It wasn’t pretty for the Ducks tonight as they dropped their third straight game to a ranked opponent. Falling to a No. 19 Colorado team that is now riding an eight-game winning streak, the Ducks continue to compete with the upper tier teams in the Pac-12, and it is beginning to look like a three-team race in this year’s Pac-12 tournament. With one conference game remaining on the schedule, the Ducks hold a dismal 2-15 record in Pac-12 play, and they will need to turn things around quickly if they wish to make late season run in the conference tournament.
If you were here to watch a high scoring game, you came to the wrong place. At one point in the first half, both teams were shooting sub-35 percent from the field, and nothing seemed to go for either team. With both teams struggling to get anything to go on the offensive end, the score naturally remained close, and that came as a nice opportunity for the Ducks. The half closed with an unexciting 24-21 score, and despite poor play from both sides, the game actually remained very competitive.
It took awhile for Colorado to get it going offensively, but it did eventually happen midway through the second half. At the 12:25 mark, Kyleesha Weston hit back-to-back threes to give Colorado the largest lead of the game at seven, and it served as the turning point for both teams. Moving forward, Colorado would maintain a steady lead and with 4:05 remaining in the game, they held the largest lead of the game at 16. The Ducks simply could not match points with Colorado down the stretch, and it eventually led to yet another loss.
Leading the way for the Ducks were freshman Jillian Alleyne and sophomore Liz Brenner. The two post players continue to dominate the paint against their opponents and don’t seem to care who they face on any given night. Alleyne finished the game with 10 points and a team high 12 rebounds as she recorded her 11th double-double of the season. Brenner was efficient down in the paint all night — even beginning the game off with a rare three-point shot — as she finished with a team high 12 points along with six rebounds. Danielle Love was held scoreless for the entire game and only managed to get off six shots. This wasn’t something she or the Ducks were accustomed to and shouldn’t be looked at as something that is likely to happen again.
For Colorado, it was Arielle Roberson and Chucky Jeffery who both finished in the double-digits for scoring. Roberson led the team with 16 points along with her four rebounds, while Jeffery finished with 12 points and a team high 10 rebounds as she finished with a double-double. The two seemed to power the Colorado offense throughout the night, and the Ducks simply did not have an answer for the two players.
“We just a hit a spot where we got real flat, energy slipping away,” said Coach Paul Westhead after the game. “It’s almost like they read it and cashed in a couple perimeter shots they hadn’t gotten or previously made,” said Westhead. “Timely scoring on their part; they are a good defensive team, but I thought we should have been able to score more on them. We had some turnovers that we’ve kind of cut down, but they came back and bit us a little bit.”
On the horizon: The Ducks will host Utah for their final home game of the season this Sunday. Tip off is set for 2 p.m. For all news and recaps following the game, check back here with the Emerald.