Oregon Women Fall in Double Overtime at USC, 79-71

The Ducks moved to 9-4 overall, and 1-2 in the Pac-10 with the loss.

Cicely Oaks made 4-of-4 three-point attempts in a tough loss at USC. Photo: goducks.com

LOS ANGELES - The University of Oregon women’s basketball team led by two points and had the ball with 21 seconds to play in regulation, but couldn’t close things out against USC on Friday night at the Galen Center, falling 79-71 in double overtime.

The Ducks were called for a five-second violation on an inbounds play in the waning moments, giving USC a chance to play for a final shot.

Senior guard Shay Murphy took advantage, tying the score at 52-52 on a short jumper with a little more than 10 seconds left and sending the game into overtime.

Murphy than proceeded to score 13 of her game-high 26 points in the overtimes, which included three crucial 3-pointers, bumping the Women of Troy’s record to 8-7 overall and 2-3 in Pac-10 play. Oregon moved to 9-4, 1-2.

“It’s disappointing, but I can’t fault our effort tonight,” said sixth-year head coach Bev Smith. “We really battled out there and gave ourselves a chance to win.

“We can’t let this loss get us down because we’ve got a lot of games left to win.”

The Ducks nailed a season-high 14 three-pointers, but USC tightened its defense enough to steal back a slim lead late in the second half.

The Ducks’ 10th 3-pointer of the game, scored by senior guard Cicely Oaks, grabbed back the advantage for Oregon, 48-46, with 5:13 to play.

USC took a brief one-point lead on a three-ball from Jamie Hagiya with 1:42 to play, but Oregon senior Carolyn Ganes fired back from long distance 30 seconds later for a 52-50 UO lead.

After the Ducks jumped ahead by six points in the first extra period, Murphy nailed two 3-pointers in the last 1:30 to pull USC even and force a second overtime.

She then added another trey to go with four free throws as USC pulled ahead to secure the win.

Senior Eleanor Haring led UO with 17 points.

Oaks finished with 14 and was a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point range.

Ganes added 11 off the bench and junior Kaela Chapdelaine scored 10 on 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc.

Murphy was joined by two teammates in double figures as senior post Chloe Kerr had 14 and Higiya ended with 13.

Murphy and Kerr shared the game-high in rebounds with eight apiece.

The Ducks will look to regroup on Sunday, when they face UCLA (8-9, 2-3) at Pauley Pavilion at 2:00 PM.

The Bruins were dumped by Oregon State on Friday, 56-52.

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