|
|
 |
 |
|
| |
Friday, Mar. 17 12:05pm ET
Rhodes' putback completes UAB's upset | |||||
|
| ||||||
|
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- Two last-second shots in two different overtime games made it a heartbreaking day for Oregon basketball fans. Shaquetta Rhodes' putback with three seconds left in overtime gave Alabama-Birmingham a thrilling 80-79 upset of Oregon (No. 25 ESPN/USA Today, No. 20 AP) in the first round of the NCAA tournament's West Regional on Friday night.
"I had trouble finding words to say after the game," said Oregon coach Jody Runge, who had lobbied hard to host the first two rounds after the Ducks opened the tournament on the road the past five seasons. Earlier in the day, the Oregon men lost in overtime to Seton Hall in the first round of the East Regional in Buffalo, N.Y., when the Pirates' Shaheen Holloway drove the length of the floor and hit a layup for a last-second 72-71 win. Deanna Jackson had 27 of her career-high 32 points in the first half for the 11th-seeded Lady Blazers (20-12), but her teammates came up with the heroics in the overtime period. Holly Holland's two free throws with 33 seconds left gave UAB a 78-76 lead, and Oregon responded with a 3-pointer from Jamie Craighead to put the Ducks ahead 79-78 with 16.7 seconds left. But the Ducks broke down defensively at the other end, letting Rhodes get position underneath for the game-winner. The winning basket was set up by Jackson's older sister Lisa, who had eight assists. "We had a play set, but we weren't able to score off it, so we just played and hustled and had great awareness of where we were, and (Rhodes) just finished it off." Brianne Meharry scored 19 points and Shaquala Williams had 17 to lead the sixth-seeded Ducks (23-8), who were playing in their seventh straight NCAA tournament. Jackson was sensational in the first half, hitting 10 of her 14 shots from all over the floor -- hooks, short jumpers, a 3-pointer and back door layups on passes from the Blazers' guards, including Lisa Jackson. On her final basket of the half, she got the ball in the high post near the corner, turned and hit a 17-footer with six-tenths of a second left to give UAB a 39-38 halftime lead. Oregon had tried a zone defense against Jackson in the first half, but the Ducks went back to man-to-man in the second, and Angelina Wolvert guarded her better. Jackson didn't get off a shot until hitting a layup with 6:19 to go that gave the Blazers a 61-58 lead. Jackson hit just 2-of-9 shots and 1-of-4 free throws after halftime. A rebound basket by Wolvert put the Ducks ahead 70-68 with 22.3 seconds left in regulation. But she missed the free throw, and Jackson followed her own miss at the other end with 5.7 seconds left to send it to overtime. Oregon played without forward Lindsey Dion, who injured a knee in the shootaround before the game. "Without Lindsey, we lacked emotion," Runge said. The upset was all the more impressive considering UAB was seeded eighth in the Conference USA tournament but played its way into the NCAA tournament by advancing to the title game, in which it lost to Tulane. | ALSO SEE Womens College Basketball Scoreboard Alabama Birmingham NCAA Team Report
AUDIO/VIDEO   See how it ended.avi: 1057 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Deanna Jackson ties it up in regulation.avi: 783 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Shaquala Williams kept Oregon in the game.avi: 569 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||
