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INTENTIONAL?: Seemed questionable when Morton was called for a foul with UO ahead and entering the bonus. But Deanna Weaver only made one of the FTs and at the other end, Rogers fought for a rebound, blindly throwing it to Kingma who made the three-pointer with 4.7 remaining. UW up 74-73.

FRESH FROSH: Heard made a smooth turnaround jumper to make the score 72-71 after a Jackson miss. Oregon called for timeout and has the ball with 24.2 remaining in the game.

WSU WINS: A three-pointer by April Cook off an assist from Ireti Amojo helped the Cougs win 67-64 against a hungry OSU. Nia Jackson's six points and three assists since entering the second half have the Ducks up 72-69, but Heard's three-point play has UW hanging in there with 1:13 remaining.

JACKSON BACK: Nia Jackson is back in the game with 7:55 remaining. And she helps setup Johnson for a three-pointer to put UO up 58-56.

BACK UP: Both Washington schools are ahead, again. UW taking a 56-55 lead into a timeout with 7:55 remaining after a jumper by Argens and a pair of FTs by Heard. WSU is up 59-54 with 3:52 remaining.

KING ME: Kingma made back-to-back three-pointers to put a punch in this comeback. UW is down 55-52 after a pair of UO free throws.

D EQUALS POINTS: The Husky D is back with a vengeance. Players are either picking off passes, again, or getting big rebounds like Morton to help convert the stops into buckets. The effort has UW within 53-46 with 11:15 left in the game. UW has forced seven turnovers to its one in the half.

TIE GAME: No, not at Hec Ed. WSU has tied the score at 48 apiece with 9:07 remaining, going on a 13-4 run. But Washington is playing better defensively and a bucket by Jeneva Anderson made the score 53-42.

BIG RUN: Oregon is shooting above 60 percent in the second half, going on a 15-4 run to build a 53-35 lead with 14:23 remaining in the game. Nia Jackson has been on the bench and UW's defense seems to be taking a rest, too.

SCOREBOARD: It's said often this season, but Oregon State looks to be on the verge to get its first conference win. The Beavers are up 44-35 with 13:43 remaining in the second half on the road against Washington State. No. 3 Stanford defeated Arizona State 72-54 while Arizona lost 73-63 to California.

JACKSON SITS: Jackson is on the bench after playing two minutes to open the second half. The Ducks are up 46-33 with 17:24 remaining in the game.

JACKSON HURT?: Nia Jackson is hobbling off the court with an apparent left leg injury. It occurred after she zipped down for an assist to Tatianna Thomas for a three-pointer. Barlow answered with her own jumper to close the half with UW trailing 38-31.

ON TRACK?: After an stretch of ugly missed shots, buckets by Kingma and Heard seemingly have the Huskies back in the game. They lead 28-27 with 3:55 on the clock. The interior defense is solid, doubling Johnson to cut off Ducks passes inside the paint. UW has scored 20 points off 10 UO turnovers, but has 11 turnovers of their own for 12 Duck points.

TIME!: Ouch. Tia Jackson called a quick timeout after back-to-back three-pointers by Oregon. One immediately out of the last timeout and the other off a turnover on the inbound play. Ducks are up 27-22 with 7:14 on the clock.

EMPTY PLAYS: Washington is getting some of the stops it wants in grabbing rebounds and picking off Oregon passes. But the plays are coming up empty offensively as the Huskies miss FTs or turn the ball back over. UW has 10 turnovers, leading 22-21 with 7:37 left in the opening half.

MORE TROUBLE: Ducks freshman Ariel Thomas is playing with three fouls, bailing UW freshman Mercedes Wetmore out of a three-point heave as the shot clock wined down. Wetmore made the ensuing three FTs, but the Ducks remain close, trailing 17-16 with 11:57 on the clock. UW is shooting 70 percent from the field. UO is 6 of 15 from the field (40 percent).

FOUL TROUBLE: Tatianna Thomas is supposed to be Fallin's replacement, but the reserve wing already has three fouls with 14:07 remaining in the half. The latest, knocking Kingma over from behind on a rebound. The score is tied at 12 points apiece, Washington C Regina Rogers and Nia Jackson having a duel. Rogers also played with Jackson and Barlow in high school.

SAME GAME: UW had one turnover on an inbound pass and is having trouble with the UO's pressure defense, just as the team did in the first game of the series this season. Nia Jackson has also wiggled away from Barlow's coverage to score a three-pointer and driving layin. Ducks are ahead 7-6 with 15:52 remaining in the opening half after a pair of Jackson FTs.

DYK?: Barlow and Nia Jackson are childhood friends, playing AAU and high school hoops together. They even ran track against each other, possessing similar speed. But the duo said they've never raced to see who's faster or played one-on-one to see if Barlow's top-notch defense would stop Jackson's solid offensive play.

Word out of Oregon is the team is having trouble adjusting its shot with its new Matt Arena court. But the perimeter shots are dropping sans difficultly during warmups for Thursday's rematch against Washington at Edmundson Pavilion.

The Huskies feel they should have won the first game, so there's extra motivation to redeem a 68-64 loss to close historic McArthur Court in January. UW committed a season-high 25 turnovers and couldn't get a break from the officials as Nia Jackson burned the Dawgs for 22 points, seven assists and five steals.

It was a short week of preparation, defeating cross-state rival Washington State on Sunday. Regardless of a slow opening half, UW had plenty of positives, especially the shooting of reigning Pac-10 Player of the Week Kristi Kingma. She finished with a game-high 29 points with six rebounds and a career-high six steals.

At the midway point of the season, however, UW needs its offense to expand beyond Kingma and a returned focus to rebounding, according to coach Tia Jackson, in order to win more. I'd add free throw shooting in there but amazingly the Huskies have played close games with poor shooting from the line, so maybe improvement on two out of three of their major issues will improve the record.

Washington (8-10, 3-6 Pac-10) is in a three-way tie for seventh place with Oregon (12-8, 3-6) and Washington State (5-16, 3-6) in conference standings. So, obviously Thursday's matchup is a must-win. It's also a homecoming for Jackson, who starred at Chief Sealth, and Ducks freshman Danielle Love of Cascade High. She's expecting about 50 friends and family, many who've never seen her play before because of living in Tacoma.

Teammate Kristi Fallin, a reserve G, is out, wearing a boot on her right ankle.

UO is getting the spice going early, one fan proudly showing off a "The Next Kingma is Ours" sign. It's a dig at Kingma's brother, Brett, attending Oregon next year. But maybe the oldest Kingma gets the final word?

We'll see, starting with your starting lineups:

DUCKS
F Jasmin Holliday
F Amanda Johnson
C Victoria Kenyon
G Nia Jackson
G Ashley Buis

HUSKIES
F Charmaine Barlow
F Mollie Williams
C Mackenzie Argens
G Sarah Morton
G Kristi Kingma

Tonight's officials are Alejandro Moreno, Kent Johnson, and Bret Gervasoni.

View Original Post at seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/womenshoopsblog/index.html | View JaydaEvans's Full Profile

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