Oregon Needs Overtime to Defeat Love and Basketball

Taylor Lilley led the Ducks with a game-high 21 points and five treys.

Sophomore Taylor Lilley scored a game-high 21 points in Oregon's victory on Sunday.

EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon women’s basketball team ended its exhibition season on Sunday, with a 73-69 victory over Love and Basketball at Mac Court, but needed an extra five minutes of overtime to do it.

Oregon had a three-point lead with 1:30 to go in regulation, but a three-pointer from Love & Basketball’s Jessica Cheeks tied the score at 61.

The Ducks responded quickly with an inside basket from freshman Ellie Manou on their next possession, and an offensive foul from Love’s Tanisha Johnson put the ball back in possession of Oregon.

The Ducks missed their next look, leaving Cheeks just enough time - 13 seconds - to even the score at 63 with a pull-up jumper.

In overtime, Oregon trailed by as many as four, but took its first lead, 69-67, on a Tamika Nurse three-pointer with about two minutes to go. Nurse then went to the line on Oregon’s next possession, knocking down 1-of-2 attempts.

With less than 32 seconds left, Oregon had a 70-67 advantage with one last possession for Love & Basketball. A duck foul sent Johnson to the line, and the former Arkansas State Razorback sank both free throws.

Love & Basketball continued to foul, but Oregon’s Kaela Chapdelaine and Taylor Lilley combined to go 3-of-4 from the line down the stretch to clinch the victory.

“I felt like there was no energy,” head coach Bev Smith said afterward. “Our preparation for the game, intensity, focus and concentration was not where it needs to be to play Division I basketball.”

In the first half the Ducks showed a willingness to push the ball up the floor, but also found their range from behind the three-point line early and often.

A dominant dose of sophomore guard Taylor Lilley gave Oregon the advantage.

After leading the Pac-10 with a .506 three-point percentage a year ago, Lilley was in familiar form Sunday, leading the Ducks with a game-high 21 points and five treys.

The Ducks’ upperclassmen, Nurse and Chapdelaine, also reached double figures, scoring 11 and 16 points, respectively. Nurse was 7-of-10 from the free-throw line, while Chapdelaine added six boards.

While the backcourt provided most of the scoring in the first half and leadership down the stretch, the Ducks’ young trio of post players, Ellie Manou, Ellyce Ironmonger and Nicole Canepa, found a bit more rhythm in the second period.

“This is such a new team that exhibition games are so necessary,” Nurse said. “With six new freshmen they needed to see what college basketball is all about and it’s good for all of us to get out on the court and play together. These are definitely big bonus games for us to play.”

The trio helped Oregon outrebound Love & Basketball 47-37 for the game, including 18 on the offensive end.

Canepa ended the game with 10 points and seven rebounds, while Manou added eight points and game-high nine boards. Ironmonger had eight rebounds off the bench.

Kristina Andersen, a graduate of Marist High School who played her collegiate ball at Utah, led Love & Basketball with 14 points and five boards. Denise Wood also scored 14.

“I don’t think we got into them (Love & Basketball) enough and pressured the ball,” Smith said. “We let them get comfortable where they knew they could just drive and shoot on us.”

The club team is made up of former college players who reside mostly in the Los Angeles area.

Oregon shot 32.3 percent (21-of-65) from the floor and was 11-of-27 from behind the arc. The Ducks also made it to the free-throw line 28 times, converting 20 of those opportunities.

Oregon ended the first half with a 42-38 advantage, after Lilley scored the Ducks’ first two field goals and added a layup in the first five minutes.

Her highlight basket of the game came late in the first, when the Newhall, Calif., native drained a trey from four feet outside the arc with shot clock winding down. By the end of the first, she scored 16 points, while Nurse also reached double figures with 11, going 5-of-6 from free-throw line.

The Ducks were 9-of-16 from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes, with four different players attempting at least one three-pointer.

Oregon’s season-opener is set for next Saturday at 1:30 p.m., hosting San Jose State at Mac Court. The game will be televised by OSN on Comcast.

The Pit will be the home of three games that afternoon, with the men’s basketball team hosting the World Vision Invitational. The Oregon men will take on Pepperdine at 4 p.m., also an OSN broadcast. The following game will feature Pacific and Western Michigan at 6:30 p.m.

Source: goducks.com

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