point. Freshman Liz Brenner paced Oregon on the glass with 11 boards.

Oregon shot 44.4 percent from the field (28 for 63), 46.2 percent from behind the arc (12 for 26) and 79.2 percent from the free-throw line (19 for 24). The Ducks got 40 points off the bench and 15 second-chance points.