We were assigned a Sports story in my Reporting class.

Ducks basketball falls short in Arizona State rematch

 

 

 

            The lady Sun Devils put up much more of a fight on Sunday afternoon than their previous encounter with the Ducks.  Their 44-43 victory over the Ducks last month in Tempe, Arizona was a real nail-biter.  The Ducks’ 62-52 loss at McArthur Court in Eugene wasn’t nearly as close.

            The ten-point deficit is deceiving.  Arizona State (no. 16) led by as much as 17 with 4 minutes left in the second half; Oregon’s only lead was by 4 after a minute of game time.  One of the many telling stats from Sunday’s loss was turnovers: Oregon had 18.  Bad passes and dribbling the ball right into the opponents’ hands plagued the Ducks the whole game.

            “Obviously we didn’t take care of the ball,” senior guard Brandi Davis said of their turnovers after the game.  Davis was a strong presence on the court in the second half, grabbing 4 rebounds, 12 points and an assist.  She had a huge 3-pointer followed by a dazzling assist to sophomore Gabrielle Richards from the top of the key to right under the hoop to make it 33-39 with 11 minutes left in the game.  But it wasn’t enough.

            “It seemed like every time we made a comeback they’d make a tough shot and come back stronger,” Richards commented.  “They hit some tough shots.  Arizona State is a good basketball team.”  They did hit some shots, a lot of threes.  They were nearly 54% for threes on the day sinking 7.  Their shooting threes was the result of the Ducks making an effort to shut down the Sun Devils’ center Kristen Kovesdy.

            “We defended Kovesdy pretty well but other players stepped up,” Head Coach Bev Smith noted.  “We need to put more offensive pressure on our opponents.  Scoring 52 points isn’t a winning score,” she added. 

            Richards churned out an impressive performance in the center position pulling down 11 total rebounds and racking up 12 points.  Rebounds, however, were a problem for the Ducks.  In total the Ducks grabbed 39 rebounds but only 10 on offense.  So the Sun Devils had several possessions where they got off 4 or 5 shots before they finally sank one or the Ducks picked the ball up.

            Offensive rebounds, the Sun Devils’ accuracy from behind the three-point line and points from turnovers were the biggest factors in the Ducks’ loss.  Arizona State managed 22 points off of turnovers to the Ducks’ 10 points.  Emily Westerberg and Aubree Johnson, the Sun Devils’ starting forwards, were the two highest point-producers with 10 each.  Carolyn Ganes was the third Duck to rack up a double digit point total other than Richards and Davis.

            Richards commented on the future schedule: “We’re looking forward to Washington on the road.  It’s a good rivalry.”  Coach Smith said they were disappointed with the loss but that they hope to finish the season strong.

            “Morally, we’re disappointed.  We wanted to head off to Washington with two wins under our belt,” she said.  “We want a good road win and there’s plenty of basketball to play, plenty of games to win.”