After upsetting No. 7 Oregon State in a double-digit victory a few days earlier, the No. 19 Stanford women’s basketball team (21-9, 13-5 Pac-12) ended its regular season with a 62-55 loss against Oregon (13-16, 6-12).
This game marked the first time Stanford has lost to the Ducks in 19 games and capped a season that can be best described as disappointing and uncharacteristic for the program. The Card ended regular season play with a 21-9 record – the worst record they have had since the 2000-01 season – and secured the No. 3 seed in the Pac-12 tournament next weekend. The team will play the winner of the first-round game between UCLA and Arizona after having won both matchups against the Bruins and splitting the series with the Wildcats earlier in the season.
The Card managed to have five players score in the double digits in their win against Oregon State but were unable to replicate such offensive productivity against the Ducks. Sophomore forward Erica McCall, sophomore guard Briana Roberson and senior forward Bonnie Samuelson combined for 34 points against the Beavers, whereas against Oregon only Samuelson scored out of those three players. Yet she was limited to 6 points, all of which were in the first half.
Sophomore guard Lili Thompson and senior point guard Amber Orrange led the team against the Ducks with 14 and 13 points, respectively. The only other Card with more than six points was freshman guard Brittany McPhee (9 points), who started in her second game in a row after averaging 16.5 points on 59.1-percent shooting off the bench in the games against Cal.
Despite shooting slightly better on field goals after halftime (35 vs. 36 percent), the Card struggled enormously from behind the 3-point arc in the second half, in which they went 1-of-13 after a strong 5-of-12 start.
The team also only shot from the charity stripe once the entire game, whereas the Ducks went 11-15 from the line. Those extra opportunities helped Oregon build its lead, and by failing to draw the foul and get to the line the Card could not get easy points to close the Ducks’ lead or pull ahead when they were up.
Three Oregon players ended the game in double figures and combined for 43 of the team’s 62 points. Junior Jillian Alleyne was the Ducks’ deadliest weapon, ending the game with 22 points, 13 of which were in the first half.
As the No. 3 seed in the tournament, the Card have earned a first-round bye in the Pac-12s and will face the winner of the matchup between No. 6 UCLA and No. 11 Arizona on Friday, March 6 at 2 p.m. at Key Arena in Seattle.
Contact Alexa Philippou at aphil723 ‘at’ stanford.edu.