SEATTLE - Road losses have piled up for Oregon over the last month, to the point that they're all starting to blur together.
They've all been close, and the Ducks keep coming out on the losing end. And now, the symmetry is reaching ridiculous proportions.
Oregon lost its seventh straight on the road Friday night, and seventh in a row overall, a 61-60 defeat to Washington in Bank of America Arena. It was the Ducks' second straight one-point loss on the road, and the second time Tamika Nurse had the ball for the final possession and didn't convert.
Unlike the last time that exact scenario unfolded, two weeks ago at Arizona State, the Ducks actually controlled this one for most of the night. But in the end, it was a school-record 10th road loss of the season. The streak of seven in a row on the road has been exceeded only once in school history, a nine-game road skid in 1975-76. And the last five defeats away from McArthur Court have come by a combined total of - get this - 15 points.
"Again, I think we started to feel the pressure of winning a game," UO coach Bev Smith said. "And maybe winning a close game."
The seven-game losing streak overall is Oregon's longest since the team lost 11 straight in 1992-93, the final season under Elwin Heiny.
The Ducks (10-15, 4-10 Pac-10) missed a crucial chance to move past UW into sixth in the conference, which would provide a first-round bye in the Pac-10 tournament. They travel to Pullman today for Sunday's road finale at Washington State, which got its first conference win of the year Friday over Oregon State.
"We're really ready for a win on the road," said Nicole Canepa, who led Oregon with 12 points. "Just a win in general. It's been awhile."
It's been since Jan. 19 to be exact. The Ducks beat Washington that night, 66-64. They were headed for a season sweep Friday, until the final 90 seconds.
Oregon led most of the second half, until Sami Whitcomb hit the only three-pointer by either team after halftime, putting UW up 59-58 with 1:26 left. Whitcomb later added two free throws, but she also committed two late mistakes that gave the Ducks hope. After a Nurse layin made it 61-60, Whitcomb committed a charge. And after Taylor Lilley herself committed a charge with seven seconds left, Whitcomb missed two free throws, giving Oregon a final chance with 6.3 seconds left.
Nurse quickly got the ball past halfcourt before getting trapped near the free-throw line, and kicking out to Ellyce Ironmonger for a shot that didn't beat the buzzer. On Feb. 2 in Tempe, Nurse managed to get a shot off just before time ran out, but it was blocked.
"We were just trying to get to the rim and draw a foul, or see if we could score," Smith said.
The Ducks went ahead 50-43 midway through the second half, matching their biggest lead of the game.
But they had just three more field goals in the final 11:28. Critical were a missed layin by Nurse and a missed jumper by Canepa on consecutive possessions, both open looks at the basket as Washington rallied from a 55-48 deficit.
There were also five missed free throws in a span of six attempts for the Ducks, four by Canepa. She came into the night a 65.4 percent free-throw shooter.
"It does bother me, a lot," said Canepa, whose misses came with Oregon up 55-48 and then ahead 56-54. "I usually don't break under pressure like that. The crowd was loud, but I've been in that situation before."
The overly cautious second half followed a first half that was one of Oregon's best of the season.
The Ducks had 11 assists on their 13 field goals, and went 6-of-11 from three-point range. They had a 16-13 rebounding advantage, and limited Washington to two offensive boards in taking a 34-33 lead.
But none of that carried over into the second half, and the frequency of the Ducks' errors only increased as their lead got smaller.
"They definitely picked it up defensively, and they were definitely in our face a bit more," Lilley said. "They were making us take pretty quick shots."
Very few of them fell. And so once again on the road, Oregon fell.washington 61, oregon 60
FG FT Reb
Oregon Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS
Kenyon 28 3-4 0-0 0-4 1 4 6
Canepa 28 5-8 2-6 1-5 0 3 12
Lilley 37 3-12 3-4 1-3 2 3 11
Nurse 39 4-11 0-0 1-5 5 0 9
Chapdelaine 30 3-6 2-2 1-3 5 5 11
Cocks 16 0-2 0-0 2-2 1 0 0
Manou 7 1-3 0-0 1-3 0 4 2
Ironmonger 15 4-5 1-1 0-1 0 2 9
Totals 200 23-51 8-13 9-32 14 21 60
Percentages: FG .451, FT .615. 3-Point Goals: 6-16, .375 (Chapdelaine 3-5, Lilley 2-7, Nurse 1-3, Kenyon 0-1). Team Rebounds: 6. Blocked Shots: 3 (Canepa 3). Turnovers: 20 (Lilley 6, Kenyon 3, Nurse 3, Canepa 2, Chapdelaine 2, Ironmonger 2, Cocks, Manou). Steals: 5 (Lilley 4, Nurse).
FG FT Reb
Washington Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS
Redmon 30 1-8 0-0 1-3 5 3 2
McCormack 19 5-7 0-0 3-4 0 4 10
Plouffe 21 4-8 2-3 0-2 0 0 10
Florence 40 2-4 0-0 2-6 5 2 4
Whitcomb 32 4-10 2-5 0-4 4 4 13
McLellan 23 6-8 2-4 2-4 2 1 14
Bennett 6 0-1 2-2 0-0 0 3 2
McNeill 9 0-1 1-2 0-0 0 1 1
Augustavo 15 1-4 0-0 0-1 0 0 3
Moisman 5 1-1 0-0 0-1 1 1 2
Totals 200 24-52 9-16 8-28 17 19 61
Percentages: FG .462, FT .563. 3-Point Goals: 4-14, .286 (Whitcomb 3-7, Augustavo 1-4, Florence 0-1, Redmon 0-2). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 3 (McLellan 2, McCormack). Turnovers: 17 (Whitcomb 7, Augustavo 3, Plouffe 2, Bennett 2, Redmon, McNeill, Moisman). Steals: 7 (Whitcomb 3, Florence 2, Redmon, Plouffe).
Oregon 34 26 -60
Washington 33 28 -61
A—2,342 (10,000).
Officials—Mary Whitford, Mazetta Garrett, Wanda Szeremeta.