BERKELEY, Calif. — Last week, Jillian Alleyne talked of her dream to make the NCAA Tournament.
She then flashed her signature smile and marched onto the Matthew Knight Arena court with her mother and family on Senior Day before Oregon women’s basketball’s game against USC.
Just three days later, her prolific Oregon career came to a startling end. Alleyne tore her ACL during Tuesday’s practice. The team announced her injury two and a half hours before the Ducks lost to Cal 65-54. The Ducks rallied from a 22-point deficit, but with Alleyne out of the lineup, Cal’s lead proved to be insurmountable.
“Knowing her, she’s not going to let this get her down,” Graves said. “I know it’s a bump in a the road. She’s disappointed. We’re all disappointed. I’m just sick that it happened to such a nice person.”
Lexi Petersen said Alleyne’s injury stings more given Oregon’s chances to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005.
“It was really hard on all of us,” Petersen said, “but I can only imagine how hard it was on her. I know basketball is her life and her love. She wanted to be here and play well for all of us.”
The Ducks trailed 35-19 at halftime. Cal had an advantage in fast break points (12-0) and points off turnovers.
“There was nothing positive to speak of in the first half,” Graves said. “The entire effort and focus in the second half was a real positive, though. That’s small consolation.”
Oregon rallied from down 22 points midway through the third quarter. It cut the Cal lead to nine points using a 20-7 run. The deficit was 56-47 with 5:10 left on a bucket from Petersen, who had a team-high 20 points. Maite Cazorla added 14 points for the Ducks, who shot 39 percent from the field.
The Ducks won the rebounding battle at 39-34 without Alleyne, but committed 21 turnovers compared to Cal’s 15. Without Alleyne in the post, Cal’s Kristine Anigwe posted a 18-point, seven-rebound performance.
It wasn’t just Alleyne missing for the Ducks, though. Oregon was also without Lexi Bando due to a sickness. She did not appear on the bench for the Ducks. Graves also said Jordan Loera’s season is over after a knee injury.
Graves said despite missing Oregon’s anchor in Alleyne, the Ducks must carry on.
“I told this team, ‘This is our team. This is what we have left. It’s not going to change. It’s us.’ … I don’t know yet how we’re going to react,” Graves said. “We didn’t react great tonight early, but we did late.”
Oregon’s RPI will likely fall from No. 60 after the loss, but Graves said he still sees a path for the Ducks to earn a NCAA Tournament bid.
“I still think the whole time we need two wins,” Graves said. “I’ve thought the whole time (two wins) are what we need. We didn’t get it tonight, but we still have our opportunities. It’s not going to be easy.”
Next up: The Ducks finish out their regular season with a Sunday game against Stanford.
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne