After playing from behind all night, the Oregon women’s basketball team (13-12, 4-10 Pac-12) ran out of steam late in this afternoon’s game and was unable to mount a serious comeback in the closing minutes as they fell to UCLA 103-83.
In what was the worst game of the year for Oregon’s Chrishae Rowe, the Pac-12′s second leading scorer (23.3 points per game going into Monday), it also happened to be the game of the year for her backcourt partner Ariel Thomas.
Thomas shot 9-for-14 from the field, including 5-for-8 from three-point territory and a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line for a season-high 28 points. She also led the team in scoring against UCLA.
“Personally I just try to play every game and give it my all,” Thomas said. “Today my shots just happened to go in.”
Rowe, on the other hand, went 1-for-16 from the field and 1-for-8 from three-point territory while not shooting a single free throw.
Even with the loss, it was a special night for Jillian Alleyne as she became the Pac-12 and Oregon’s single-season rebounding leader by grabbing the first rebound of the game. She broke former Ducks great Bev Smith and former Stanford star Nnemkadi Ogwumike’s record of 376 rebounds in a season. Alleyne now has 388 rebounds on the season.
“I definitely take pride in rebounding, so to have the record and only be a sophomore is a great feeling,” Alleyne said. “There’s still more I need to do and I have definitely higher goals, not just for myself but for this team.”
UCLA (12-13, 6-7 in Pac-12) was led by Atonye Nyingifa, who scored 34 points and 12 rebounds. Nirra Fields added 26 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists and Thea Lemberger scored 21 points on 4-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc.
Oregon was blitzed right from the opening tip as UCLA jumped out to a 7-0 lead three minutes into the game. The Bruins continued to extend the lead to 23-5 at the 12:16 mark in the first half.
“They were shooting very well – we ran some defenses that usually get us generated on the offensive end but they shot it so well that we didn’t get enough out of that,” Oregon head coach Paul Westhead said. “Offensively, we couldn’t make a basket. You give anybody 20 (points) and you’ll have a hard time getting back.”
The Ducks were able to stop the bleeding as Megan Carpenter hit a layup on the next possession for Oregon but once again, the Bruins’ hot shooting continued as Fields knocked down a jumper to push the lead to 39-19 at the 6:45 mark.
Oregon mounted a comeback over the next three-and-a-half minutes, going on an 18-7 run to cut the deficit to 46-37. Alleyne was the main contributor with 10 points in that span. Not to be denied, though, UCLA responded with back-to-back three-pointers on its next two possessions and went into the half up 54-40.
The second half began much like the first did with the Bruins jumping out early. The Ducks were able to get the score within nine, 75-66, with 11:23 left in the game but too many turnovers and breakdowns on defense cost Oregon late.
Rowe hit a three-pointer with 3:24 left in the game to put the score at 91-78 but the Bruins responded with a quick 6-0 run to end any hopes of a comeback.
Oregon turned the ball over 20 times in the game that led to 29 UCLA points while the Ducks forced 13 turnovers yet were only able to score 10 points off them.
Danielle Love seemed to find her shooting form after posting 19 points and nine rebounds in the game for the Ducks while Drea Toler added a team-high four assists in just 14 minutes of action.
The Ducks return to action in Seattle, Wash., against the Huskies at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 21.
“Personally, just to play hard is the number one goal now and until we can come together as a team, it’s not just me as a captain, it’s a team effort at the end of the day,” Thomas said.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka