Of all there is for a young team to learn, not to be overlooked is handling a lead.
Up 19 at one point in the first half Saturday afternoon, the Oregon women seemed to have a win in hand over Arizona. But this was a Wildcats team that nearly won in overtime Thursday with just four players on the court, and they fought back to within three against the Ducks.
So count it as yet another lesson learned for Oregon that it never surrendered the lead in beating Arizona 59-53 before 2,401 in McArthur Court.
"I liked the poise when we had to make plays," UO coach Bev Smith said. "However, I think that we could have stretched that lead at the beginning of the second half and put it out of reach, and we're not capable of that yet. We'll get there."
The Ducks (8-6, 2-1 Pac-10) led by 16 at hafltime, but Arizona used a zone press to fight back into the game. The lead was down to 54-49 when the Wildcats forced a UO turnover in the backcourt and Ashley Whisonant laid in two of her game-high 17 points.
But with the score 56-53, after another Arizona basket, the Ducks went over the top of the press for a layin by Tamika Nurse. Oregon then got two defensive rebounds on missed three-pointers to win for the fifth time in six games following a loss this season.
"We did what we needed to do," said UO guard Taylor Lilley, who didn't lead the Ducks in scoring for the first time in five games. She scored 10 points, while Nurse led the team with 12 off the bench.
"We broke the press a little bit, we got an easy layup off it and we knocked down our free throws when it counted."
That latter point might have been the difference between the two teams Saturday. In the final 6:03 of the second half, Arizona twice missed the front end of one-and-one free-throw situations, while Ellie Manou, Lilley and Nurse each converted both ends in similar situations for the Ducks over the same time span.
Oregon's 68.8 percent free-throw shooting (11-of-16) was below the team's season average of 73.5 percent, but the Ducks made them when it mattered. And though they allowed 17 offensive rebounds Saturday, the Ducks got defensive boards from Lilley and Victoria Kenyon on late three-point attempts by the Wildcats.
"We got very close, but close doesn't count," Whisonant said.
The Ducks were strong at the start, too. Lilley, who so often seemed the only option in Thursday's loss to Arizona State, was the last of the five starters to score Saturday. Her three-pointer with 6:46 left in the first half came with Oregon already up 10, and a three by Kaela Chapdelaine gave the Ducks their biggest lead at 34-15.
The Wildcats pressed infrequently in the first half, saving the legs of their depleted roster. It was a different story after halftime, against an Oregon team that seemed flat in second-half warmups, according to post Ellyce Ironmonger.
"I think we thought we already had the game in hand," she said.
"We knew (the press) was coming, but we weren't ready for how aggressive it was actually going to be. It came and it was right there, so that was something we had to adjust to quickly."
The press kept Oregon from setting up its offense until late in the shot clock, leading to rushed shots.
Up 40-24, the Ducks went more than nine minutes without a field goal, and the Wildcats put together a 15-3 run. A deep three by Lilley calmed the storm, but it took the free-throw shooting and defensive rebounds by Oregon late in the game to clinch the win.
"They were getting to the free-throw line, they were getting the and-ones, they were scoring a lot," Lilley said. "So it kind of built some pressure up on you. But luckily we got through it."
They did, by finding their poise at the last possible moment, in a game that had all the makings of a blowout early on.
"It's a matter of, when we're up 16 we want to be up 18, and when we're up 18 we want to be up 20," Smith said. "I think our team, with its youth, forgets what got us that lead very quickly."
Lesson learned, she hopes.