Cougars cap Oregon's road odyssey at 0-for-9.

Byline: Bob Rodman The Register-Guard

PULLMAN, Wash. - In the 20 years of Pac-10 Conference women's basketball, the Ducks never had been swept in road games.

But on Saturday, that run came to a stumbling stop on a bitter-cold day in the frozen Palouse as another struggling outfit from Washington State dropped Oregon and dropped it hard, 68-53.

It was the Cougars' first win over the Ducks in five years, their third in the last 23 games between the two teams and just the second WSU win in the last 2 1/2 months.

The decisive but just as surprising setback completed Oregon's season-long Pac-10 road wreck, losing all nine games on foreign floors.

The Cougars, who had won just six Pac-10 games in coach Sherri Murrell's four seasons, beat Oregon like a rug.

Beat the Ducks on the boards 49-20 (including a 20-3 advantage in offensive rebounds), beat the Ducks from the field with six more field goals and beat the Ducks from the free-throw line, converting 22-of-27 attempts.

Oregon coach Bev Smith was not the least bit thrilled about the Saturday meltdown before a tiny crowd of 681 in the 11,566-seat Friel Court.

"It's not the loss," she said, "it's how we lost. All losses are hard to take, but when you don't have any fight, that's not acceptable.

"My disappointment is that we let everybody down, the University of Oregon, the program. We need to not think about the name on the back of the shirt but the one on the front - Oregon."

Smith's team has lost five of its last six games, slipped to 14-12 for the season and remains eighth in the Pac-10 at 5-11 with two regular-season games remaining - USC and UCLA at McArthur Court this week - and still in search of a 15th victory that would clinch a winning season.

Washington State, which has been shackled by 10 straight losing seasons, won for just the second time in 16 Pac-10 games and nudged its season record to 8-17.

Kate Benz, WSU's Pac-10 rebound leader, had a game-high 12 boards and threw in 17 points, including 13 in the first half.

"Losing to Oregon State (on Thursday) was not the low of lows," said Benz, she and her teammates the focus of Murrell's scolding after that game.

"But we had one more chance and that's all we needed."

Murrell agreed. "The kids responded," she said. "We were the aggressors from the beginning. I never felt Oregon was the aggressor."

Crystal Blue, who had scored in double figures just four times all season for WSU, also had 17 points, 11 in the second half. Keisha Moore added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Cougars, who began the game last in the Pac-10 in scoring, field-goal shooting, turnovers and assists.

But all that did little for the Ducks, who were led in this game by reserves.

Carolyn Ganes had a team-high 11 points for Oregon, which never led in the game and fell behind by as many as 20 points early in the second half.

Gabrielle Richards, the Ducks' leading scorer who had 20 points and 11 rebounds in the loss at Washington two days earlier, could get just two points and one rebound against the Cougars.

The Duck substitutes outscored the UO starters 34-19 and outrebounded the first unit 12-6.

"We really got beat on the boards, and it's difficult to play offense when you don't have the ball," said Tamika Nurse, a freshman guard who scored all nine of her points in the second half.

As distraught as Smith was, she gave the Cougars credit. "They played hard, inspired. They outhustled us on almost every possession.

"My only thought is that we had no heart and no fight, and we need to find out where they have gone and get them back."

Oregon did not have the perimeter help that senior guard Chelsea Wagner might have supplied save for the lingering effects of a concussion sustained a week ago in the team's loss to Arizona State.

Testing administered before the game dictated that Wagner, who has a team-high 51 three-pointers this season, sit another one out. She did not play in the Ducks' loss at Washington on Thursday.

It was the 10th game this season in which Oregon scored fewer than 60 points. It has lost eight of those games.

A 10-0 WSU surge broke a 10-10 tie in the early going. Oregon had two field goals in the final nine minutes of the first half, helping fuel the Cougars' 33-21 lead at the break.

"We knew we had to bring it," said Shetters, who tied her career high with eight points, seven in the first half. "The key was the hustle points and we didn't get it done."

Washington State 68, Oregon 53

OREGON (53)

Mp Fg Ft R F A To S Tp

Haring ... 20 2-6 0-0 0 3 1 2 0 4

Richards ... 15 1-3 0-0 1 1 1 0 0 2

Chapdelne ... 22 0-2 2-2 1 0 0 0 0 2

Gunderson ... 19 2-5 0-0 3 1 2 1 1 5

Oaks ... 27 2-7 0-0 1 5 2 1 1 6

Nurse ... 19 1-2 6-8 1 4 2 1 0 9

Ganes ... 19 3-6 4-4 4 0 0 2 0 11

Forristall ... 22 1-2 2-2 3 4 2 2 1 4

Davis ... 13 1-7 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 2

Shetters ... 24 3-5 2-6 3 4 1 2 0 8

Totals ... 200 16-45 16-22 20 22 12 12 3 53

Shooting: Field goals 35.6%, 3-point baskets - 5-16 (Oaks 2-4, Ganes 1-4, Gunderson 1-2, Nurse 1-1, Davis 0-3, Chapdelaine 0-1, Forristall 0-1). Team rebounds - 2. Blocked shots - 4 (Ganes 2, Richards, Shetters).

WASHINGTON STATE (68)

Mp Fg Ft R F A To S Tp

Benz ... 36 6-11 5-5 12 1 2 3 1 17

Moore ... 36 4-14 4-4 7 4 2 3 2 12

Blue ... 29 5-7 7-8 4 4 3 1 0 17

Appleton ... 25 2-7 3-4 5 3 1 4 0 9

DuRocher ... 22 0-5 0-0 3 3 1 0 0 0

Montgmry ... 19 2-5 0-0 1 1 1 2 0 4

Ferguson ... 24 1-1 2-3 5 1 0 0 1 4

Coates ... 9 2-5 1-3 4 2 0 2 0 5

Totals ... 200 22-55 22-27 49 19 10 16 4 68

Shooting: Field goals 40.0%, 3-point baskets - 2-13 (Appleton 2-6, DuRocher 0-4, Benz 0-2, Montgomery 0-1). Team rebounds - 8. Blocked shots - 2 (Benz, Coates).

Oregon ... 21 32 - 53

Washington State ... 33 35 - 68

Officials - Lisa Jones, Randy Campbell, Bill Jump.

Attendance - 681.

GAME REPORT: UO WOMEN VS. WASHINGTON ST.

Notes: Oregon winless in nine Pac-10 road games, first time in its 20-year conference history ... Ducks have lost eight of 10 games when scoring fewer than 60 points this season ... Pac-10 rebound leader Kate Benz had game-high 12 boards and her 12th double-double of season ... Loss was Oregon's first at WSU since 2001 and ended 10-game winning streak over Cougs ... Ducks 1-8 when trailing at halftime.

Key Stat: WSU outrebounded Ducks 49-20 and dominated offensive boards, 20-3.

Next: Ducks host USC at McArthur Court on Thursday at 7 p.m. PST.

PAC-10 WOMEN'S

BASKETBALL

W L Pct. GB Overall

Stanford ... 13 3 .813 - 19 6

Arizona State ... 13 4 .765 1/2 22 5

Washington ... 11 5 .688 2 17 7

UCLA ... 10 6 .625 3 15 10

USC ... 10 6 .625 3 16 9

California ... 8 8 .500 5 16 10

Oregon State ... 6 10 .375 7 12 12

Oregon ... 5 11 .312 8 14 12

Arizona ... 3 14 .176 10 1/2 7 20

Washington State ... 2 14 .125 11 8 17

SATURDAY'S RESULTS

Washington State 68, Oregon 53

Washington 66, Oregon State 51

Stanford 87, Arizona 76

Arizona State 62, California 43

USC 77, UCLA 73

THURSDAY'S GAMES

USC at Oregon

UCLA at Oregon State

Washington State at California

Washington at Stanford

NEXT SATURDAY'S GAMES

UCLA at Oregon

USC at Oregon State

Washington at California

Washington State at Stanford

Arizona at Arizona State

NEXT MONDAY'S GAME

Texas-Pan American at Oregon State