Winning four out of five games heading into a matchup with Colorado, the Oregon women’s basketball team appeared to be hitting its stride. Riding a noticeable increase in confidence, and with three more home games ahead on the schedule, the Ducks had a real shot at turning their conference record around.
“It was sitting right there for us,” head coach Paul Westhead said.
Despite being right in front of them, the Ducks failed to take advantage of the opportunity that seemed to elude them throughout the early stages of Pac-12 play.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Westhead added. “It wasn’t like because you’re home you’re going to get a couple wins. But it does create a winning atmosphere that you have to take advantage of.”
In the team’s final home game of a six-game stretch, Oregon ran into a sharpshooting UCLA team that out-ran them from the opening tip off. The Ducks were able to climb back to a nine-point deficit three different times on the night, but could never make that final push to catch up with the Bruins. Oregon fell 103-83 to the Bruins, putting them in double-digits for conference losses at 10.
Freshman Chrishae Rowe, whom the Ducks have leaned on all year for scoring, had her worst game of the season.
Rowe, who came into the game averaging 23.3 points per game, made her first basket with 3:24 remaining in the game. When she finally made her first field goal, a deep three pointer, Rowe raised her hands and shook her head conveying her frustrated spirit.
Throughout the game it became increasingly apparent that Rowe was getting lost in her own subconscious has her early struggles built up on each other.
“Today she was definitely off and I think it was because she was thinking too much,” sophomore forward Jillian Alleyne said. “She wasn’t herself today for some reason. I had to talk to her at halftime and tell her ‘Let it go.’ I don’t think she was able to shake that this game.”
While an abnormality of this magnitude should be cause for concern, Rowe’s teammates don’t think her poor shooting will turn into a trend.
“Knowing Chrishae, she’s probably going to be in the gym for the next 72 hours or so just getting shots up,” Alleyne said. “That’s Shae.”
Ending its home stand on a three game is going to be a tough pill to swallow for Oregon. However, they won’t have much time to dwell on it with a road trip to Washington this coming weekend.
“This is never an easy road trip, the two Washington schools, and they won’t be very friendly because we beat them down here,” Westhead said.
One thing is for certain, the Ducks need Rowe to rediscover her shot before heading up to Washington — something Alleyne considers a certainty.
“We’re going to see the real Chrishae come back in these next couple games.”
Follow Joseph Hoyt on Twitter @jhoyt42