Arizona women's basketball scores 100 points for win against Oregon

Arizona sets tempo in the first half for big win

By LUKE DAVIS Published January 14, 2013 at 2:51am Updated January 14, 2013 at 2:51am

The Arizona women’s basketball team (10-5, 2-2 Pac-12) defeated the Oregon Ducks (2-14, 0-4) Sunday afternoon in McKale Center 100-68.

It is the second time in two years the Wildcats have scored 100 points against the Ducks, and comes just two days after a 57-48 loss at home to the Oregon State Beavers.

“It feels a lot better than it did on Friday,” Arizona head coach Niya Butts said after the game. “I couldn’t be happier with our effort.”

Junior forward Alli Gloyd led all Wildcats with 17 points and also grabbed nine rebounds.

For the second consecutive game, the Wildcats were without one of their top scorers in junior guard Kama Griffitts, who has missed the past two games for personal reasons but is expected to return next week at Utah.

Griffitts’ replacement in the starting rotation, sophomore guard Layana White, had a career game with 16 points. Junior guard Carissa Crutchfield also had a career game with her first double double. Crutchfield had 13 points to go along with her 11 assists.

“After the loss on Friday, I felt we needed more energy,” White said. “It was team effort.”

The first half of Sunday’s game was a stark contrast from Friday’s slow start against the Beavers. Arizona scored early and often Sunday afternoon and set the tempo for the remainder of the game.

The Wildcats connected on five of their first nine shots, all of which were three-pointers. At the first media timeout, Arizona led 17-9. The Wildcats trailed 24-22 at halftime on Friday.

With 13:34 left in the first half, the Wildcats surpassed Friday’s 22-halftime point total when senior captain Davellyn Whyte sunk the team’s seventh three-pointer and pushed the lead to 24-12.

There was an abundance of three-pointers in the first half.

Arizona didn’t score a two-point field goal until 12 minutes into the game, but still was leading 32-17 at the time.

“The energy level that we needed was there,” Whyte said, referring to the first half.

“[Oregon’s] tempo played into our favor and they played zone and we hit our shots.”

The Wildcats entered the game averaging 65.3 points per game. At the half, Arizona led 55-34, well on pace to beat their average.

Arizona wasn’t as successful in the second half. The Wildcats were out-rebounded and turned the ball over nine times. However, they still continued to pile it on the Ducks with a high shooting percentage from inside.

The Wildcats only made one three-pointer in the second half compared to the 11 they made in the first. Also unlike the first half, Arizona got production from lesser-known Wildcats, such as freshman point guard Keyahndra Cannon, who finished with a career-high 14 points.

“We didn’t play a perfect game by any means,” Butts said. “We turned it over nine times in the second half and got bullied on the boards.”

The Wildcats scored their 100th point off a jumper by freshman forward Shereen Sutherland with 39 seconds left in the game.

Arizona will look to build off this win as they prepare for their longest road trip of the season, starting Friday at Utah.

“Right now we’re going to enjoy the win,” Butts said. “And then Tuesday we’re right back at it. Hopefully next week we can have a performance like we had today.”